grilled rabbit with homemade apple wine

[vermontfreedom]

My wife and I make a fair amount of our own wine. Some of the best we make is apple wine from apples we pick on our own property or get locally from friends/neighbors.

We stopped the fermentation of one of last year's three apple wines prematurely, so it's excessively sweet - almost undrinkable. The flavor is great, it's just too sweet. However, I decided to use it as a baste/marinade tonight on a rabbit

I got the idea from a friend who did the same thing I'm about to describe with chicken:

After the rabbit was thawed, I let it stand about 30 minutes per side in the wine. Normally, I marinate meat 24-72 hours (depending on the marinade). I probably would have done 1 day if I wasn't in a rush to cook the bunny.

After the marinating, I put the wine in a pan--those cheapy aluminum ones you can get at the grocery store work well, but I used a shallow, small roasting pan about 12 by 8 by 1 inch. Then a small bread-cooling rack in the pan and the rabbit on the rack to keep it out of the wine.

Sprinkled the rabbit with some hand-ground rosemary and sage along with more of the same in the body cavity and put in on the rack in the pan under some foil. Over medium or medium-high heat (gas grill), I basted and turned every 5-10 minutes and after about 40-50 minutes it was done.

On the stovetop, I cooked down the wine left behind (about 1-2 cups) and added a pinch of salt some more rosemary, and coarse ground black pepper to use as a reduction sauce.

It was awesome. I will be using that wine for marinade on salmon, venison, grouse or turkey (if I ever shoot any again!) and who knows what else - it'd be good on pork roast, ham, maybe even squirrels.

The friend did the recipe with chicken and fresh herbs over some cider (alcoholic variety), but certainly you could use just plain cider or even apple juice. Her grill had a thermometer and she had it set for about 325 degrees for about 90 minutes.

I recommend fresh herbs for stronger flavor.

Got some venison steaks thawing and I'll be trying this with those on the grill in a night or two - I'll report back.

[butterchurn]

My mouth is watering!

[Roaddog]

That sounds like a good one. Thanks for letting us in on it.

[Minnesota Mike]

That sounds like a good one. Thanks for letting us in on it.

Yup . . . but sharing would be even better!!

r/
MM

[Riley/MN]

That sounds like a good one. Thanks for letting us in on it.

Yup . . . but sharing would be even better!!

r/
MM

Yep, specially with a glass of the "good stuff"

Mmmm...... Hard Cider

[vermontfreedom]

As promised, here's an an update on using our homemade apple wine with venison....

I know you're not supposed to marinate meat in alcohol long, but I did it anyway....

Into a cup or 2 of the aforementioned super-sweet, but good-tasting homemade apple wine, I put about a teaspoon each of rosemary and sage (ground in a mortar and pestle), a pinch or two of salt ("lite" salt that is half potassium and half sodium chloride) and a pinch or two of fresh-ground black pepper.

I put two venison steaks in this mix and let them stand 48 hours, turning every 12 hours.

On to the (gas) grill on high, 4 minutes per side.

With the leftover marinade and another several tablespoons, I cooked it down for 5 or 10 minutes in a pot on the stovetop to make a slightly thicker reduction.

It was good. The sweet apple flavor really compliments the game meat really well. Side dishes were grilled red bell pepper (just a brush of olive oil), grilled portobello mushrooms (brushed with a rosemary- and walnut-infused olive oil), and zuchini and onions that were deep-fried in peanut oil as an experiment without any kind of batter.

No doubt this excessively sweet apple wine would go really well with most any game, sweet fish (e.g., salmon), and pork roast or pork tenderloin.

I've made 3 mead  (honey wine) recipes and I'm fixing to make another mead, infused with rosemary or hops or some other herbs. These are called metheglins adn I think they'd be another great base, baste, or marinade for game meats.