Confit Hare Legs

Serves 4

Preparation 30 mins

Cooking time 5 hours

Ingredients

Brine
1kg hare legs
50g salt
1 cinnamon quill
2 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds
3 whole cloves
6 juniper berries
2 tsp black peppercorns
50g brown sugar
1L water

Confit Hare
1kg brined hare legs
1kg lard or pork fat

Method

Brine
In a large bowl, combine all the brine ingredients, excluding the hare legs. Stir until the sugar and salt start to dissolve. Submerge the hare legs in the brine, then cover the bowl and place it in the refrigerator overnight to ensure thorough absorption of the brine into the meat.

Confit Hare
Preheat oven to 170°C. Take the hare legs out of the brine, and discard the brine. Using a medium to large sized baking dish, add the hare legs and fat, and mix together. Seal the baking dish tightly with foil and place it in the preheated oven. Allow it to bake for approximately 5 hours or until the meat becomes tender and easily falls off the bone. Once cooked, remove from oven and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Assemble

Carefully separate the meat from the bones, ensuring you remove all small bones. Strain the rendered fat, which can be used to make delicious roast potatoes to accompany the confit hare legs.

To reheat the hare legs, place them in a baking dish, cover with a lid or foil, and bake for about 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve the reheated hare legs alongside crispy roasted pork fat potatoes and a fresh seasonal salad. We recommend pairing this dish with a sweet mustard sauce or gravy to complement the meat.

Recipe kindly supplied by

Chelsea Quider
Executive Chef
The Stoaker Room
Wanaka – 3 Mountain View Drive
Cromwell – 180 State Highway 8B
thestoakerroom.co.nz