hares

I love the flavors of Sardinia: saffron, capers, lusty sauces, stews and game meats. This stew has it all. The recipe has its origins with a rabbit recipe I found in Giuliano Bugialli’s Foods of Sicily and Sardinia. It is traditionally done with rabbit or chicken, but I had some jackrabbits — really hares – I wanted to cook, so here it is. The dominant flavors here are the gamey hare, vinegar, saffron and capers. Use the best saffron you can afford here; it matters. It is a heady mix that needs a strong red wine, crusty bread, couscous or our favorite, a soft polenta with butter and cheese.

Sardinian Hare Stew

olive oil

chopped parsley, (plus another 1/4 cup for garnish)

garlic, chopped

onion,

capers

saffron

warm water, (to bloom saffron)

red wine vinegar

Salt

Salt the hare or rabbit pieces well and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Get the olive oil hot over medium-high heat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Pat the hare pieces dry and brown well in the pot. You might need to turn the heat down to medium. Do it in batches and take your time. Place the browned pieces in a bowl while you do the others. This could take 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop half the capers. Get your tap water running as hot as it will go and fill a cup measure. Crush the saffron in your palm and sprinkle it into the hot water. Get every bit, and let this soak as the hare is browning.

Once the meat is all browned, remove it to a bowl. Add the onion and saute until browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Add everything into the pot except the extra 1/4 cup parsley, nestling the hare pieces in tight. If the liquid does not come at least halfway up the sides of the hare pieces, add some more water. Do not add wine or stock — the point is to have pure flavors here. Cover tightly and simmer gently over low heat for at least 90 minutes. Hare needs longer, but chicken and domestic rabbit should be done by then. Check the hare after 2 1/2 hours; it should be close to falling off the bone. When it is, pull the meat out and strip it from the bone.

Return it to the pot with the extra parsley and mix well. Turn off the heat and cover for five minutes. Serve over polenta, couscous, Sardinian fregula pasta or with crusty bread. Don’t forget the wine: You will want a big, heavy red here.

I came to find the link to this for a post on raising meat rabbits for my own site. I have made this recipe I don't know how many times now. My husband used to request it almost weekly. We are a hunting family, but life gets in the way a lot of the time. These days I make it with chicken thighs more often than rabbit, but it is still extremely flavorful and absolutely amazing. We lost him last year, but I still go to this recipe when I need a bowl of goodness. It's a nice reminder of him. :)

Made this last night and it was DELICIOUS!
Used a 3ish lb rabbit, which was juuust enough for 4 of us. I might add more liquid next time to stretch it a bit farther. Might try it with stock - I don't think homemade veg or rabbit stock as some (not all) the liquid would upset the flavor balance.

Made this with European Brown Hare in England last week....came out amazing, and was so simple too ...not like most of your recipes! :)

We make this with rabbits that we raise and serve it over quinoa  The whole family, 1.5 years old to 44, LOVE it every time. Thanks for sharing this special one Mr. Shaw.

I made this recipe to introduce my wife to jackrabbit. She loved the simplicity of the flavors, and how the meat was tender and juicy. She now wants to go jack hunting with me so we can make more! Thanks for another fabulous recipe, Hank!

This recipe has been a huge success for me. One of my favorites with: lamb shanks &amp; leg, venison shanks, squirrel, and cottontail. I've made twice with jackrabbit, one came out decent but not as good as the other proteins above, the other came out looking beautiful, but with the meat chalky and gamey.

Have been wanting to try this recipe for a long time. Finally got around to shooting a jack rabbit and trying it. 
It is a good but did not blow my socks off like many of your other recipes. 
In your book it calls for 8 table spoons of capers yet did not say what to do with them. I put half in along with water and then the other half when I turned the heat off along with rest of parsley. 

Final dish came out tart and seeing here you only call for 1/4 cup of capers may explain that.  Rabbit was tender and earthy and despite the tartness it stood up good in the stew. 

I will not be killing jackrabbits just to make this dish.

Great recipe. After this, I won’t pass up on shots anymore!  In terms of texture, the meat is a lot like beef stew in a crockpot. In terms of taste, it’s more like a strong mutton.  Make no mistake, it’s a strong red meat!  Definitely nothing like the “tastes like chicken” that I was expecting.  With the recipe, I’d save some capers to splash on at the very end.  Also, my attempt cooked more like a stew with little broth left.  As the recipe owner stated, it’s best to plan on pouring over something rather than plan to eat like a soup.  Finally, I have to agree: it goes best with a strong red wine: Malbec, Zin, etc!  Google luck out there and stay safe!

Jugged hare, or venison, or duck or whatever, is a dish for a special occasion. It takes time to make and must be done precisely. Your reward? A dish with a 500-year pedigree that turns the lowly jackrabbit into kingly fare.

Civet of Hare

hare

Blood from the critters, (mixed with vinegar

carrots, (grated)

celery sticks, (minced)

onion, (grated)

bay leaves

thyme

rosemary

brandy

red wine

flour

bacon

duck fat

mushrooms

sugar

quatre epices

stock

onion, (sliced)

heavy cream

parsley

Salt and black pepper

Pour the brandy and the wine into a pot and bring to a boil. Let it boil for a few minutes to burn off most of the alcohol. Turn off the heat.

Cut the hare into large pieces: back legs, front legs, saddle into several sections — feel between vertebrae for places to chop with a cleaver or heavy knife. Salt it lightly.

While the wine-brandy mixture is still warm, pour it into a container large enough to hold the hares or rabbits. Add the grated onion, carrot and the minced celery, plus the rosemary, bay leaves and thyme. Mix well.

When the wine mixture is room temperature, add the hare pieces. Cover and let it marinate in the fridge for a day, or even two.

MARINADE

Take the hare from the marinade and pat it dry.

Strain the marinade through a fine-meshed sieve into a bowl. Set aside the veggies.

Pour the marinade into a pot and bring to a boil. A raft of scum will form on top. Skim it off carefully. Bring the heat to a simmer, and skim the liquid several times until it is clear, then turn off the heat.

Heat half the goose fat or lard in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.

Dust the pieces of hare in the rye flour — using something other than white flour adds a subtle earthy note to the civet — and brown them in the pot. Take your time with this; you may need to do it in batches. Once the hare is nicely browned, set it aside.

Meanwhile (you need to multi-task here), heat another tablespoon or two of the goose fat or lard in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When it is good and hot, turn the heat down to medium-low and add the pancetta. If you are using bacon, only use enough goose fat to lubricate the bottom of the pan, as the bacon should be fatty enough.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Slowly cook the pancetta or bacon until crispy. Remove and set aside.

Add the veggies to the frying pan you cooked the pancetta in, and turn the heat all the way up. It will sputter. Toss and cook the veggies, adding more goose fat or lard as needed. Once they are coated and much of the liquid has steamed off, turn the heat down to medium and cook until they caramelize, about 10-12 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Return the hare to the Dutch oven and add the pancetta or bacon. Pour over the wine-brandy mixture, then add the veggies. Add the dried chanterelles, the quatre epices and the sugar. Make sure everything is evenly distributed.

If you think you need more liquid, add the game, veggie or beef stock. Bring this to a simmer and taste for salt — add some if needed.

Cover and put in the oven and leave it undisturbed for 2 1/2 to 3 hours for a hare, 90 minutes for rabbits.

MAKE THE STEW

Once the hare is tender, almost falling off the bone, carefully remove it from the pot and set aside to cool.

While the meat is cooling, run everything left in the pot through a food mill with a medium plate. If you don’t have a food mill, run it through a food processor or use an immersion blender. If you are doing this you really should push the blended mix through a sieve or chinois to catch any lumpy bits.

Clean the Dutch oven, or get another large, lidded pot.

Pick the meat from the bones of the hare. Try to keep the meat in large pieces and be careful to find any little ribs and such. Discard the bones.

Return the strained, blended stew to the pot, and add the chile paste, the onion that you have sliced into half-moons as well as the fresh chanterelles. Bring this to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until the onions are nice and soft.

Return the pieces of hare to the pot and retest for salt. Add generous amounts of freshly ground black pepper.

Blend the liver, the blood and the heavy cream together in a food processor or blender. Revel in its pink gory glory.

When the hare is warm again, turn off the heat. Wait until you see no movement of the stew from simmering or boiling, then add a ladleful of the stew to the blood-liver-heavy cream mix. Stir well. Do this again. Now pour the mixture into the stewpot and gently stir it in to combine. Marvel at how well the stew just thickened. DO NOT LET THIS BOIL. Trust me. You can still eat it if it does, but your civet will look nasty and you will be pissed off.

Serve at once, topped with parsley and accompanied by crusty bread, a green salad, and a really kick-ass red wine. I’d recommend a Mourvedre.

MAKING A STEW A CIVET

Hank,

Loved the recipe. Made it with snowshoe hare. Used 1 1/2 hare instead of one. Used beef broth, chantrelles, and a small piece of beef liver because I didn't know at the time to save the livers. It's an intimidating recipe but once done, it's not so bad. I ve never had a bad recipe from you. Keep up the great work.

Mushroom curious:
In preparation for cooking this, I see the need for both 1/4 lb fresh mushroom and 1/2 Oz. dried mushrooms (presumably these are the chanterelles?  Is this correct?).

I also see that chanterelles in step 10 and step 5 in making the civet.  Would you be so kind as to clarify which is which and when?
Thank you very much,
TF

South Dakota State is going to get their Jackrabbit Jugged by Ohio State on March 14.

A hare sacrificed itself to me a couple of weeks ago in California by running headlong under the back wheel of my truck. Fortunately that was the only part crushed. 
I'm not one to waste good wild game and hare is a favorite, (though I've only had it rarely) and being 2 minutes from home I stopped and picked it up. Cleaned and dressed, and in the fridge I began searching for recipes and found this one. 
I let it age a couple of days, while I assembled the required ingredients. I marinated it for literally only an hour for time constraints, and then cooked it pretty much as stated. I used chicken livers instead of the hare liver, and no blood as I'd discarded these during dressing.
7 of us ate it, and the result was a  resounding Fantastic! I think everyone, myself included were really surprised just how good this recipe is. It's definitely on my list to repeat - and interestingly, this recipe doesn't use garlic! That's something I noticed is common to a lot of German recipes where onion is commonly the only allium used.

My dad died a few days ago. I was going through his papers &amp; I found a recipe for Jugged Rabbit. But it's completely different from yours. According to the one I found you need a rabbit cut into small pieces, salt &amp; pepper, thyme, savory salt, celery seed, parsley flakes, ground cloves, bay leaves &amp; bacon. You layer the rabbit &amp; the spices &amp; the bacon in a baking dish, add one cup water, cover &amp; bake 2 hours at 350 or until tender. I haven't tried this recipe (yet). What's your opinion of it?

Blooming great recipe.
I have a hare coming in the post from Suffolk
Looking forward to this....
Hywel

Great recipe, Hank and very well written.
I just made made it yesterday but with a few changes which make the dish less complicated and healthier. I'm reporting just in case someone wants to try it and/or improve it.
First, I bought the whole hare but asked the butcher to de-bone it.  I'll use the bones with whatever meat left on them to make a sauce which will go very well with some large noodles ( two pidgeons with one stone...)
I cut the meat in chunks, washed it carefully then covered with red wine ( nothing special , a Sangiovese relatively young) and let it stay for one day ( could be two days). Then washed the meat, dried it and added to a Le. Creuset pot  where I had already started browning  in olive oil the cut pieces of carrots, celery, garlic and onion.  After 5/10 minutes I added the full decanted content of two bottles of my own 1986 Chianti ( pure Sangiovese) and let everything cook (simmering) for about 8 hours. No blood, no liver, no thickening flour, etc.
After about 4 hours  I took the lid off ( otherwise there would be no evaporation) added bay leaves, cognac, peppercorns ( plenty) cloves and cinnamon.
One could do any number of changes the basic idea being use good wine, not young,  and cook slowly in a pot adding whatever seasonings and herbs one likes.
Forgot to say that the hare should be dry-aged for 4/7 days.

are you shittin me  what a perfect recipe for a swamp rabbit from east of hathaway.thank you dwdoherty,jennings pls reply

While hasenpfeffer should properly be made with hare (snowshoe or jackrabbit in the United States), hares are notoriously hard to find if you are not a hunter. So do what everyone else does and make it with rabbit. The actual making of the dish is pretty easy, but it will be far better if you give it the 2 to 3 days' worth of marinating time. Marinades take a long time to penetrate meat, and the flavorful marinade is the heart of hasenpfeffer.

Hasenpfeffer with Semolina Dumplings

water

salt

juniper berries, (crushed)

crack black peppercorns

cloves

green onions, (chopped)

jackrabbit, (snowshoe hare

unsalted butter

Flour

onion

sour cream

milk, (whole

semolina flour, (or use farina

egg, (lightly beaten)

nutmeg

Marinate the rabbit. Bring all the ingredients for the marinade to a boil, then let cool to room temperature. While the marinade is cooling, cut up a hare into serving pieces. Find a covered container (plastic, ceramic, glass) just about large enough to hold the cut-up hare and put the meat inside. Cover with the cooled marinade. If you have leftover marinade, put that into a different container. Put everything in the refrigerator and let it sit at least 8 hours, but 2 days is better.

Remove the hare from the marinade and pat it dry. Save the marinade. Heat the butter in a large, heavy pot with a lid. Dredge the hare in the flour and brown well on all sides. Do this over medium to medium-high heat so the butter does not burn. Remove the hare pieces as they brown and set aside.

As the hare is browning, preheat your oven to 325°F and strain the marinade into a bowl.

Once you've browned the hare, add the onion and stir to coat with the butter. If there is not much butter left, add another tablespoon or so. Cook the onions over medium-high heat until they are soft and a little brown on the edges. Sprinkle salt over them as they cook.

Return the hare to the pot and add the strained marinade. Bring to a simmer, cover and put into the oven. Cook until the meat wants to fall off the bones: This will take 2 to 4 hours for a wild hare, or between 90 minutes and 2 hours for a store-bought rabbit. To finish the hasenpfeffer, remove it from the oven and uncover the pot. Spoon off about a cup of the sauce and put it into a bowl. Add the sour cream to the bowl and mix to combine. Return the mixture to the pot and swirl it around to combine. Serve at once with the dumplings.

Make the dumplings. Once the hasenpfeffer has cooked for an hour or so, make the dumpling dough. Heat the milk to the steaming point and add the butter and salt. Start stirring the milk with one hand while you sprinkle in the semolina with the other. Stir well until the semolina absorbs the milk and forms a stiff dough. Take the pot off the heat and let the dough cool. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove. once it boils, turn off the heat until the hare is done.

When the hasenpfeffer is ready, turn the heat off the oven but leave everything inside. Mix the egg and nutmeg into the semolina dough. Let the dough stand while you bring your pot of salty water back to a boil, which won't take long because you preheated it. Get a bowl of water ready to wet your hands, so the dumpling dough doesn't stick to them.

Roll the dough into balls. I like to make dumplings the size of a walnut. As you make them, drop each one into the boiling water. Do not crowd the pot. Once the dumplings start bobbing on the surface, let them cook another 2 to 5 minutes, depending on how soft you like them. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

My husband who grew up in southern Germany say this tastes just like any hasenpfer he ever had and loves it - I find it too sour but with red currant jelly (typically British) I enjoyed it.

Waaaaaaaaay too much vinegar, I should've raised an eyebrow at 2 cups (16 Servings), in my opinion you could literally cut the recommend amount in half. The dumplings were great however.

I've been cooking more rabbit than usual these last couple years since I now have a local breeder. I used to fry, but was still a bit tough. Then I only braised, which is another of the recipes found here. I finally made Hasenpfeffer, the recipe found here. we've never had more flavorful rabbit.  Because my husband doesn't like capers, it's the only ingredient I didn't add. I can't stop eating this dish. We first had it with spaetzle. Then with rice. Next will be with noodles. You have to have a vehicle to stop up the delicious sauce. Or use a spoon. Even if you only have chicken  I would recommend you make this recipe.

Actually hasenpfeffer has everything to do with hare/rabbit. l lived in Germany. It is a great dish. Meatloaf had nothing to do with it. Hence the name hasenpfeffer.

Hank’s Hasenpfeffer is my absolute favorite rabbit preparation (no hares where I live, but we do have swamp rabbits and eastern cottontails). My wife is a fan as well. Can’t wait until the season rolls back around so I can make this again!

My child's favorite recipe.  It takes some prep but it is worth it.

Followed the recipe... came out perfect.  Not too strong or vinegary or anything.  Even better on day 2.  
Although I used a tight dish, I struggled to get all the hare covered in marinade so the only thing I would change is double the quantities of marinade. If there's too much wet sauce at the end then I'll reduce it separately and then pour it back over.
I really enjoyed this meat so that is bad news for the hares on my land although there are plentg of them so... a few won't go amiss!

If I make this recipe again I will use a less potent vinegar than red wine vinegar or I would be tempted to take the edge off of the tartness with a little sugar or some dissolved ginger snap cookies. I believe I over cooked the dish looking for the meat to fall off the bones. I cut a conventional store bought dressed rabbit into 6 pieces. For future endeavor I believe I will trim  the meat from the small bones as they ended up in the final sauce making it a nuisance to deal with like very bony fish. Flavor wise other than being overly tart it was good. The hind legs were the best part. The back would have been better had I trimmed off the tenderloins. The front would have been better  had I trimmed away all of the ribs and neck. Thanks, Rob

I have never had hasenpfeffer before so keep that in mind.  All my life, I wanted to try it and the only idea I had was from Bugs Bunny cartoons.  When my local butcher got rabbit in stock I decided to try this recipe.

I followed it pretty close though I used the marinade to deglaze the pan before I put it in the oven.  I also found it lacking in, of course, pepper!  I don't know if it is just the years of imagining that it would taste peppery or what, but I needed to add a bunch of pepper to it on my plate and then, poof, it tasted perfect.  That black pepper offsets some of the vinegary and sweetness the marinade imparts.  It brings it back down to earth.  

I like to modify recipes heavily and I am thinking I will be making changes next time.  First, I am going to use white vinegar instead of red wine vinegar.  I thought the combination of red wine and red wine vinegar was a bit too much.

Second, I eat low carb so I just ate the meat (no dumplings).  My thought is to change the sauce to a creamy horseradish and pepper sauce and drizzle that over it.  I think that combination with the vinegar would be perfect.

Thanks for a great recipe and a perfect place to start!

Believe it or not, as many say rabbit "tastes like chicken" - in a pinch if you can't find hare or rabbit, this recipe works really well with chicken also! Hard to find rabbit to buy around where we live, occasionally seen rabbit in a low-end discount grocery, from China, but I don't trust it's quality or even if it IS a rabbit! Could be a cat for all I know!

It has been over 50 years since my DAD and I had tasted Hasenpfeffer.  My Father passed April 26, 1978.  I'm now 76 and vegan.  However, before I pass into the spirit world will taste this wonderful dish again.  Thank you for the information.

So almost big enough to hold the rabbit? 

While the marinade is cooling, cut up a hare into serving pieces. Find a covered container (plastic, ceramic, glass) just about large enough to hold the cut-up hare and put the meat inside.

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