July 21st is Belgian National Day, so what better way to celebrate than cooking a traditional Belgian dish?
Rabbit in Kriek
Ingredients
4 ea Rabbit legs or 1 3lb rabbit cut in 8
3 ea shallots minced
6 oz dried sour cherries
1 small bunch thyme
1 ea 375ml bottle kriek bier
3 oz sugar
8 oz demi-glace
1 oz red wine vinegar
2 oz butter
Salt and pepper
Directions
1.In a large sauté pan over medium- high heat, brown the rabbit legs or pieces in a small amount of vegetable oil, set aside.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and add the red wine vinegar and the sugar, cook until it becomes a heavy syrup.
3.To the heavy syrup add the minced shallots and dried cherries, the heat of the syrup will begin to cook the shallots. Once the shallots are soft, add the thyme, and the browned rabbit.
4. Add the kriek beer and the demi-glace. Bring to a boil.
5. Tightly cover the pan and place into a 285ᵒF oven for approximately 1 hour or until the rabbit is tender.
6. Transfer the cooked rabbit legs or pieces to a serving platter reserve the liquid in the pan.
7. Return the pan to the stove, over medium heat, reduce the remaining liquid by about half. Remove the thyme, and slowly stir in the butter. Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper.
