Roasted Rabbit with Sangria Sauce

This is a long, complicated recipe that my father-in-law came up with and asked me to share because of how interesting it is. He was given a rabbit by a hunter friend, and had also made sangria the other day. He decided to combine them and discover a new flavor. You can purchase rabbit at specialty butcher shops; it's a very lean meat that tastes similar to chicken.

Sangria Sauce Ingredients:

1 green apple, chopped
2 oranges, eighthed
1 white nectarine, chopped
1/2 cup blackberries
1 red pear, chopped
1 bosc pear, chopped
1 stick cinnamon
spice pack: 4 whole allspice and 6 cloves (use a tea ball or something)
1 inexpensive bottle of red Zinfandel wine

Mix all together in a pitcher and you have Sangria. Have a drink or two! Then use the rest to make the sauce. Instructions below.

Stuffing Ingredients:

Center chunk of celery (leftover celery) or about 1 1/2 celery stalks, chopped
1 bosc pear, sliced in 1/2-inch thick wedges
1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped into chunks
1/2 cup seasoned stuffing
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
salt and pepper

Spritz salt and pepper inside body cavity of rabbit. Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and spoon as much stuffing as you can fit into the cavity of the rabbit. Lay pear slices on top to cover gaps in the opening, then truss the cavity shut with skewers or trussing thread.

Rabbit:

One 3-4-pound rabbit, thawed if frozen
salt and pepper

Once rabbit is trussed closed, sprinkle salt and pepper all over the skin.

Lay legs-up in roasting pan and roast at 350 degrees F for 1- 1 1/2 hours, or until meatiest part of the rabbit reaches 160 degrees F. Cook sangria sauce/reduction as soon as rabbit is in the oven, then baste the rabbit once about halfway through cooking.

Sangria Marinade/ Sauce:

1/8 tsp ground coriander seed
pinch of saffron
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp/2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup of fruit from the sangria (include a few blackberries!)
1 1/2 cups of sangria liquid
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup minced onion
1 Tbsp honey

Drip oil into a large frying pan on medium heat. Add onions and brown slightly. Pour in sangria liquid and bring to a simmer. Add garlic and fruit and stir well, simmering on low heat. Add spices and garlic and stir well again. Allow to simmer on low-medium heat until liquid is reduced by half, then add the honey. Let reduce to about 1/3 of the original amount of liquid, then take off heat and let sit until rabbit is done.

Use to baste rabbit halfway through, then save the rest as a topping sauce for the done rabbit meat.

Serve with rice and a green vegetable. Delicious! Serves 4-6 people.