Sweet-and-Sour Braised Rabbit with Chocolate
- 2 rabbits (about 3 pounds each)
- ¼ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground allspice
- ⅓ teaspoon mace
- About ½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour for dredging
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup vegetable oil, plus more if needed
- ¼ pound thickly sliced pancetta, chopped into ¼-inch dice
- 1 small onion, cut into ½-inch dice
- 12 shallots, peeled
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon tomato paste
- 2½ cups Chicken Stock or 5 cups high-quality canned low-sodium chicken broth, reduced to 2½ cups
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup Marsala
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar, or more to taste
- ¼ tablespoon crushed fennel seeds
- ¼ tablespoon crushed juniper berries
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1½ ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions:
The use of chocolate in savory cooking almost always calls to mind Mexican mole, but southern Italians have also used chocolate and spicy chiles to flavor meat dishes.
- You can ask the butcher to cut up the rabbits for you when you purchase them; otherwise, it’s no more difficult than cutting up a chicken. Remove the front and rear legs of one of the rabbits where the joints meet the body. A thin-bladed boning knife is the ideal tool for this task, but you can use just about any sharp knife. Remove the neck and discard, or use for stock. Using a cleaver or heavy chef’s knife, cut the body in half crosswise. You will now have 6 pieces—2 hind legs, 2 forelegs, and 2 halves of the body. Repeat with the remaining rabbit.
- Combine the red pepper flakes, cinnamon, allspice, mace, and flour in a large bowl. Sprinkle the rabbit pieces liberally with salt and pepper, then toss them in the seasoned flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat and brown the rabbit pieces on all sides. You will have to do this in a couple of batches—don’t crowd the pan. Place the browned rabbit in a large Dutch oven or cast-iron casserole. If the sauté pan is covered with blackened bits of flour, wipe it out and add another few tablespoons of vegetable oil.
- Add the pancetta to the sauté pan and cook over medium heat until the fat turns translucent and starts to render, about 1½ minutes. Add the onion, shallots, and garlic and stir them about until they start to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 more minute. Transfer the vegetables to the pot with the rabbit.
- Deglaze the sauté pan with the chicken stock: bring the stock to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan with a spoon to dissolve any crispy bits in the hot liquid. Pour over the rabbit.
- Melt the sugar in a nonreactive small saucepan over medium heat. Watch the sugar closely, and remove it from the heat as soon as it caramelizes. Stir in the Marsala and 2 tablespoons of the red wine vinegar in a slow stream (if you add the wine too fast, it will splatter). As soon as the liquid is blended with the caramelized sugar, pour the mixture into the pot with the rabbit.
- Add the fennel seeds, juniper berries, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf to the pot and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the rabbit is tender but not falling off the bone, about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°F. Transfer the rabbit to a heatproof platter and place in the oven. Reduce the braising liquid over high heat until it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Lower the heat to medium, add the chocolate and the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, and stir until the chocolate melts completely. Taste—the flavor should be a balance of sweet and sour. Add more vinegar if necessary. Discard the bay leaf, and season with salt and pepper.
- Ladle a light coating of sauce over the rabbit. Present the platter at the table and offer the remaining sauce on the side.