Traditional Maltese Rabbit Stew & Fried Rabbit (Fenek moqli u biz-zalza)

[Hostile0311]

Serves 4;
Prep Time: 15 mins.
Cooking Time 1 hr.

Ingredients
-1 rabbit in joints
-Olive oil
-2 onions sliced
-2 carrots sliced
-5 garlic cloves crushed
-Red wine
-Salt & pepper
-150g cooked fresh peas
-Spaghetti
-5 potatoes for frying

Method
Dust the rabbit joints in seasonal flour. Fry a few at a time in hot olive oil until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan. Add the onions, carrots and garlic and fry until light brown in the oil/drippings.
Return the rabbit to the pan and add a couple of glasses of red wine and season to taste.
Simmer covered until the rabbit is tender for approx. 1 hr. Add peas in the last 15 mins. There are many methods to cooking the fries. I generally slice the potatoes into strips and blanche in hot water. Then fry in oil until golden and crispy.
The traditional way of serving rabbit is to serve the sauce with pasta(spaghetti) as a 1st course/starter and then have the rabbit with remaining sauce and fries as a 2nd course. Buon Appetito

[Razor]

Did you mean "seasoned" vs. "seasonal" flour, and if so, what are the traditional seasonings used?

[Penn]

1 rabbit in joints

Does that mean the rabbit was broken down into sections; as in leg, quarters, loins etc.? I assume it does, and if that is the case, then the loins should be reserved and cooked seperately as they are the real treat.

[Hostile0311]

Razor: I should have been a bit more elaborate. You can use plain flour or with salt and pepper and fresh chopped herbs. Rosemarry works well as my MOL uses it in the flour as well as salt and pepper. Sorry about that.

Penn: Yes jointed. Legs, saddle etc. My MOL also cooks the offal in the stew as do most Maltese and they are served in the pasta. They also stew the head as it is supposed to add flavor. I'll stick with the white meat. The 1st time she cooked it for us she gave me the pasta with the "kidneys & liver" as it is considered the best part. I politely refused

The other delicacy here is horse, stewed and served with fried potatoes. Tastes like very "rich" beef and isa bit salty. Not bad but if you got high BP I wouldn't recommend it!

P.S. You can forgo the stewing and pasta and just fry it in the seasoned flour and serve with fried potatoes same as fried chicken. My wife prefers this method. The rabbit that is, not the horse.

[Penn]

0311 so tell us how you came about being on Malta. Photo's to the reply would'nt hurt....

[Hostile0311]

No prob Sir. Marines are deployed aboard ships for 6 month tours of the Med and Pacific. MEU's they are called which I'm sure you've heard of. Malta is a favorite port of call for sailors and Marines as English is spoken here by 95% of the pop and there is usally a bar or club "every 17 steps" as one of my former Marines from Arkansas put it so eloquently. To make a long story short, I met a girl on a port visit...and 6 months later I EAS'd from the Corps on terminal leave and came back. That was 6 years ago. I spent 3 years with the girl I came here for which was surprising. Sadly it didn't last and I met a few others then I met my wife. We have a 15 month old and a 2 week old so life is good. Malta is a popular tourist spot for the Brits (Malta was formerly a Commonwealth until the mid 60's) as well as Italians. Also, since English is taught here on a wide scale so in the summer there is a booming trade in Engllish language schools as students come form all over the world. The food here is outstanding as there are many traditional Maltese dishes as well as a big Sicilian and southern Italian influence. Lots of pastas, seafood and pies and many different kinds of homemade fresh breads as each neaighborhood still has a local bakery nearby as well as a local butcher and fish monger. The climate is subtropical (almost like Fla) and the summers here are wonderful. The women are especially nice if you like dark hair and olive skin. Overall, I can't complain. I picked a good spot As for photos, I'll see what I can dig up after work.