Civet of Hare (Civet de Lièvre)

Ingredients

• hare
• cognac
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• onion
• lean bacon
• butter
• onions
• flour
• good red wine
• bouquet garni with a clove of garlic
• small onions
• small mushrooms
• heart-shaped croutons fried in butter

Instructions

1. Collect the blood carefully while drawing the hare; reserve it with the liver, removing the gall and any part it has touched at once.
2. Cut up the hare and put the pieces in a terrine with a few spoonfuls of cognac and olive oil, salt, pepper and an onion in thin rounds.
3. Leave to marinate for 2 or 3 hours.
4. Brown 200 grammes of blanched diced lean bacon in butter and drain it as soon as it is coloured.
5. In the same butter, colour 2 medium onions cut in quarters.
6. Add 2 spoonfuls of flour and cook until the roux is blond.
7. Sponge the hare pieces well, put them into the roux and stiffen them, stirring without stopping.
8. Moisten level with good red wine, add a bouquet garni containing a clove of garlic, cover, and cook gently on the corner of the stove.
9. A little before serving, warm the reserved blood gradually with a few spoonfuls of the sauce and use it to bind the civet; add the liver, cut in escalopes.
10. Move the pieces of hare one by one into another saucepan and add the browned lardons, 20 small glazed onions and 20 small cooked mushrooms.
11. Strain the sauce over the whole.
12. Arrange in a hot timbale at the moment of serving and surround with heart-shaped croutons fried in butter.