Lapin aux carottes et aux champignons

For our Easter Sunday dinner, I decided to make a stewed rabbit with carrots and button mushrooms. As far as I can tell, it's about the same thing as an old recipe for lapin en gibelotte, which I've made in past years. The other ingredients are onion, celery, herbs, and white wine. I didn't put in any lardons (bacon) this time, but I might add some today before we have the lapin aux carottes again.

Why are we having it again today? It's because Walt didn't eat any yesterday. Or anything. He was not feeling well at all.
I won't go into details; if he wants to tell about it, he will do so on his blog.

These photos are fairly self-explanatory. It's how you make a standard stew with meat and vegetables. In France
you can buy a whole rabbit or you can buy rabbit parts. This recipe would be good made with chicken or turkey.

I thickened the stewing liquid with a flour roux, and I put in my favorite spices, including black pepper and allspice.
The recipe I found on the internet had ingredients and instructions, but no quantities except for the amount of flour
for the roux and the number of onions. My translation (or adaptation, really) of it is below.

Rabbit with carrots and mushrooms

a rabbit cut into serving pieces
carrots
fresh button mushrooms
celery (optional)
smoked pork lardons (optional)
chopped onion to taste
thyme, oregano, or both
bay leaves
flour

salt
pepper
allspice (optional)
white wine
chicken or rabbit broth (or water)
potatoes (optional)

In a non-stick pan, sauté the rabbit pieces in olive oil until they start to take on a golden brown color.

Take the rabbit pieces out of the pan and set them aside. (I browned them in two batches — I was cooking a big rabbit, 1.7 kilos =3¾ lbs.) — in a non-stick frying pan and put them in a big wok in which I was going to cook the stew.)

Cook the (optional) lardons in the same pan. Put them in the wok with the rabbit pieces, along with the carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms. Set the wok on a moderately hot burner and stir everything around to lightly brown the vegetables. Cover the wok as necessary and turn the heat down so that the vegetables and meat will start to cook through without burning.

Take the cover off the wok or pot. When the liquid in the wok has basically evaporated, sprinkle a tablespoon or two of flour over the stew ingredients. Stir. Season with salt, pepper, and (optional) allspice. Gradually pour in a mixture of white wine and broth, stirring everything to let the flour thicken the liquid. You should end up with just enough liquid to barely cover the meat and vegetables. (I had made rabbit broth using the trimmings and the head (!) of the rabbit after I cut it up. I had also marinated the rabbit pieces overnight in white wine and herbs, which also went into the stew.)
 
Stir everything around gently. If the gravy is too thin, cook the stew uncovered to let it reduce. Adjust the amount of liquid to get the consistency you want. At this point, I put in four smallish potatoes, whole, to cook in the gravy. Let the stew simmer for 30 to 60 minutes, until the meat and vegetables are done to your taste. I like the rabbit well cooked, almost falling off the bone.

This kind of stew is almost better re-heated the next day, people always say. I'll let you know tomorrow if it was.