French Rabbit Casserole with Lemon & Garlic

 Or as this dish is called in France "Lapin en Cocotte au Citron a L'ail", why is it that to the English at least, dishes sound so much more appetising in French or Italian!

This recipe is from Daniel Galmiche's brilliant "French Brasserie Cookbook" and whilst its a simple dish it does need to be cooked with some care.

In France, Spain and Italy, Rabbit is hugely popular yet in England it is less common. It is very much like Chicken but with a more gamey flavour and I would really encourage you to try it

Its the first time I had attempted this recipe and on reading it through I thought it would benefit from the addition of white wine, but I followed the recipe to the letter and rather glad I did, wine would have changed this dish to something completely different, as it was the sauce was a light syrupy delight.

So for the first time at least, stick to the recipe. This is a spectacular dish a beautiful marriage of flavours and a recipe I whole heartedly urge you to try.

Pre heat your oven to 180c. Put the zest and juice of a lemon in a bowl with a couple of tbsp of Olive Oil and add your Jointed Rabbit, season with Salt and Pepper and let it marinate for 5 minutes.

In a large Casserole dish add 15g of Butter and a good glug of Olive Oil and put on a medium high heat and sauté the rabbit pieces until golden brown, takes around 8 minutes each side. Now add 4 Garlic cloves unpeeled crushed with the flat  edge of your knife and the Lemon marinade, turn the heat down slightly and stir to deglaze your pan.

Reduce the liquid for around 5 minutes until it is slightly syrupy and coats the back of a spoon. Add a 500ml of Chicken Stock, I had added the heart liver and head of the Rabbit to a Chicken stock to get more Flavour, and poured it through a sieve into the casserole dish with a couple of sprigs of fresh Thyme bring to the boil and put in the oven 30 to 35 minutes.

After half an hour remove the rabbit from the casserole dish onto an ovenproof serving dish and keep warm in the oven. Return the Casserole dish to the hob and bring the cooking liquid to the boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered, for about 5 minutes until the sauce has the consistency of a light syrup.

Pour the sauce over the Rabbit and serve with some Chopped Parsley and a buttered Spinach