Herbed duck and rabbit pie with suet crust

1.Preheat oven to 160C. Heat a heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat, add duck, skin-side down and cook for 5-6 minutes or until golden, turn and cook for another 5 minutes, then transfer to a roasting pan. Add rabbit to pan and cook, turning once, for 5-6 minutes or until golden, then transfer to roasting pan. Drain fat from frying pan, add onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Add wine and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add stock, season to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and bring to the boil. Pour over meat, cover tightly with foil and cook for 3-4 hours or until meat falls from the bone.

2.For suet crust, combine flour, suet and 1 tsp sea salt in a bowl and rub together using fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add 2-3 tbsp iced water until mixture just comes together, then knead on a lightly floured surface until just smooth, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

3.Remove meat from braising liquid and coarsely shred, discarding skin and bones. Strain braising liquid into a large saucepan, adding strained vegetables to meat. Simmer braising liquid over medium-high heat for 15 minutes or until reduced to 2 cups, then pour over meat, add herbs and mix to combine. Spoon into a 6 cup-capacity ceramic pie dish.

4.Roll pastry to 3mm thick on a lightly floured work surface, place over filling pressing to seal edges and trimming with a small sharp knife. Brush pie with eggwash and make a hole in centre of pie. Bake for 30 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve immediately with a mixed herb salad.