I was at Savenor’s Market in Cambridge the other day helping them with a fun project (more details soon!) and as a thank you, Ron, the owner, loaded me up with tons of meat. This place has everything! From local, grass-fed beef to exotic meats like alligator, rabbit and python. Yes, I just said python. I have never cooked rabbit in my house, and knew my kids would be excited to try it, so I looked up a few recipes and took the best of all of them. Don’t be scared by the thought of eating rabbit. It has a taste just like dark meat chicken. In fact, if I didn’t know, I would have sworn these rabbit legs were from a bird. When you look at the nutrient density of rabbit compared to chicken legs, rabbit scores much higher in Vitamins B12, Niacin and B6. Rabbit also has more iron, more protein, fewer calories and less omega-6 fatty acids than chicken. I say rabbit is a winner! The best part is, my whole family loved it. The vegetables were tender and the meat fell off the bone. It’s a perfect dish for a cold night!
Plus, it was so cozy to smell the stew bubbling away on the stove while I watched the snow fall.
- 2½lbs rabbit legs (about 5 legs)
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 2 TBS coconut oil
- 3 spring onions (or 1 large white onion) finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large winter storage carrots (about 2 cups), peeled and chopped
- 1 head of celeriac, peeled and diced
- 1 medium-sized head of fennel, diced
- 1 parsnip, peeled and diced
- 2 TBS herbs fines
- 1 quart of homemade broth/stock (I used beef bone broth, but chicken broth would be ok too)
- ⅓ bottle of red wine
- 1 cup frozen baby peas
- On a plate, pour out the coconut flour and mix it with the salt and pepper.
- Heat a dutch oven over medium heat on the stove top.
- Add 1 TBS of the coconut oil.
- Dredge the rabbit legs in the coconut flour mixture on both sides, and working in batches, saute them in the dutch oven until browned on both sides.
- Remove the browned rabbit legs and saute the others until done, adding more coconut oil if needed.
- Pre-heat your oven to 275 degrees F.
- When you have finished browning the rabbit, add 2 TBS of butter or coconut oil to the dutch oven and saute the onion for about five minutes.
- Now add the herbs, garlic, carrot, parsnip, fennel, and celeriac.
- Saute for about ten minutes longer, stirring occasionally.
- Place the rabbit legs back in the pot and cover with the broth and wine.
- Bring the pot to a simmer.
- Place the lid on the pot and remove from stove top.
- Put the whole pot in the oven for 2.5 hours.
- When done, remove from the oven and remove lid.
- Add the peas and serve.
1 thought on “Rabbit Stew with Spring Onions, Fennel and Carrots”
Looks great!