Roasted Rabbit Marinated in Apple Icewine

Serves 6
Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Adapted from “From Pemmican To Poutine A Journey through Canada's Culinary History” by Chef Suman Roy. Photo credit Chef Suman Roy.

Marinade:
1 cup Apple Icewine
2 cups chicken stock
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon fresh tarragon, finely chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon shallot, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chili pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Meat:
2 rabbits, 2 lbs. each

Roasting Vegetables:
3 sweet potatoes, 2” diced
2 carrots, peeled and 2” diced
1 celery stalk, 2” diced
1 onion, 5 cm 2” diced
1 bay leaf

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all of the ingredients for the marinade and marinate both rabbits overnight in a refrigerator.

2. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

3. In a roasting pan layer the bottom with the large diced vegetables, and place the 2 rabbits on top. Reserve any leftover marinade.

4. Roast in the oven covered for 3 hours until cooked through, basting occasionally with the leftover marinade. You will know it is cooked when the meat is almost falling off the bones.

5. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F and remove the cover to get an even golden brown colour on the rabbits.

6. Serve the rabbits with the vegetables and the juices from the pan.




When Carla Johnson was a teenager, her Mennonite grandmother caught her mom pouring red wine into a pan of chicken cacciatore and scolded, "Cooking with sin, are we?" That delightful memory inspired her blog & award-winning book "Cooking With Sin: Great Recipes Dipped in Alcohol & Wrapped in a Wonderful Story!"

Complementary Wines: Chablis, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Meritage, White Zinfandel

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