1 three pound rabbit, cleaned, dressed & disjointed
1/4 tsp. peppercorns
1/4 tsp. mustard seeds
3 bay leaves
4 cloves
1 big onion, sliced thin
1/2 c. & 2 tbsp. unsifted flour
1/4 c. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. dry red wine or water
1 tsp. sugar
Place the rabbit in a nice deep bowl. Tie spices and bay leaves in some cheesecloth and let it simmer covered for 5 min, add some vinegar and onion if those are to your taste. Pour all that over the rabbit; cover it up, and refrigerate for about a day and a half, turning the rabbit occasionally for even distribution. Take the rabbit out of the marinade. Don't dry it off though, just dredge it in 1/2 cup flour then brown in the butter in a skillet.
Move it all into your kettle. Brown the remaining flour in drippings and strain the marinade. Add that and heat it up while, stirring until it's nice and thick. Pour it over the rabbit, add your onion and cheesecloth bag along with the remaining ingredients. Cover that and simmer 1-1 1/2 hours until the rabbit is really tender. Check the liquid level and add water if mixture thickens too much.
