Liebre Estofada Castellana

Liebre estofada castellana is the hunting stew of Castile, across the open country of Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha. Dark, lean hare is held overnight in red wine and aromatics, browned, then cooked beneath a close lid with onion, carrot, tomato and bay. A final majado, the old pounded thickener of fried bread, garlic and the hare's liver, gives the wine sauce its depth. This isn't conejo al ajillo or a quick rabbit casserole. Hare asks for darker wine, a heavier sauce and much more time.

The heat decides it. Keep the braise at a bare tremble until the thigh meat loosens easily from the bone. Hare has little fat and plenty of working muscle, so a hard boil tightens it before its connective tissue has time to soften. A hard boil won't hurry it; it only gives you tough meat sooner. Build the sofrito low until the onion is dark gold and the tomato has lost its raw sharpness, then let the covered pot do the rest.

If hare is unavailable, use two meaty farmed rabbits of the same total weight. Marinate them for four hours and begin checking after sixty minutes; the result will be paler, milder and properly called conejo estofado, but it is the honest substitute a Castilian kitchen would make. No hace falta haber pisado España, you don't need to have set foot in Spain. My Margin says the clock gives an estimate and the fork gives the answer. Siempre sale, si lo sigues: it turns out if you follow it.