I had a deeply disappointing meal yesterday.

My car has a coolant problem which can't e sorted until tomorrow, and I had to use public transport and shank's pony to get to the swimming lesson I take for the school I used to teach at. This involved walking past the really good butcher's shop, where I saw a sign announcing that they had wild rabbit. So, after the lesson, I popped in and bought one.

I have a very simple recipe for stew which my mother had from her mother, and which really reminds me of home, so yesterday I cooked it. And, for the first time in my life, I had a tough bunny. Instead of the meat falling off the bones, it stuck and needed a steak knife to cut it. And it had very little flavour. I now have one hind leg, two front legs, the fillets and the rest of very tough meat, and no idea how to make it more easy to deal with. It is just possible that it was my fault by putting the meat into the hot water I had defrosted the bacon hock in instead of starting from cold before it had the usual eight hours in the slow cooker, but I doubt it. The hock was nice and tender. The offal is OK. While I was washing the rabbit and cutting it up, the meat seemed to feel normal. But it was so disappointing.