Conejo Confitado
Confit Rabbit Leg with Bread and Thyme Sauce
Preparation info
Difficulty
Medium
Media Ración
6
Appears in
MoVida
By Frank Camorra and Richard Cornish
Published 2007
About half an hour from my house is a great bluestone mansion sitting by the banks of the Barwon River. Some Einstein in the nineteenth century thought it would be a nice idea to have a few rabbits run about the front paddock. So they brought them over from England. Those few rabbits bred up into a plague of biblical proportions and virtually ate Australia to the ground.
Ever since we moved to Geelong my family has been doing our bit to save Australia from this vermin. Dad was a mean shot, mum a good cook and my sister and I were hungry, growing kids. Rabbit is lean, flavoursome and surprisingly easy to cook. At MoVida, we love to confit rabbit. It cooks all the flesh without drying it out.
This dish creates its own bread sauce. The breadcrumbs on top become crisp and brown and the ones that fall into the roasting tin absorb the stock, cooking juices and flavour of the rabbit and thyme.
Ingredients
6 6 6 1.5 litres 52 fl oz 6 cups - about
300 g 10½ oz 2 tablespoons 1 large handful 100 ml 3½ fl oz 100 g 3½ oz
Method
Lay the rabbit leg pieces and the garlic in a roasting tin, just large enough to comfortably fit the rabbit. Place a sprig of thyme on each leg and cover with the olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and
Meanwhile, make coarse breadcrumbs by breaking up the bread into a food processor then blending on high for several minutes. Add the thyme, parsley and a pinch each of salt and pepper and mix in the food processor for 20 seconds.
When the rabbit is cooked, remove from the oil and drain on paper towel. Put in a clean roasting tin, just large enough to comfortably fit the rabbit, pour in the chicken stock and cover with the breadcrumb mix. Place small pieces of butter on the breadcrumbs above each leg.
Increase the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4) and
© 2007 All rights reserved. Published by Murdoch Books.