Ecce, Rabbit!

For the third or fourth weekend in a row, I spent last Saturday cooking German. At The Dulcinea's request, I made hasenpfeffer or rabbit stew. Now, I'd never cooked rabbit prior to this though I'd eaten it. The Dulcinea, on the other hand, had never eaten it previously. I found this odd for some reason; I guess I just assume that everyone from Wisconsin (outside of Milwaukee) has had it at least once. A friend of mine had found a rabbit for me at UW Provisions when he went to pick up the goat that he had ordered from the folks there. It was dirt cheap too. This was really nice because it saved me a fair amount of money as I was going to buy one from Bavaria Sausage or Whole Foods where they're about three times more expensive. He presented it to me at work a couple Thursdays ago but I forgot to bring it home so it stayed in the dorm frig there over the weekend. Actually, I tried to go there that Saturday but found that my door card didn't work. Such is the Rodney Dangerfield-esque life of a contractor. I finally remembered to get it home one night last week after having had a few too many at the Brass Ring and finally got it marinating in a haze of Tommy's Porter from Lake Louie. A few days later, it became dinner. Here it is after having been pulled from its bath:



While prepping, I sampled a German brew that I had picked up. It was from Klosterbrauerei and was their Schwarzer Abt or Black Abbot. The label boasts, "During a fast, nothing will sustain you like a Black Abbot." They weren't shittin' me! It is a very rich and malty brew – liquid bread is an apt description. And, as the name implies, it's pitch black. I found it to be pretty good. I have very catholic taste in bier so that I'm not raving about it is revelatory. It was certainly not bad, by any means, but it had a rather prominent sweetness that was not balanced out by carbonation, for instance. It came in a 16oz bottle, if I recall correctly, and it was a bit too much. Twelve would have been fine. Then again, I wasn't eating anything at the time and I think that it would have gone well with beef that was heartily seasoned with pepper.

Anyway, I hacked up the rabbit and then browned the pieces in some Danish butter.



As I was sampling another German brew, Schlenkerla's Urbock smoked beer, The Dulcinea came over. She is a fan of rauchbier and so she was quite pleased. We ate some sausage and crackers along with it and the bier went down well. Rauchbiers are definitely an acquired taste as I can imagine many folks choking on the smoky Reinheitsgeboty goodness. I liked the stuff but probably couldn't quaff down a whole lot of it without some food to balance the situation on my tongue. After consuming a bit, The Dulcinea began to prepare dessert. Meanwhile I fried up some potatoes and prepared some Nurnberg bratwurst.



I warmed up some red cabbage as well as some green veggies and we ate heartily.



For dessert, The Dulcinea made Bienenstich – Bee Sting cake. For some reason, nothing turned out correctly excepting the glaze/topping. The cake didn't rise very much and the filling turned out more like a sauce. While very dense, it was also very tasty. The topping consisted of almonds and sugar dissolved in butter and was put atop the batter prior to baking. It caramelized all golden brown and was just exceptionally good! Here's the end product:



Unfortunately, The Dulcinea mentioned to my roommates, Becca & Stevie, that wabbit was on the menu so Becca abstained from the hasenpfeffer. Stevie, however, liked rabbit and ate it up. The gravy had a little zing from vinegar and really complemented the potatoes which were very rich, having been fried in lard. Not the healthiest of meals, to be sure, but my forays into German cooking aren't meant to be lessons in Healthy Eating for Office Jockeys 101. They're hearty meals meant to complement our lounging next to the fireplace on these chilly nights. In addition, being German, they are for me wee explorations into my heritage.

With Darwin Day, International Festival, and roller derby this weekend, I think my cooking is going to be put on hold for a week. This is probably a good thing as I have no idea what foods to try next.