Rabbit Sauce Piquante

Ingredients:
• 2 rabbits, cut into serving size pieces
• 4 Tbsp. Creole Seasoning
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 finely diced onions
• 5 stalks finely diced celery
• 1 finely diced bell pepper
• 6 cloves minced garlic
• 3 cans Rotel diced tomatoes (10 oz. size)
• 1 can tomato paste (6 oz. size)
• 1 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 3 bay leaves
• 1-1/2 quarts water or 4 cans chicken stock
• 1 cup dry sherry wine
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ cup finely sliced green onion tops
• ½ cup finely minced parsley
• Salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper
• 6 cups cooked long-grain rice

First, wash the rabbit pieces thoroughly under cold running water and then dry with paper towels and then trim all of the fat. Sprinkle each piece liberally with the rub seasoning and rub it into the meat. Then cover the pieces with a sheet of plastic wrap and let "rest" for about 30 minutes or so.

Heat a 12-inch heavy aluminum skillet with half of the vegetable oil to "hot." Then quickly fry the rabbit pieces, turning often, until they brown thoroughly. When they're perfectly seared, set them aside for a while.

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 sprinkle in the flour and with a wire whisk make a roux. And when it's ready, remove the skillet from the fire, mix in all the onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic, and cook them in the hot roux and set the roux aside too.

Take a large Pot or Dutch oven and add to it the Rotel tomatoes and the tomato paste and cook the mixture together over medium heat (stirring constantly) until smooth, hot, and bubbly. Then add the lemon juice, the lemon zest, the bay leaves, the sherry, the Worcestershire, and the stock and stir everything until thoroughly blended. Now increase the heat to high, and when the mixture comes to a slow boil, begin whisking in the roux a little at a time. Adjust your salt & pepper seasoning and add the crushed pepper flakes.

When the sauce is smooth, drop in the rabbit pieces and reduce the heat to simmer. Cover the Dutch oven and slide the pot, the rabbit, and everything into the oven and bake at 325 degrees for about an hour and a half.