In honor of the holiday this weekend, you guessed it—Bunny Stew! This recipe is an Into the Soup variation of one of Jamie Oliver’s favorite recipes from ‘Cook with Jamie’. He playfully calls it ‘Tender-as-You-Like Rabbit Stew with the Best Dumplings Ever’—we call it a great conversation piece with family and friends! BTW, why does everything taste like chicken?

 

Yield:  6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

 For the Dumplings:

  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 14 tablespoons butter, softened
  • Milk

For the Stew:

  • 2 rabbits, preferably free-range or organic, each jointed and cut into 10 pieces
  • Flour
  • Olive oil
  • 1-2 Tbsp Butter
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 10 slices of bacon, finely sliced
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 9 ounces mushrooms (field, shitake, or oyster), cleaned and torn
  • A large handful of baby onions, peeled
  • 1 Tbsp flour
  • 1 1/2 pints chicken stock
  • 1 cup beer (or more chicken stock)
  1. For the Dumplings, mix flour, nutmeg, parsley, salt and pepper and butter in a mixing bowl. Add enough milk just to make a soft dough. Roll the dough into a big sausage shape and cut it into 18 equal-sized pieces. Roll these into little balls in your hands and place on a tray in the refrigerator.
  2. For the Stew, preheat oven to 350 deg F. Coat each rabbit piece with flour, shaking off any excess. Heat a deep oven-proof pot, about 12 inches in diameter, with a little olive oil and a couple tablespoons of butter, add the rabbit pieces in batches and cook for about 5 minutes until golden on all sides. Do not crowd the pan! Place the browned rabbit pieces on a plate; set aside.
  3. Add celery and carrots to the pot (if you need more oil or butter, add it!); sauté until just starting to soften. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper, the bacon (because bacon makes everything better!) and the rabbit pieces. Continue cooking until the bacon is crispy (a few more minutes). Keep stirring the mixture so the rabbit does not overbrown. Add the rosemary sprigs, mushrooms, and onions and continue frying for another 10 minutes, by which time the meat will be nicely colored and the veggies will be very soft.
  4. Mix in a tablespoon of flour, pour in your beer and chicken stock, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. Place dumplings on top of the stew with about 1/2 inch between them. The dumplings act as a kind of lid, allowing the stew to retain moisture and not to boil dry. When perfectly cooked they will crisp up on the top and stay bun-like and soft on the bottom. Drizzle them with olive oil and put the pot into the preheated oven for 30-45 minutes.

*Note: Give the rabbit a try (!!), but, if you’re not fond of rabbit, feel free to substitute with chicken.

 

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