Recipe: Rabbit My Way

1 I live near Royan in Charente-Maritime and I'm fortunate to have a small vegetable garden. All the herbs are freshly picked, the canned peeled tomatoes are from last year, the walnut wine is homemade too (but you can use Madeira or vermouth), the Espelette pepper is homemade as well as the anchovies. Just a little background story.

2 Cut the rabbit and brown it in a mixture of olive oil and margarine or butter. Set it aside. Sauté the yellow and red onions, add the mushrooms cut into quarters, the bouquet of tied fresh herbs, the crushed tomatoes and the Espelette pepper (without the seeds), the 2 crushed cloves of garlic, and the anchovy fillets. Put the rabbit (without the liver) back in the pot, season with salt and pepper, pour in one glass of white wine and one glass of walnut wine.

3 Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes. Add the liver and black olives. Let simmer for another 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the rabbit.

4 Prepare the polenta. Spread it on a baking sheet, let it cool, cut it into sticks. Fry them lightly in olive oil. Serve with black olive tapenade (homemade of course, it's easy to make and so much better) that you'll spread over the top.

5 With the rabbit, it's a delight! Enjoy!