Today is the perfect case in point. I have the flu. I have no appetite. My taste buds are refusing to register anything of consequence good OR bad. And I am blogging.
Normally, I wouldn't. I like to craft my words, pausing and deliberating. A state that has often lead to lengthly procrastination and then abandonment. But under the mandate of imperfection, I have to write. That's the point.For all you self-confessed perfectionists, you will appreciate the radicalness of my gesture. To embrace imperfection is to expose your mistakes and recognise that waiting for perfection can be a very long waiting game instead.
So rather than wait, at least until this flu subsides, I did what I had planned to do all weekend - cook Rabbit stifado. This is Greek peasant dish, earnest and rustic, that uses either chicken or rabbit. I went for the rabbit supplied by my local butcher at Highgate.
I love Greek food - from the spices used you can trace the histories of discovery, invasion and colonisation. The sweetness of cinnamon meets the smokedness of all spice in the dish, while also using the essentials of Greek life - olive oil and oregano.
A rabbit cut into six pieces by your local butcher; 4 tbsps of olive oil; 5 large shallots, left whole; 1 tbsp of tomato pasteMarinade
150 ml red wine; tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 garlic cloves; 3 fresh bay leaves; 1 cinnamon stick; 4 cloves (which I forgot to put in - as I said I have the flu); 1 tbs of dried oregano (if you can get your hands on the wild greek stuff that would be my preference. The flowers are tigher and the aromatics are wilder and more intense); 1 tbsp of whole allspice berries.
Begin by marinating the rabbit, preferably overnight. Return to either stir marinate occasionally or use a flat dish.
Using your oil, cook the shallots until softened; remove from the pan and then add your rabbit and brown.
Once browned, return your onions to your cooking pot and add the marinate, tomato paste and enough water to cover the ingredient.
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