Rabbit meat is the most dietary meat, which is rich in protein and is ideal for menus of adults and children. This type of meat is very appreciated by nutritionists, but it is almost impossible to buy a really good carcass of a rabbit in a store these days. Therefore, it is better to purchase the product from farmers or in large markets. In addition, not every housewife knows how to cook a dish so that sour cream does not curl when stewed.
It is recommended that the rabbit be stewed, not baked, with the addition of thick fat sour cream, garlic and spices over low heat. Then the meat will easily lag behind the bones and melt in the mouth. Well, a white sour cream sauce will be a great addition to any side dish, whether it's just boiled rice, potatoes or tender mashed potatoes.
List of Essential Ingredients
To prepare a mouth-watering and fragrant dish, you will need certain ingredients. These include:
- 1 medium-sized rabbit carcass weighing up to 2 kg;
- 200 g thick sour cream;
- 1-2 medium carrots;
- 2 large onions;
- salt, ground black pepper - according to taste preferences;
- some sunflower or olive oil;
- 1 cup of pure water (boiled);
- 4-6 cloves of garlic;
- dill and parsley.
Favorite seasonings and spices to taste.
Cooking
How to stew a rabbit in sour cream? Before proceeding with the preparation of the carcass, it must be washed in running water, dried with kitchen paper towels and chopped with an hatchet or large cleaver into portions.
Before cooking, the fermented milk product must be taken out of the refrigerator, so that the sour cream does not curl when extinguished, since there should not be strong temperature differences. Here is the secret.
Prepared pieces of rabbit meat must be seasoned with salt and ground black pepper, add your favorite spices and seasonings. In this form, the meat can be left in the refrigerator, transferred to a container with a tight lid for 12-18 hours, so that it is marinated.
Cooking steps
If the dish is prepared for a family in which there are small children, you can do only with salt or soy sauce. But at the same time, neutral spices and seasonings should be added so that they do not give the dish sharpness and bitterness.
Heat vegetable or olive oil in a pan, fry the meat until golden brown. An additional taste can be given if a little butter is added at the very end of the frying, just before the stew.
Peel onions and carrots. Cut the first vegetable into thin half rings - then in the process of cooking it will disperse and turn, together with sour cream, into a thick aromatic sauce. Carrots can be cut arbitrarily - both thin rings or half rings, and chopped straws are suitable, and you can even rub it on a coarse grater.
Put the chopped vegetables in a skillet for meat and fry a little, so that the vegetables begin to become soft.
Good to know! Why is sour cream curdled when stewed? The answer is quite simple - it comes from a temperature drop or low fat content. Also, a problem can arise when it is not a dairy, but a plant product.
Once everything is fried, it is advisable to transfer everything from the pan to a cauldron or deep pan with a thick bottom and walls, pour in no more than one glass of water and leave to simmer for 45 minutes over medium heat.
Both meat and vegetables during the cooking process will secrete juice, so do not add too much liquid. Although, if your family loves delicious gravy, do as you wish.
After the allotted time, sour cream is added to the cauldron or pot. It is necessary to mix everything, add salt and pepper, spices to taste and leave to simmer for another 15-20 minutes, without increasing the heat.
So that the sour cream does not curl during stewing, it can additionally be thickened with starch or a small amount of flour.
Before removing the pan from the heat, 2/3 of the fresh herbs washed in running water and garlic passed through the kitchen press are added to the dish. It remains only to cover the container with a lid, bring the sauce to a boil and remove from heat.
Arrange the finished rabbit meat in sour cream sauce on plates, add a side dish and garnish with fresh herbs. Soft bread with crispy crust will not be out of place to collect sauce from a plate.
How to stew a rabbit in sour cream? Useful Tips
Those who are preparing the dish for the first time are lost and do not understand what needs to be done so that the sour cream does not curl when stewed. Thanks to the step-by-step recipe described above, this process is greatly simplified. As already written, the main thing is not to allow a temperature difference. This also applies to other dishes, not just the rabbit.
Cooking recommendations
It is enough to familiarize yourself with the recommendations, and then you will certainly get a tasty, fragrant and satisfying dish that will appeal to all family members and is ideal for treating guests at the festive table.
- Since rabbit meat has a high nutritional value, the dish turns out to be very satisfying. Therefore, the side dish is recommended to cook light.
- You should buy sour cream of good quality. For example, a product with a manufacturing mark in accordance with GOST 31452-2012. Sour cream is excellent for stewing meat dishes.
- When buying a chilled rabbit, make sure that it has light meat, dense and odorless. It is worth noting that the young individual will have thin bones and a small amount of fat.
- Before stewing and adding sour cream, each piece of meat must be fried. If you skip this step, it may remain dry after cooking.
- Be sure to add some spices and seasonings at the end to slightly drown the unusual taste of rabbit meat. This can be not only fresh greens, but also a little sweet paprika or turmeric to tint the color of the sauce or add bay leaf, cloves, sprigs of thyme or rosemary.