Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

TC

Phew! You had me worried for a minute, i mean the though of an ostrich, boiling water and all.....!

[dinos]

I've never seen rabbit at the butchers!!!

Then again I've hardly ever gone to the butchers to buy anything...my mum does that, and most of the time I just get all the meat products from Tescos....

Rabbit is delicious though, we used to eat it all the time....and my grandad would skin it too and hang the pelt or whatever you call it on the washing line to dry....

I also remember my grandad bringing what I think was an Ostrich...I could be wrong but it was a HUUUUUUUUUUGE bird, absolutely massive....and they killed it by pouring boiling water over it ....it tasted good though.

I have similar memories of my grandfather. They'd buy rabbits off the truck, keep 'em for a couple of days and then get 'em ready for the pot. That was the first time I ever saw anyone kill their own food. I was about 12 or 13 at the time.

It was quite tasty and I definitely learned a lot from that.

Hope you're well...

[LENA]

Nikita that recipe sound a bit different from what I know, for example we do not put cumin and the onions are not boiled at all but we chopped them not like cubes but like lines,

By the way I remember using hot water for the feathers too for chickens. My family never had turkeys! Chicken and rabbits were the main pets

[Nikitas]

Lena,

I know there are differences in my recipe. You note that there is no tomato paste either, it makes the sauce to acidic. Small onions will sort of break apart so there is no need to chop them. It is a fiddly business to peel them though!

[LENA]

Lena,

I know there are differences in my recipe. You note that there is no tomato paste either, it makes the sauce to acidic. Small onions will sort of break apart so there is no need to chop them. It is a fiddly business to peel them though!

True no tomato paste or chopped tomatoes. May be one day i will try your recipe.

[webbo]

OK as a life long hunter I will share my secret with you.

I assume you mean stifado (esuffade in French and stuffato in Italian).

Cut your rabbit into portions. It can also be done with hare or beef. Marinate in dry red wine overnight in the fridge.

Get small onions, same weight as the rabbit or hare and peel. This is a chore but it must be done. Put the onions in boiling water for 10 minutes to "break their strength" a little bit. Drain and set aside.

In a large stainless pot put in 3/4 of a bottle of dry red wine and simmer to get rid of the wine alcohol. ALcohol makes the food bitter. Add half a teaspoon ground cumin, half a teaspoon ground cinammon and one large bay leaf. Optional are nutmeg and cloves. Salt and pepper to your taste. Add half a cup of extra virgin olive oil and one or two tablespoons vinegar. You must use stainless steel becaue the red wine and vinegar are acidic and can react with other materials- ie enamel or cast iron.

Now take your marinated rabbit and drain and pat dry with paper towels. In a non stick frying pan, using very little extra virgin olive oil, brown the pieces of rabbit on high heat. Once all the pieces are browned put them in the pan with the wine and simmer for half an hour to an hour, depending on the age of the rabbit. Hare will need longer since it is tougher meat. Now add your onions on top, do not stir, or you will break them apart. Let simmer half hour more. Simmer, do not boil! Boiling will toughen the meat.

Alternatively you can use a pressure cooker and put in meat and onions at the same time and nuke them for 25 minutes.

When done and you think the sauce is too thin you can boil the sauce alone for a while to thicken it. This recipe is guaranteed to work, has been succesfully tried by yours truly hundreds of times.

Now if you can find a French rose wine called Tavel you will enjoy it even more

For some strange reason I do not like Stifado - keep trying it, but thanks but no thanks!!
I love chicken, any good recipes would be gratefully received!
BTW, I prefer my wine in a glass - a big glass!!

Bubbles x

[Nikitas]

Oops! Forgot to mention the Tavel is for drinking with the meal, not to put it in the stew!!!!

[webbo]

[quote="Nikitas"]Oops! Forgot to mention the Tavel is for drinking with the meal, not to put it in the stew!!!![/quote


No chicken recipes then??????!!

Bubbles x

[Nikitas]

OK here is an Egyptian recipe that my grandmother used to make.

Dice up a few onion really fine. Fry them in a mix of extra virgin olive and unsalted butter till they are tranlucent but not brown. As you stir fry them sprinkle ground cumin over them. In fact quite a lot of ground cumin. Once the onions are soft stuff them into the chicken and sew it up.

Boil chicken as you would normally. Once it is done take it out and use the juice to make rice.

Open the chicken and transfer the onion stuffing onto the rice. Serve the chicken on the side.

[Nikitas]

Forgot the salt again. I dont like salty food so you have to figure out how much salt goes according to your taste.