07 Dec Casserole of hare in tajine recipe
I love Indian food so this recipe is with an Indian twist! Hare is one of my favourite types of game. It is a very versatile dish: casseroles, to medium rare filets or slowly cooked legs in beer. Although there are a lot of Hare ‘running’ around in the fields, it is quite difficult to get hold of them. Waller & Son in Victoria Avenue and Andrew Northrop in Mill Road Cambridge stock them most of the time when in season.
Casserole of a hare is very popular in my home country and one of the popular ingredients is ginger biscuits or the traditional ‘Frisian Kruidkoek’, which you can buy at the Delhi in Norfolk street. I decided to go for a different recipe this time and gave my casserole an Indian twist so created a casserole of a hare in a tajine. It’s rather yummy!
Ingredients
1 Hare
100 gr. diced smoked bacon
1.5 chopped red onion
2 dessert spoons of butter
pepper and salt
1 bay leave
1 star anise
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 green cardamon
3cm of cinnamon stick
2 cloves
game or beef stock to cover the meat
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 180 Degrees.
Start with taking the legs of the hare and the fillets, which are covered under the rack. Most butchers will cut the hare up in pieces. It is best to ask them either not to do this or leave the back (rack) intact. The legs are great if they are prepared in the slow cooking method with beer, but if you wish you can add them to the casserole. The fillet only needs sealing. It is quite nice to keep some of the fillets on the rack so you can prepare it with a crust, just like you do with a rack of lamb.
Fry the onion and the bacon until lightly brown. Add the garam masala, but don’t fry it. Put all the ingredients in a casserole, including the hare. Make sure it sits snug in the pot. Mix it thoroughly then add the stock to the casserole to cover the meat.
Cook it slowly in the oven until the meat falls off the bone. This will take between 1 – 1.5 hours. When finished take it out of the oven and take the hare off the bone and mix it with the sauce.
I experimented with a tajine and the outcome was fantastic as it slow cooks the meat very well. If you have an Aga, you should cook the hare in the slow cooking oven for the best result.
Serving suggestions:
On the continent, game is eaten usually with something sweet on the side such as pears in red wine or cranberries. Creamed chicory or chicory with pear prepared in white wine with bleu cheese is very nice too. Sprouts or red cabbage are the classics though.
For potatoes, you can use either mash potatoes or Pommes dauphinoise.
Enjoy!
Gerla
We are the local experts in creating unique food tours and events with an in-depth knowledge of the local Cambridge food scene and close partnerships with local businesses.
