Rabbit Sauce Piquant

2 rabbits, cut into pieces 1 cup vegetable oil ½ cup all purpose flour 2 cups finely diced onions 1 cup finely diced celery ½ cup finely diced bell pepper 3 cloves minced garlic 2 cans Rotel diced tomatoes 1 can tomato paste (6 oz.)

3 tbsp. Darn Good Hot Sauce 1 tbsp. lemon juice 3 bay leaves 1 cup dry sherry ½ cup finely sliced green onions ½ cup finely chopped parsley Darn Good Seasoning to taste First, wash the rabbit pieces well and remove all the fat. Trim away and discard the belly parts and rib bones. Then sprinkle the pieces liberally with Darn Good and a little bit of cayenne pepper if you want extra kick. Next, in a 12 inch skillet, heat half of the vegetable oil to “hot” and quickly fry the rabbit pieces until they brown thoroughly. Then set them aside for awhile. Now take the remainder of the vegetable oil, add it to the skillet you used to fry the rabbit, and bring it up to high heat. Then toss in the flour and make a peanut colored roux. Keep stirring so that it doesn’t burn! When it’s ready, remove the skillet from the fire, mix in all the seasoning, hot sauce and vegetables, and cook them in the hot roux until they soften (about 5 minutes). Now set the roux aside too. At this point, take a 6 quart Dutch oven and add it to the Rotel tomatoes, and the tomato paste. Then cook the mixture together (stirring constantly) until smooth, hot and bubbly. Now add the lemon juice, the bay leaves, the sherry and the water and stir everything over high heat until thoroughly blended. When the mixture comes to a slow boil, begin stirring in the roux a little at a time. (The mixture will get thick, but don’t worry about it—it will thin to the proper consistency as the rabbit cooks.) This will also be a good time to adjust your seasoning level. When the sauce is smooth, drop the rabbit pieces and reduce the heat to simmer. Then cover the pot and cook over low heat for about 2 hours or until the rabbit begins to fall off the bone. When you’re ready to eat, mix in the green onions and parsley, serve the rabbit over steamed rice, ladle on a generous helping of the sauce and rabbit. Enjoy!