Our Flavor ingredient this week is rabbit. I love rabbit. It’s not something I eat often, but each time I do I wish I would think to eat it more often. One of my favorite recipes is a slow bake with onions, fennel and white wine. Today I decided to make what is essentially a recipe for Chicken Marbella and use rabbit instead of chicken. For those of you who don’t know what Chicken Marbella is, it’s a baked dishe of chicken pieces, prunes, green olives and capers in a sweet sour sauce. I thought this would match perfectly with the rich rabbit.
I loved this dish. The sweetness from the brown sugar was cut by the tang of the red wine vingear and capers and olives. I will be making this dish again, either using rabbit or chicken.
Rabbit Marbella 3-4 servings
1 rabbit, 2 1/2 – 3 lbs, cut into pieces
5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup pitted prunes
1/8 cup pitted Spanish green olives (I used the kind stuffed with garlic)
1/8 cup capers, drained, but use a little juice also
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine
1. In a large bowl, combine the rabbit, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper, prunes, olives, capers, and bay leaf. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate, at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Place the rabbit pieces in a shallow baking dish without overlapping them. Spoon the marinade, including the prunes, capers and olives, over the rabbit. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and white wine.
4. Bake 50-60 minutes, basting frequently with the marinade and juices.
5. Transfer to a large platter and serve along with the pan juices.