Following a recent visit to Aisha’s Cafe & Bistro here in Drogheda I was inspired to create a Lebanese style curry dish. Aisha’s Cafe & Bistro, for anyone has not had the pleasure of enjoying the experience, is a real treasure to the town of Drogheda. The food is absolutely fantastic, bursting with all sorts of wonderful flavours from the freshest herbs and fragrant spices. The service and hospitality is outstanding, they adopt a very friendly and relaxing environment to make you feel truly welcome. I highly recommend you visit this fabulous restaurant and enjoy everything it has to offer.

As a thank you to the owner and chef, Adel Sallam, I decided to make a Lebanese inspired curry using rabbit which is a wonderful meat with a light gamey flavour. March and April are perfect for rabbit hunting. My husband Rob went out on a rabbit hunt the other day with his .22 rifle and brought home 4 beautiful rabbits, ideal for this recipe. This the best way to hunt for rabbits as there is minimal damage done to the flesh of the rabbit. When hunting for rabbits be sure to have permission from the land owner at all times or you could ask a friend from a local gun club if they could get some rabbits for you. As they are a small animal you will generally need up to 4 rabbits per recipe.

The Ingredients:

3 tbsp of olive oil
3 shallots chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
1 tsp cracked salt
1 tsp black pepper
4 organic carrots
1 organic red onion
Handful of fresh coriander leaves
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
8 soft prunes chopped
400ml chicken stock
1 tin of condensed mushroom soup
4 rabbits ( haunches and legs )
200g Plain flour
30g butter
Basmati Rice
Handful chopped fresh coriander leaves to garnish

The Make:

Chop the rabbit haunches and legs into bite size pieces. Season the flour with salt and black pepper. Add the rabbit meat until lightly coated in flour. Add the olive oil, shallots, garlic and spices to a casserole dish and cook on a medium heat until the flavours infuse together. Now add the butter and rabbit to the casserole dish and brown off the meat slightly. As the meat is incredibly lean be sure not to over cook it at this stage. Add in the carrots, red onion, prunes and fresh herbs. Finally add the chicken stock and condensed mushroom soup and bring to a boil. Place the lid on the casserole dish and cook in a fan oven at 150C for approx 1hr 30mins. Serve with basmati rice and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Enjoy.

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