RABBIT AND BACON PUDDING

With the arrival of October and all the pleasures and pitfalls of the Autumn season yet to come I thought that perhaps I should dwell today on one of the very real pleasures of this time of year, the start of the game season.


We eat a good deal of game of various sorts,coming as we do from a very rural part of England we became accustomed to eating game from a very early age and we still love its unique flavours.

Game has less fat than farmed meat which makes it a healthy choice and do not worry about all the tall tales you may have heard of hanging rabbits for weeks on end . I will only caution you to ensure that you buy wild rabbit and not farmed bunny,in other words eschew your local supermarket and try the farmers market instead,or an online butcher of repute such I we use ourselves.

1 rabbit skinned boned and cut up in to chunks(ask the butcher for the bones you will need them for stock)

8 rashers dry cured streaky bacon cut in to small pieces

1 large onion sliced into rings

1 large sprig of fresh thyme and 1 bay leaf.

12 oz self raising flour

6 ozs beef or vegetable suet

salt and pepper to taste

2 oz plain flour in a large plastic food bag

1 oz dripping or lard

Place the rabbit bones in to a saucepan and cover with water then add the herbs, bring to the boil and simmer for an hour. This can be done the previous day if you wish.

Melt the dripping in a large frying pan and gently cook the bacon pieces until the begin to brown ,remove and set aside then cook the onions in the same pan with the remaining fat until soft.

Remove the bones and herbs from the stock and thicken with a little cornflour and season with salt and pepper

Put the rabbit pieces in to the bag of flour and shake until all the pieces are covered.

Sieve the flour with some salt in to a mixing bowl and add the suet with just enough cold water to make a stiff dough.

Grease a 1 and a half pint pudding basin, take the ball of dough and cut off about a quarter the roll out the larger piece and line the bowl making sure there are no holes. Tip the bacon in to the bag with the rabbit then empty both carefully in to the lined basin and top with the fried onions.

Spoon on about three tablespoons of the rabbit gravy.

Roll out the smaller piece of dough and then wet the top of the pasty lining and carefully place the

smaller piece on the top and ensure a tight seal.

Cover with a double piece of foil pleated in the middle to allow for rising then tie around tightly with stout string making a handle as you do so.

Place a saucer or a trivet in to a large saucepan and place the pudding on top of the trivet then add enough water to come two thirds of the way up the pudding, cover with a lid and bring to the boil.

Once the water is boiling lower the heat until a gentle simmer is reached and cook for five hours,topping up the water as necessary.

At the end of cooking time remove the pudding from the saucepan with your string handle and turn out on to a hot plate, serve with mashed carrots and swede and the remaining rabbit gravy. If you feel up to it buy your rabbit whole and bone it out yourself, as I child it was my job to skin and clean the rabbits caught by my father,these days it is unusual to find rabbits sold in the skin.

You may find that cooking the rabbit bones in apple cider adds a better flavour,try both ways and then decide for yourself.