French Rabbit Stew Recipe: Best Civet De Lapin Maison

Easy Rabbit Stew Recipe – Basically, it’s a simple stew recipe that could easily be made with chicken but do try it with game.  The flavors are very distinct.

At home, we call it a Civet de Lapin.

My great-grandmother was quite the home chef.  She could prepare all types of wild game recipes but rabbit was her forte – especially when prepared as pâté.

French Rabbit Stew: Civet De Lapin à la Grandmère

Wondering how to prepare game meats? Explore these slow cooker recipes for wild game including rabbit!

Fresh rabbit meat has become rather expensive and is generally found in high end supermarkets such as Whole Foods®.  Markets such as Wegmans® carry D’Artagnan packaged meat products.

Where else can you find the meat? You can order it online from Dartagnan Foods®

I drive to Maryland on a regular basis and one of their Giant® food stores has set aside about 3 feet of their meat counter exclusively for D’Artagnan products: pâtés of all types, game meats including prime rib of buffalo, duck magrets, specialty sausages and rabbit!

That’s where I found mine.  At Giant®, I paid a little over $22.00 for a whole rabbit that weighed just under 3 pounds.  I look at this purchase as a rare treat.

How To Cut A Whole Rabbit Into Serving Pieces

Click on the link for a gallery of photos showing how to cut a whole rabbit into serving pieces.  It is really easy to do.

If you prefer to skip that step then rabbit meat is available in individual cuts – the saddle, as legs quarters or the loin meat.

Want it boneless?  You can have that too.

Wild hare is much “gamier” (and expensive) than farm-raised rabbit.

That’s not to say that farm-raised rabbit is inexpensive.  Not anymore.

Just Like Grandmère Used To Make It!

The original recipe for a Civet De Lapin ( a traditional rabbit stew recipe) is really very simple.  Yet, I try to streamline and adapt recipes where possible without compromising the flavor.

I recommend using shallots instead of onions.  There is a world of difference in the flavor.

Don’t be afraid of garlic.  Might scare you to know how much I use but there are recipes, particularly stews, where the addition of garlic (and I mean fresh garlic) will raise the flavor to another level.

You’ll be drawing straws as to who gets the leftovers!

Preparing The Easy Rabbit Stew Recipe

Rabbit Stew – Civet De Lapin © www.food-crafting.com

More French Country Cuisine Recipes:

• Ficelle Picarde: Savory Crêpe Filled With Ham & Mushroom Duxelles
• Pig’s Feet In White Wine: Country Comfort Food
• Rillettes de Porc: Potted Meat
• Stuffed Tomatoes Grandma Style
• Veal Chops Normandy Style
• Blanquette De Veau A L’Ancienne

Serving & Display Items:

• My first set of dishes!  Let’s describe it as “vintage”… Denby Camelot dinnerware.
• A large oval William & Mary serving tray from Wilton Armetale – also perfect for the Thanksgiving turkey!

 Wilton Armetale Acanthus Large Oval Serving Tray, 19.25-Inch-by-15.25-Inch Wilton Armetale Belle Mont Rectangular Handled Serving Tray, 18-Inch-by-12-Inch Wilton Armetale Stafford Large Oval Serving Tray, 17.5-Inch-by-15-Inch