Preparation
- The day before, season the rabbit pieces generously with salt and pepper, rub thickly all over with the mustard and leave covered in the fridge to take on the flavours.
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C conventional (160 °C fan). Heat the bacon and oil in a roasting pot and brown the rabbit pieces well to a reddish brown.
- Add the onion, carrot, celeriac, leek and garlic and brown them too, briefly roasting the tomato purée with them. Add the stock in several portions, each time scraping up the pan juices, then add the peppercorns, bay leaf, clove, juniper and marjoram.
- Braise, covered, in the oven for about 2 hours, until the meat is tender.
- Carefully take out the meat and keep it warm. Pour the sauce through a sieve, stir in the second measure of mustard, add the red wine and reduce the sauce briefly until it lightly thickens; season with salt and pepper.
- Serve the rabbit with the sauce; Thuringian dumplings (Thüringer Klöße) and a seasonal salad go well with it.
Drink with it
Dark beer · excellent match
Thuringian Schwarzbier or a dark lager
Roasted malt mirrors the roasted flavours of the mustard crust, bacon and tomato purée, and the carbonation takes the heaviness off the cooking fat.
Which beer goes with food? More than just pils with barbecueRed wine · excellent match
Dry Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), e.g. from Saale-Unstrut
Moderate tannin and berry fruit pick up the red wine in the sauce and hold their own against the mustard spice.
Which wine pairs with food? A simple approach to choosingPale lager · good match
Fresh Helles or Pils
The bitterness and freshness cut through the robust, salty sauce.
Pils or Helles: What's the Difference?