Anyone make a tomato based rabbit dish?

[itsy]

I've been searching online (and found a couple), but I'm curious to know if any of you guys ever make a tomato based rabbit stew? I'm Italian on both sides and my mom's mom used to make the BEST rabbit stew, and it was tomato based. For some reason, none of her 6 children know how to make it.

It makes me frustrated that I didn't spend more time learning her cooking before she passed....

Either way, I've got some rabbit in the fridge and I'm going to give it a go.

Just curious to know if you guys have anything?......

 

[itsy]

If anyone is interested, I'm loosely following this recipe . The writer jokes about using cat as an alternate if anyone reads it - and yes, it's just a joke.

I couldn't find any juniper berries in the grocery store - silly me for thinking they would have them. I'd have to go to more of a specialty place around here, so I substituted with gin. I do love the taste of gin. Also - the writer doesn't give any sort of quantities or measurements; I just guessed.

This is my first time cooking rabbit. I should have waited to go to a farmer, but I found it frozen in the regular grocery store. Perhaps they have more "exotic meats" during the holiday season? Either way, it did not have any liver (which is called for in the recipe.) I also couldn't find dried cured bacon, so I used Pancetta as a sub.

I took a couple photos and will let you guys know how it turns out. I hope the rabbit was fresh. I've never handled it raw, so I don't know what it's supposed to smell like. All I can tell you is that my dog was going NUTS while I was butchering it and constantly under foot, begging at me. He never does this - ever. (and we do not feed him a raw diet, nor do we feed him from the table)

 

[itsy]

I just wanted to let everyone know that this dish turned out VERY interesting. I don't think we'll be buying any more supermarket rabbit, but I will certainly try this again with either pork or chicken. Because of the spices, including the cinnamon sticks, this is a VERY rustic and earthy dish. It's got complex flavors. I bet it would even be great as the sauce for eggplant parm. I've also learned that we don't like polenta (aka grits) and this is better over rice.

Here's a photo from day two, over rice and after being baked in the oven:

The initial cooking made the rabbit very tough, but this second cooking in the oven made it literally fall off the bone. My boyfriend was very creeped out by eating "arms" and "legs," so it didn't go over all that well with him. I didn't mind as much, but the rabbit itself wasn't as tasty as I remember, but I attribute that to poor meat from the store as opposed to something farm fresh.

If anyone is looking for a change of pace, I'd say try this recipe with a different meat. The sauce is incredibly aromatic and tasty.