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Donal Skehan
Braised Rabbit Pie | DonalSkehan.com, Brilliant traditional pie recipe.
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Braised Rabbit Pie

July 29

Rabbit was a great food for country people for many years. Tomás O’Crohan in The Islandman tells us of the many rabbits they caught on the Blasket islands when he was young: ‘When we had all come to the boat and put the game together, we had eight dozen rabbits – a dozen a-piece.’ Maurice o’Sullivan in Twenty years A-Growing writes of the same island and rabbit stew: ‘We sat down to dinner, a savoury dinner it was – a fine stew of rabbits and plenty of soup.’ Young rabbits can be roasted – as with the body of the hare – and wrapped in bacon. Recipe from The Pleasures of the Table: Rediscovering Theodora Fitzgibbon.

  • serves Serves 6
  • time

Method

  1. 1. Pat the joints dry. Heat the oil and fry the joints on all sides until brown. Lift out and put into a casserole.
  2. 2. In the same oil lightly fry the vegetables, add the marjoram, sprinkle a little flour over and stir. Add the stock gradually, stirring until smooth, then stir in a few tablespoons of the marinade.
  3. 3. Pour this over the rabbit, cover and cook in a moderate oven at 180°c/350°F/ gas mark 4 for about half an hour, then lower the heat to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2 for a further 1 1⁄2 hours or until tender.
  4. 4. While the rabbit is cooking, place the flour and butter in a bowl and using a butter knife, cut the butter into the flour until you have a rough pebble mixture.
  5. 5. Whisk together the egg with the balsamic vinegar and sea salt. Add this to the butter and flour and using two forks gently toss through until the dough begins to come together.
  6. 6. Add a little cold water to bring the dough to a rough ball.
  7. 7. Turn the pastry out on to parchment paper or cling film, parcel up and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
  8. 8. Take the meat when cooked from the bones, add 2 or 3 rashers of chopped bacon and fill the stock to come up to within 2.5 cm (1 in) of the rim of the dish. Roll out pastry until it's 0.5 mm thick. Brush the edges of pie dish with a beaten egg.
  9. 9. Lay pastry on top and prick the edges with a fork. Brush the top of pie with remaining egg wash and cook for about half an hour, until golden brown.

Ingredients

1 rabbit, jointed

3 tbsp oil

1 large onion, sliced

3–4 carrots, sliced

2 or 3 rashers of chopped bacon

1 tbsp flour

Pinch powdered marjoram

Salt and pepper

600 ml chicken stock or half stock, half cider

1 beaten egg

For the pastry

250g plain flour

170g very cold, butter (cut into small cubes)

1 tsp sea salt

1 egg

1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

30ml ice cold water

You'll Need

Casserole dish