Rabbit Season is just around the corner (Opening Oct. 2nd for Juniors/Oct. 16th for Adults). There is nothing quite like the sound of beagles barking on the scent of a rabbit.

With it comes new opportunities to prepare and cook game in new ways. You may have heard the word Hassenpfeffer before while watching Yosemite Sam trying to catch that wascally wabbit on the “Looney Tunes.” Hassenpfeffer is a traditional highly seasoned German stew of marinated rabbit or hare. The word hassenpfeffer itself is German for “hare-pepper” or “peppered hare.” There are many variations that can be found on the internet with instructions for creating marinades and more. What follows is a recipe that was given to me by my good friend Kimber Rager who I’ve hunted rabbits with for several years.

What you’ll need

• Crockpot
• Crockpot liner (These make cleanup a breeze)
• Frying pan
• Rabbit cut into pieces with a sharp knife. (If frozen, thaw first. I piece them out before freezing)
• Bone shears (optional)
• Pack of sweet Italian sausage (Can use other variants like hot or mild)
• 2 jars of Francesco Rinaldi marinara sauce w/mushroom pieces (Can use different)
• Water

Preparation

Divide/cut the carcass into pieces (loin, forelegs, and hind legs).

Separate the front legs from the carcass by cutting between the rib cage and shoulder blade. Next cut between the ribs and tenderloin separating them at the backbone. Bone shears are good for this.
Discard the ribcage.

Separate the loin from the hind legs. You can cut around the joint and separate them at the ball and socket joint. You can then cut/remove the thin “belly flap” and discard.

Cooking

Empty the containers of marinara sauce into the crockpot.

Open the pack of sausage and place in a frying pan. Keep adding a bit (not a lot) of water to the sausage to create a bit of a brine. (You want the sausage to be pretty well done but a bit of pink is OK as it will finish cooking in the crockpot.)

Remove the sausage and set aside for now.

Place the pieces of rabbit into the brine/water in your frying pan. The idea is for the rabbit to take up some of the flavor of the water the sausage was cooked in. You don’t want to cook the rabbit in the frying pan. Just leave it in long enough to “brown” or change color from pink to a “gray” color. If you want you can opt to cook some peppers, onions and mushrooms while browning the rabbit, so the rabbit takes some of the flavor. Putting the raw vegetables in the crockpot can tend to water the sauce down.

While the rabbit is browning, you can cut the sausage into slices and put these into the crock pot with the sauce. The sausage will help to keep the bones from the rabbit from puncturing the liner.

After you have the pieces of rabbit “browned” remove these from the frying pan and place these in the crock pot as well. Place them with the bones facing inward to avoid puncturing the liner.

Crock Pot

Once you have all the components in the crock pot you can begin to slow cook. Depending on your crock pot you may either have to set it to “low” or “medium.” Let it cook for about 6-8 hours. You can cook on high for about an hour then reduce heat to low/med. Cook till done.

To check if it is done, stick the rabbit with a fork. If the meat lets go of the fork it is done.

Put on a plate/bowl and serve.