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Not really a recipe for squeamish eaters, although you could leave out the kidneys and black pudding if necessary! Kept seeing saddle of rabbit in the butchers so I gave it a wee google, figured out some stuff that’d go well with it, went out and bought it all. Brought it home, opened it, and realised I’d have to partially butcher it myself. F*ck. So I youtubed it and attempted to emulate Michel Roux Jr with a clip around 10 seconds long…needless to say it didn’t go fantastically well and there was a LOT of improvisation but it did the job and tasted good, so who really cares! The link to the clip is below, it actually isn’t the most difficult thing in the world and I’d say next time I go after thumper I could give it a better go…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqrXq0pKga4

Ingredients

  • 1 saddle of rabbit
  • 4 slices of parma or serrano ham
  • 3 shallots
  • Around half a pack of black pudding
  • Packet of button mushrooms
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Piece of string (app. 2ft in length)
  • 5 medium potatoes
  • 1 medium white onion
  • 2 chicken/vegetable stock cubes
  • Bottle of red wine
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: Remove kidneys and bones from saddle of rabbit. Set kidneys to the side and throw out the spine, unless you’ve chosen a nice chianti and wanna go Hannibal Lector on it. Also remove any excess sinew or fat stuck to the meat. Then, cut the saddle in half vertically so you are left with 2 fillets with a flap of belly meat attached to each.

Before:

After:

  • Preheat your oven to 200°c
  • Finely dice 1 shallot, a handful of mushrooms and a third of your black pudding. Fry all of it off in a little olive oil until the onions and mushrooms have softened and set aside in a bowl. This will be used as the stuffing.

  • Dice your white onion, and thinly slice your potatoes. The potatoes should be almost transluscent.

  • Fry off the diced white onion and one finely diced clove of garlic until soft and lightly coloured.
  • Take a casserole dish and cover the bottom with one layer of sliced potatoes. Top with a little of your fried onion. Repeat this process until you’ve used up all of both, adding a little pepper every 2 layers or so.

  • In a measuring jug, combine one of your stock cubes with app. 500mls of boiling water.
  • Pour the stock into the casserole dish until it comes around 2/3s of the way to the top.
  • Put in the oven and set your timer for 40 minutes.
  • Next, take your bowl of fried stuffing mix and line along the fillet part of the saddle of rabbit with it.

  • Take each one individually and roll the wrap of belly meat around the stuffing and the fillet, securing with string. This is important as otherwise the black pudding will expand in the oven and it will fall apart! And don’t worry if wee bits of filling fall out, it doesn’t have to be perfect!

  • The rabbit only needs 15 minutes in the oven so set it aside until the timer for the potatoes is down to 15.
  • While you’re waiting, chop the rest of your shallots, mushrooms, black pudding and garlic and fry them off.
  • Add one glass of red wine and a little stock to this mixture. Simmer and add cornflour to thicken and create gravy. Salt and pepper as needed.
  • Once the timer has 15 minutes left, drizzle the rabbit with a little olive oil and put in the oven.
  • When ready, remove the rabbit and potatoes from the oven.
  • Remove the string from the rabbit with scissors, wrap each piece in 2 slices of serrano/parma ham and fry in a little olive oil until outsides are crispy. Fry the kidneys for 3-4 minutes.
  • Pour yourself a glass of wine.

  • Plate up! Smother the rabbit in the gravy mix with potatoes and fried kidneys on the side. I also served it with some baby carrots – boiled for 15 mins then fried in a tbsp of brown sugar, the juice of half a lemon and a wee bit of salt and pepper! 🙂