This is a classic German and Dutch stew that literally means "pepper rabbit". The reason being is that you marinate the rabbit in a mixture of vinegar, wine, and pepper for a number of days to infuse the flavor. When they say "pepper" it means spiced, not spicy. It is also a dish in Looney Tunes, the Shishkabugs episode, that Yosemite Sam tries to turn Bugs into. I never had an opportunity to make it in a professional sitting, mainly because I rarely used rabbit. I have done a couple of Easter specials, and have used it in a couple of the restaurants I have worked at, but rarely had it on the actual menu.
There are a number of variations to this soup, but the one I created had mushrooms though no bacon, potatoes, or celery. I went this route because I made a caraway spaetzle to give it volume and a simple shaved cabbage salad to add some crunch. Because rabbit can be pricey in the markets I added some chicken to this recipe, not a traditional take, but one that gives you more finished product with less of the expense. And lastly, though it is frequently served with the bones, I do not like picking bones out of soup. So my solution was to use all the bones to fortify the broth, then discard them, leaving you with a soup that is completely edible, without picking pieces from it.
As I said there a many variations on this, more wine, adding different veg, but the main takeaway is you marinate the rabbit for a couple of days to create the flavor base of this soup.
Enjoy.
Ingredients
Red Wine Pepper Marinade
Rabbit, broken down* 1 ea
Chicken Thighs 6 ea
Red Wine 1 cup
Red Wine Vinegar 3 T
Garlic Cloves, smashed 4 ea
Thyme, fresh 1 oz
Mustard Powder 1 T
Salt 1 tsp
Peppercorns 1 T
Onion, sliced 1 ea
Rosemary 1 oz
Caraway seeds, toasted 2 tsp
*Breaking down a rabbit is the same as any other animal. Follow the bones and cartilage and you will break down the animal into it's primal cuts.
Rabbit Dredge
Wondra Flour* 2 cups
Avenue Spice 1 T
Salt 1 tsp
Pepper, fresh ground 1 tsp
*Wondra is a finely ground flour that doesn't clump. It creates a good crust when sauteed and will help thicken the soup a bit at well.
Soup
Carrots, oblique cut 4 ea
Onion, julienned 2 ea
Cremini mushrooms, sliced 12 oz
Chicken Stock 2 qt
Water 2 qt
Thyme, sachet 1 T
Juniper berries, sachet 1 T
Rosemary, minced 2 tsp
Mustard seed, toasted, sachet 2 tsp
Cloves, sachet 1 tsp
Avenue Spice 2 T
Bay leaves, sachet 4 ea
Vegetable base* 2 T
*You can sub chicken base as well. Because I reduced the amount of different vegetables in the soup, I wanted to fortify it a little more.
Garnish
Cabbage Salad*, Caraway Spaetzle
*For the cabbage salad I thinly sliced cabbage and lightly cured it with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar similar to my pepper slaw in concept, just not flavor.
Method of Procedure
Combine all the marinade ingredients and put your broken down rabbit and chicken into it for 24 hours minimum.
Once marinated, remove and cut into small cutlets. Reserve the bones to help fortify the soup.
Mix your flour dredge together.
Heat your braising pan to medium high heat and add oil.
Toss your cutlets, in small batches, into the flour dredge and pan fry to color. Repeat until all the cutlets are fried.
While you are searing the meat, make a spice sachet and cut all your vegetables to the appropriate size.
Once all your meat is finished add your onions and mushrooms then continue to cook on medium heat, until they start sweating.
Add your vegetable base and avenue spice then stir until the onion mix is coated.
Place your meat, carrots, sachet, bay leaves, and liquids into the pan and bring to a quick boil. Add your bones and reduce to a simmer.
Cook for 1 hour and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Remove the bones and serve with garnishes.
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