German Rabbit Stew

Salt the rabbit pieces well and set aside for 10 minutes or so. Set a Dutch oven or other heavy, lidded pot over medium-high heat. Pat the rabbit pieces dry and brown well on all sides. You may need to do this in batches, so don't crowd the pot and don't rush things. Remove the rabbit pieces once they're browned. This may take 15 minutes or so. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter, then the sliced onion and cook until the edges just begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir well. Cook, stirring often, until the flour turns golden, about 5 minutes. Return the rabbit to the pot and add enough chicken stock to cover. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the lemon zest, bay leaves and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook gently until the rabbit wants to fall off the bone, which will take anywhere from 90 minutes to 3 hours, depending on how old your rabbit was. This is an optional step, but I prefer it: Turn off the heat, fish out the rabbit pieces and let them cool on a baking sheet. Pull all the meat off the bones and return the meat to the stew. I don't like fiddly stews with bones in them, so I do this. You can leave everything on the bone if you want. You can now store the stew for several days. Or you can serve it at once. Turn the heat to low just to make sure the stew is nice and hot. Do not let it simmer. Add the sour cream, capers and as much white wine as you want -- you want the stew to be a bit zingy. Stir in a healthy amount of black pepper and garnish with parsley. Notes: Serve this with bread or potatoes and a crisp, German white wine. A lager beer would be good, too.