Rabbit and Beer Stew

Saturday, 6th April 2013

Rabbit appears so rarely in the local supermarket, I feel compelled to buy one when it does.
In this case I tried this recipe. I did the marinading, although I did have to use a german wheat beer instead of the dark belgian beer suggested. In Köln, if you don't go to a specialist store, you can only buy Kölsch (probably 19 different ones), Pils or Wheat Beer. Still the wheat beer worked fine.
A little carrot is enough for me, so I reduced the amount of that and added some turnip as well. I left out the prunes and marmelade (even more difficult to buy in Köln than dark beer!), and substituted a big spoonful of my partner's plum preserve. And we used arrowroot and water, instead of cornstarch and milk.
And I added dumplings because, well.... why wouldn't you??
Delicious! The plum preserve was an inspired touch and the sauce was fantastic. The veggies were perfectly cooked, and the meat was tender and juicy. It was a whole rabbit, so there was way too much for two. I had the left overs a couple of days later (re-heated in a double boiler) and, if anything, it was even better.