Braised rabbit in red wine and cranberry sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 wild hare, ready to cook
• 3 bay leaves, fresh
• 6 juniper berries, crushed
• 1 tsp peppercorns, black, ground
• 1 tsp fenugreek, ground
• 2 large onions
• 10 g butter
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 500 ml red wine, dry
• 1 handful of soup vegetables
• 1 handful of cranberries, dried
• butter
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 7 hours 45 minutes

When the hare is ready to cook, divide it into back and legs and remove the silver skin and fat. Set the parts aside for the sauce. Finely chop the fresh bay leaves, mix them with crushed juniper berries and ground peppercorns, as well as the fenugreek and oil, to make a marinade. Brush the hare pieces with this and let them marinate for about 5 hours. In the meantime, peel and dice an onion. Heat the oil and butter in a pan and fry the trimmings together with the diced onion until crisp. Add a little water and some of the red wine and simmer gently for about 2 hours. Then drain and collect the stock. Heat the oil and butter again in a roasting pan and lightly fry the soup vegetables, the second peeled and diced onion, and the cranberries. Place the meat pieces on top of the vegetables, dilute the excess marinade with a little water, and add it to the roasting pan along with the remaining red wine and stock. Roast in a preheated oven at 180°C for approximately 1 hour, then reduce the temperature to 150°C and braise for another hour. Brush the meat pieces with butter occasionally (about 2-3 times). Remove the meat from the roasting pan and keep warm. Strain the vegetables through a sieve and season the sauce with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with your desired side dishes (here: peppered cranberries, bread dumpling slices, and caramelized carrots).