Cook! Cook! Where’s my Hasenpfeffer?

Whenever I hear the word hasenpfeffer, I automatically think of the Bugs Bunny cartoon “Shishkabugs.” Yosemite Sam is the cook for a fussy King, and has to figure out what hasenpfeffer is. Hasenpfeffer is a stewed rabbit dish from Germany. There are numerous variations, and this is version I make.

The hardest part of making hasenpfeffer is getting the rabbit. Where we live, finding rabbit in the grocery is chancy and usually expensive. Domestic rabbit is usually meatier and a little fattier than wild rabbit. Wild rabbit benefits from being marinated before cooking, but I find that it’s not as necessary with domestic rabbit. This recipe doesn’t call for marinating the rabbit at all, but most of the others I have found do.

This recipe can be prepared on the stove top or in the oven. I usually put in the oven so that I can ignore it for the longer cooking time.

Hasenpfeffer

• 1/3 pound bacon, chopped
• 1 rabbit, cut into pieces
• salt
• pepper
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 1 tablespoon currant jelly (or other fruit flavor)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a heavy pot, brown the bacon until crisp. Set aside, leaving the drippings in the pot. Mix salt, pepper, and flour together and coat the rabbit with the mixture. Brown the rabbit on all sides in the bacon drippings. Set the rabbit on a platter.

In the remaining fat, cook the onion and garlic until transparent and slightly browned. Use the red wine to de-glaze the pan. Pour in the broth and bring to a simmer. I start with 1/2 cup of broth and add a bit more if the sauce seems too thick. stir in the brandy, currant jelly, bay leaf, rosemary and thyme.

Add the rabbit and bacon back into the pot. At this point, either cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours or so until the rabbit is tender or put in the oven at 350 degrees for the same length of time. I baked my rabbit in a casserole dish covered with foil. When done, remove the bay leaf and stir in the lemon juice.

A few notes

I have found a few recipes that call for cutting all the meat off the rabbit and cutting into chunks like stew meat. That would cook more quickly, but I suspect it would be a lot work to get the meat off the rabbit when raw.

I use currant, raspberry or blueberry jam, depending on what I have on hand.

You can substitute chicken or turkey legs or thighs for the rabbit. The flavor of the meat is milder, but it is usually easier to find these in the store. You don’t need as much fat for these meats, so I drain some off before making the sauce. Chicken and turkey will cook in about two thirds the time depending on the size of the pieces.

Digging deeper

Hasenpeffer literally means hare with pepper. Pfeffer is also used to represent spices in general, hence you come across pfeffernusse cookies. These cookies do contain a small bit of pepper, and also ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom.