David Ross

One of the older booklets in my collection, Home Helps-A Pure Food Cook Book. The NK Fairbank Company, 1910. The book was a promotion for Cottolene Shortening, which was well-known back then. It measures just 5 x 7 1/2, hardcover and about 100 pages or so. I'm not sure if I picked it up at a shop or sale, but if it came from family it would have been the Pink family on my Mother's side. You'll note that on the recipe for turkey, there aren't any temperatures or cooking times. In those days they would have been roasting in a wood or even coal oven.

I also wanted to mention that we have a few taxidermists in our area that will buy rabbit pelts, or they'll make them into winter hats.

Thank you so much for the tutorial. Looks just like the rabbits I hunted when I was a kid, and I notice how deep read and lean the meat is. The back legs look very meaty. They'll be delicious for sure.

thank you for posting this. I've got a rabbit and game terrine recipe in my holiday recipes files I've been wanting to try for years and this gives me the inspiration to get going on it.

Wow after contacting this group I've got about 4 local rabbit suppliers!

I got lucky with a source for rabbit last night. I belong to a local Facebook group where folks in the community discuss, mainly, restaurants. But we also discuss ingredients and it's a nice surprise when many people chime in with their sources for ingredients. At times I'm amazed at how many great home cooks we have in our area. I asked about local sources for rabbit. I know of one supermarket that always has them in the frozen case. Well, the usual sources came from folks in the group, but most were suggestions of places to call, not that they have rabbit in stock. Some were local butchers or markets, but in most of these cases, they special order it for you, and of course it's marked up. One person said the rabbit from a local butcher would be $39.99. That's about the price it is from D'Artagnan online, but D'Artagnan of course adds the big ticket shipping cost. Also, D'Artagnan doesn't include the rabbit liver. One person gave me the best tip. We also have a local Facebook group of folks who raise rabbits for sale and for meat. She said that compared to the $39.99 price from a local butcher who orders it in, they have folks in the group who will sell it fresh fro $6 a rabbit, so that's the next source I'll look into.

How fantastic and thank you for the picture tutorial. Tell me about the bottle of Kirum red pepper.

And I remembered another one of my favorite, Grilled Tri-Tip Sandwiches with Chimichurri. For the Chimichurri Sauce- 2 cups Italian parsley leaves 1/2 cup fresh oregano leaves 1/2 cup fresh mint 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced 3 tbsp. red wine vinegar 1 tbsp. olive oil salt and black pepper to taste For the Grilled Tri-Tip- 3-4 lb. beef tri-tip roast 2 tbsp. olive oil salt and black pepper 2 Loaves of French Baguette bread 1 cup mayonnaise 1 head fresh romaine or butter lettuce For the Chimichurri Sauce- Place the parsley, oregano, mint, garlic, red wine vinegar and jalapeno into a small blender and mince. You want the herbs and garlic to be finely minced, but not a paste. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture into a bowl, then stir in the olive oil. The sauce should be thick and suspended in the oil. (It’s best to stir in the olive oil rather than pour it in the blender as it will make the sauce too thick). Grill the Tri-Tip and Make the Sandwiches- Rub the tri-tip with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a grill pan on the stove-top over medium-high heat and sear the tri-tip for 4-5 minutes per side until well-browned. Place the grill pan in a 400 oven and roast for an additional 15 minutes until the meat registers 135 on a meat thermometer for medium-rare. Let the meat rest 7-8 minutes before carving. Cut each baguette into 3 sub-style long sandwich rolls, then cut each roll down the center but not fully through to create a pocket for the sandwich. Spread some of the mayonnaise on each sandwich. Top the mayonnaise with some of the fresh lettuce. Place slices of the tri-tip on the lettuce and garnish with some of the chimichurri sauce.

Probably will make one of my favorite salsa recipes, served with both tortilla chips and even better, fresh chicarhones made at the local Mexican market. 1 lb. tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed 1 small yellow onion, skin on, cut in half 4 cloves garlic, skin on 1 1/2 cups fresh cilantro 1 small jalapeno, chopped 1 tsp. sugar 1 tsp. each salt and black pepper 2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano 12 thin corn tortillas, cut into quarters 8 cups canola oil for frying 1 tsp. chipotle chili powder 1 tsp. each salt and black pepper Make the Roasted Tomatillo Salsa- Heat a cast-iron skillet on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Do not add oil or butter, leave the skillet dry. Add the onion, flesh side down, to the skillet. Add the unpeeled garlic cloves to the skillet. Let the onion and garlic char and get some black bits and start to get soft, 10 minutes, turning the skillet a few times. Remove the onion and garlic from the skillet. Remove the onion skin and cut it into chunks. Remove the skin from the garlic cloves. Heat the broiler. Remove the husks from the tomatillos and rinse. Place the tomatillos in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place the tomatillos under the broiler and roast until they start to char and soften, 8 minutes. Place the tomatillos, onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno, sugar, oregano and salt and pepper in a food processor or blender. Blend the salsa to combine. Make the Tortilla Chips and Serve- Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or heavy stockpot to 350. Cut the corn tortillas in quarters. Deep-fry some of the tortilla wedges until golden, 2 minutes. Deep-fry the chips in batches. Drain the chips on a rack over a cookie sheet and season with chipotle chili powder, salt and pepper. Serve the chips warm with the tomatillo salsa.

that looks delicious and I can almost taste the liver and sauce through the photo

Kim I was just thinking about those cannelloni the other day. I am blessed that my folks left me the entire Time-Life Foods of the World Series and I refer to them often. Also in that Italy book is my basis for pizza dough recipe, and a wonderful true lasagne.

I found this online resource for rabbit with a variety of cuts and the prices aren't as high as say D'artagnan. Still, online food sources command high shipping prices, but I might indulge if the local market is out of rabbit. North Star Bison Farm

That sounds delicious and I just might take my own attempt at something similar. I have a delicious green curry I do with prawns, so it could work with rabbit. The liver satay sounds delicious.

I love the words they wrote in these old cookbooks. And the days of "send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Box xxx, New York City."

Another one of my older cookbooks, The American Women's Cookbook, by Ruth Berolzheimer, 1945. In the index, go to the rabbit entry and it refers you to the hare recipes. The header for the section is "Rabbits, Hares and Squirrels." "Avoid wild rabbits. Buy ONLY domestic rabbits cleaned and dressed. Rabbit meat is while and delicately flavored throughout.....Neither hares nor rabbits shold be drawn before hanging, as they may become musty. In Winter, select a dry place for hanging and they may remain for some time." In other words, that was the method of aging the meat. You've seen similar scenes in Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey where the game was hung to age. These are the recipes and instructions- -Dressing and Trussing -Roast Hare or Rabbit -Broiled Hare or Rabbit -Fried Hare or Rabbit -Hare or Rabbit "Salmi." The hare was baked with onion, celery and bay leaf, then brushed with oil and roasted at 350 for 45 minutes. A gravy was made from the pan juices, then seasoned with olives, capers and Worcestershire sauce. -Hare or Rabbit Pie. -Hare or Rabbit "en Casserole." The footnote to the pie recipe is for Hasenpferrer, which was basically to jub the rabbit in vinetar, water and spices. Then brown the meat in butter, make a gravy thickened with sour cream. A recipe for Roast Squab. This would have been considered a very good color printing job in the 1940's. "Domestic pigeons are the most desirable. Wild piegons are likely to be tough."

Those are wonderful recipes and I like that you mentioned sometimes rabbit can stand in for a chicken dish. That opens up many possibilities.

The Yakitori looks and sounds delicious!

I dined at Valentino in Las Vegas numerous times. A friend of mine who is a food writer down there knew the Chef, Luciano Pelligrino and we had wonderful meals. He was noted for cooking with game, but I only had his quail, no rabbit. I remember one night when Pierre Selvaggio sat down with us for dinner. What a grand man for conversation. I'm sure the rabbit dish you mentioned was delicious.

Wow that roasted rabbit looks moist and delicious

Rabbits. Those soft, furry little creatures that have an appetite for lettuce and reproducing. We’ve come to view rabbits as pets and love to see them at the local fair, yet rabbits in the pot can be quite delicious. As teenagers, we used to go out into the fields around our new suburb after school and hunt for rabbits. There was plenty of underbrush, grass, and cover for rabbits to hide, so it was going to be challenge to get one of the critters. I remember starting with little wire snares we tied between branches along what we though was a rabbit trail. No luck. As I got older, I graduated to responsibly hunting with a .22 rifle, and was able to bag a few rabbits. My Mother wasn’t a fan, so I had to clean them outside, and cook them with the windows open. I don’t remember how I prepared the rabbit, but since I don’t remember a delicious dish, my guess is it didn’t taste to good. I carried my hunt to my Grandmother’s ranch in Prineville in the juniper country of Central Oregon. The rabbits liked to hang out around the base of the grain elevators for an easy meal of grain and corn that didn’t quite make it into the silo. I bagged a few rabbits back then, and remember walking back to the ranch house with my bounty. I think my folks and Grandmother were shocked at the sight, and honestly I don’t remember how we cooked them. Most likely I was the only one dining on rabbit. And then there were the jack rabbits, or wild hare as some call them, that roamed the open fields. Those long ears give jack rabbits a keen sense of sounds and approaching hunters, and they’re lightning quick so we never brought a jack rabbit back to the kitchen. I turned to my cookbook archives to see if rabbit was once a popular meat in American kitchens. In “A New Book of Cookery, by Fannie Merrit Farmer, 1921,” there is a recipe for Rabbit a’la Southern. My Great Grandmother Jennie Pink, who purchased the book new, most likely made this dish or cooked with rabbits harvested in the fields around Twin Falls, Idaho. Rabbit, and Hare, are common dishes today in Europe. Jugged Rabbit or Hare, dates back to at least the 14th century and is made by marinating the meat in spices, wine and vinegar. Livrè à la Royale is the epitome of French haute cuisine. Wild hare is cooked down with a sauce made from the blood and liver. It is still a dish that is served at Restaurant Paul Bocuse in Lyon. For my first rabbit dish, I’m thinking of turning to an Italian recipe similar to a Chicken Cacciatore. Harvested in the field or purchased in the market, cooked in the pot or roasted over a fire, this is eG Cook-Off #86: Rabbit. See the Complete eG Cook-Off Index here: https://forums.egullet.org/topic/143994-egullet-recipe-cook-off-index/

I feel the same way about the photos, but even in the early 60s color printing was relatively new. Interesting I found this one yesterday as I'm working on entering a bread making contest and was looking for new ideas. There are dozens of recipes in here for breads I haven't heard of and with a few updates for today I think they will be delicious.

The Fleischmann Treasure Of Yeast Baking, 1962. Published by Standard Brands, New York, NY. Looking at the back cover I didn't realize so many brands were under this one umbrella. I do remember my Mother buying Fleischmann's margarine.

Yes, we are doing a Rabbit Cook-Off. I'm writing up the opener and we should have it launched this coming week.

Wow this one is very interesting. I've never seen that many persimmon recipes in one cookbook.

This is another booklet that my Father got during his work with the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture. It's from the Oregon Beef Council and interesting, their head office was in downtown Portland at the Imperial Hotel. That's where the cattle producers would have meetings and an annual event. And I suppose, plenty of cocktails. The booklet was published by the Beef Industry Council of Chicago, then distributed throughout the country to the local beef and cattle trade groups. No date but the illustrations look to be about mid 1960s. I gotta love the "Patio Entertaining," which is on the grass, and the guy in a red blazer.