Rabbit confit
By Nick Nairn
Ingredients
| Quantity | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wild rabbit jointed into 6 pieces (your butcher can do this for you) |
| 100g | Course sea salt |
| 6 | Cloves |
| 2 teaspoons | Fennel seeds |
| 2 teaspoons | Coriander seeds |
| 4 teaspoons | Pink peppercorns |
| 1 bulb | Garlic |
| 1 sprig | Thyme |
| 1 | Carrot |
| 1 stick | Celery |
| 1 | Onion |
| 1 litre | Olive oil |
| Small bunch | Flat leaf parsley |
Method
The first thing to do is salt the rabbit. Mix together half of the fennel seeds, coriander, peppercorns and cloves with the salt. Then split the garlic in half and roughly chop it up and add to the salt along with half of the fresh thyme. Lay the rabbit out onto a tray and massage the salt mix into it. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 2 hours. This process is done to draw out some of the water content from the meat and will impart the flavours of the salt mix into the rabbit at the same time giving you a great depth of flavour.
Peel the carrot and cut in half lengthways and then chop into slices about 1cm thick. Wash the celery stick and then slice into pieces the same size as the carrot. Peel and roughly dice the onion and mix with the carrot and celery. This is what we call a mirepoix and is used in various stocks and sauces. In a large pan that has a tight fitting lid, lightly fry the mirepoix with a little of the olive oil, not too hot as you don鈥檛 want any colour, just enough to get the flavours coming out of the vegetables. Then add the remaining spices and the rest of the garlic and the thyme and stir together. As you start to get a good smell of all the flavours working together then add all of the remaining olive oil and turn down the heat.
Remove the rabbit from the fridge and using a clean dry cloth or some kitchen paper brush off all of the salt and spice mix and then place the cleaned rabbit into the oil and gently bring it up to a light simmer. Pop the lid on and place into the oven at 130掳C for 2 hrs.
When you remove the pan from the oven please remember that the handle is hot. Leave a tea towel wrapped around the handle so that you're not tempted to grab it 鈥� the lid will also be hot! Leave the rabbit to cool in the oil for about 30-40 minutes. When it has cooled sufficiently then gently lift the meat out and onto a tray. Strain all of the vegetables out of the oil and discard but keep hold of the oil. Next you need to pick the meat from the bones, this should be easy as the meat will be very tender and almost falling off already. Discard the bones.
Using two forks, shred the meat up into fine strips and place into a clean bowl. Finely chop the parsley and add to the meat. Next add three or four tablespoons of the oil to bind the meat together. Add a little pepper to season, but you shouldn鈥檛 need any salt.
Serve on little spoons as a canap茅 or on top of crusty bread. Delicious.
