Did you know that you cannot shoot or take a hare either on a Sunday or on Christmas Day?
As the season (from August 1 to February 29) is in full swing, it is time to cook your hare. It is best to hang your hare for a while in your shed – depending on the weather and shed temperature, a couple of days should be quite sufficient if you do not like it too gamey.
Serves 8
Ingredients
Jugged hare
1 hare skinned and portioned, washed then drained until dry
Seasoned flour
2 tablespoons of olive oil for frying
½ of the hare liver finely chopped (for the thickening process)
1 tablespoon hare blood (for the thickening process)
2 pints strong beef stock
½ bottle of Port wine
1 bottle of red wine
3 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
5 cloves of garlic peeled and crushed
2 onions peeled, 1 chopped and 1 studded with 8 cloves to put whole into the hare stew
1 lemon, quartered
8 rashers of streaky bacon chopped into pieces.
1 large pinch of cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons of redcurrant jelly
Forcemeat dumplings
The hare heart finely chopped
The hare kidneys finely chopped
½ of the hare liver finely chopped
150 g breadcrumbs
50 g butter
The zest of one lemon
1 sprig of parsley, chopped
1 egg, beaten
Method
If you are feeling brave, have a go at preparing your hare yourself … Alternatively the butcher can do it for you!
To Prepare The Hare:
Well it is not for the faint hearted but here we go, time to roll up the sleeves and dive in!
1. Remove the fur by making a slit in the belly and gently prising off the fur up the hare and over the head, then cut this off.
2. Pull the fur down and over the legs snapping the legs off at the joint – discard.
3. Remove the guts – the wormy bits that are greenish in colour and look like giant Udon noodles should be discarded. But keep the liver, heart, and kidney. Squeeze out the above cuts and any extra blood for thickening the jugged hare.
4. Take the meat off the leg bones and remove any sinews, remove the two loins along the bone, the fillet on the underside of the loin and cut it all into bite sized pieces. Wash the pieces of the hare then …
To Cook The Hare
1. Marinade the hare in port wine and red wine overnight with the bay leaves, herbs and crushed garlic.
2. Lightly pat with seasoned flour and pan fry the pieces of hare in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until golden brown on all sides.
3. Remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe the excess oil from the pan and fry the onion, garlic and bacon, then add the whole studded onion with the cloves and add the quartered lemon pieces (any visible pips removed)
4. Place this in a deep tray to go into the oven. Swill out the pan (deglaze) with a little red wine and add this to the tray.
5. Add the rest of the red wine, the port and the stock. Place the hare pieces in the tray, put a lid on the top and slow cook for 2 hours at 170°C until the hare is tender.
6. Add the forcemeat dumplings and cook for a further ½ an hour with the lid on.
7. Remove the lid and cook for a further ½ an hour until the dumplings are crispy and golden on top.
8. Add the blood and mix in the portion of chopped liver to thicken the sauce. Do not boil the sauce after this. Finally stir in some redcurrant jelly before correcting the seasoning.
9. Remove the 4 lemon quarters, garnish with a generous sprinkle of chopped parsley.
Serve with some mashed or roast potatoes and perhaps some oven roasted root vegetables.
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