Skip to main content
Main

Rabbit, Rich Stew of

A rabbit stew simmered with stock, claret, bacon, onions, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Rabbit, Rich Stew of

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the rabbit into small joints.

  2. Dice the bacon.

  3. Peel the onions.

Brown the meat

  1. Heat the butter in a stewpan.

  2. Fry the onions and bacon until brown.

  3. Remove the onions and bacon to a plate.

  4. Add the rabbit to the pan.

  5. Brown the rabbit slightly.

  6. Sprinkle in the flour.

  7. Continue frying until the rabbit and flour are well browned.

  8. Return the onions and bacon to the pan.

Stew and finish

  1. Add the hot stock, bouquet garni, cloves, peppercorns, and salt.

  2. Cover closely.

  3. Stew gently for about 1 hour, until the rabbit is tender.

  4. Fifteen minutes before serving, add the claret.

  5. When the sauce reaches a simmer, add the washed liver cut into small pieces.

  6. Cook for about 10 minutes.

  7. Serve the rabbit in the center of a hot dish.

  8. Strain the sauce over it.

  9. Garnish with bacon and onions.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through long, gentle stewing.
Butter
Fat for frying that carries flavour and helps the rabbit and onions brown.
Flour
Browned with the rabbit and then stirred into the stock, it thickens the sauce.
Streaky bacon
Fried until brown, adding smoky, savoury fat flavour to the stew and garnish.
Button onions
Browned first, then simmered until soft, adding sweetness to the sauce.
Claret
Added near the end, it adds acidity and wine flavour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the rabbit and flour. Frying the rabbit and flour until well browned builds deep colour and roasted flavour through the Maillard reaction, which later carries into the sauce. Pale frying leaves the stew tasting flat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, butter, flour, parsley, thyme, clove, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, butter, flour, parsley, thyme, clove, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More rabbit stew recipes

in Milk 5Spanish 5Herb 4Bordeaux 3with Bacon 3with Bacon and Sherry 3 See all 81 →

You might also like

Rabbit PattiesRabbit Patties6 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipes