Rabbit

[Ruth]

I mention this because I've always had luck treating the rabbit's saddle and his legs as two separate meats. My best rabbit meals have involved braising the two hind legs in wine and stock, pan-frying the loins, and simmering the front legs and everything else for stock and/or shredded meat for pasta sauce.

That is absolutely the way to go. At the present moment I am in the process of braising rabbit legs. In Charlie Palmer's newly published "Art of Aureole" there is a recipe for "Rabbit four ways" with recipes for each part. Each segment can be prepared independently and it is a very useful guide. I cut up all my birds for cooking as well and never cook chicken or duck breasts along with the legs.

[fimbul]

That is absolutely the way to go. At the present moment I am in the process of braising rabbit legs. In Charlie Palmer's newly published "Art of Aureole" there is a recipe for "Rabbit four ways" with recipes for each part. Each segment can be prepared independently and it is a very useful guide. I cut up all my birds for cooking as well and never cook chicken or duck breasts along with the legs.

I rarely roast a bird whole myself. I make exceptions for chicken and quail, but duck, guinea hen, pheasant, etc. all get divvied up into tough and tender.

Is the Charlie Palmer book worthwhile? What are his four methods for bunny?

[fifi]

Patricia Wells At Home in Provence has a killer recipe for rabbit that is a basic brown-in-olive-oil-then-braise with preserved lemon, white wine, several heads of garlic and a bouquet garnis. I do it often with chicken thighs as well.

BTW, I highly recommend the book. Lots of great and accessible recipes.

[essvee]

I'll second that recommendation. It's a fine book.

Most of the rabbit recipes I've seen say to make sure not to cook the rabbit too long, as it will dry out easily, even in a braise.

[budrichard]

I've taken to boning out the rabbit for a boneless saddle stuffed with the legmeat and whatever else you want to add. the bones are then used to make a stock for reduction with the liver. It's a little time consuming and requires precise knife technique as well as sharp knives but makes a nice presentation. WE won't have any tomorrow as our rabbit hunt came up empty handed today! -Dick

[Suzanne F]

Stewed bunny, with lots of herbs (got to give them something good to eat)

Fried bunny (does NOT taste like chicken); how come that bird had 4 legs??

[Ruth]

Is the Charlie Palmer book worthwhile? What are his four methods for bunny?

He does a crisply breaded flank with citrus vinaigrette, braised legs with lavender scented sauce and saffron risotto, confit rack (in duck fat) and sautéed loin.

I used thyme rather than lavender because my husband didn't like the idea of the lavender.

There are a lot of great recipes in the book and most are easy to break down into components. His salmon confit in duck fat was the best piece of salmon I ever prepared.

There is a porcini dusted monkfish with caramelized fennel. I have not yet done the monkfish but the caramelized fennel was superb and would work with any fish or meat dish for the matter.

I have the book only for a couple of weeks and there are a lot more dishes I want to try. It is not a book for the timid as the recipes require time, effort and some experience but I love it and am already planning his "Port-glazed foie gras and tuna terrine" for my next dinner party.

[soshea99]

Does anyone know how to prepare rabbit so that the saddle doesn't dry out? Seems to me that the saddle must be cooked separately. Does brining help?

[budrichard]

First, need to know the source of your rabbit. If frozen from China, then you are already behind the 8 ball. If fresh or a hunted wild rabbit, then you should debone the saddle and stuff it with the tenderloins and deboned meat from the legs. Use the carcass to make stock along with the liver for a sauce eventually. Stuff the saddle with the meat and whatever suits you. Tie it all up, sear in a fry pan and then into the oven until rare which depends on how big your rabbit is. They can rnage from a # or two to 5 for large domestics. Let rest for 5-10 minutes again depending on the size. Serve with the sauce and whatever vegatables you want. Keys are fresh rabbit, boned and rare. -Dick

[Jon Tseng]

Yes, do it medium or rare

won't kill you

i think

J

[howard88]

I cooked a couple of young rabbits, each about three and a half pounds.

I brined in salt and sugar solution for twelve hours. After searing I braised them low and slow for three hours. Result was falling off the bone tender.

[fryguy]

The last time I cooked a rabbit, I used a large rabbit I got from a friend who raises them. Took the saddle off the bone, pan-seared it with just S&P, and served with Wolfgang Puck's braised red cabbage. Came out very tasty, and not dry at all.

Edited February 12, 2004 by fryguy (log)

[Aussie_Gusto]

The way I have always baked a rabbit without any drying effect is to stuff the rabbit with a stuffing made of day old bread, minced and add onions and mixed herbs etc. Sew the opening up. Not too fancy. Bake in moderate oven. The stuffing retains the moisture Many older people wrap the rabbit in brown paper once stuffed, and remove to brown it, pre oil the rabbit first. Or bake in a dish with fats, and cover entirely with brown paper. (Good sturdy paper such as supermarket bags are great)

I have never felt the need to remove any of the flesh or bones.

hmmm have not had a good rabbit for a long time, now I am wishing I had some now! hahahhaa

[Brad S]

Any time you have the oppurtunity to cook a protien on the bone, do so.

This is where much of your flavor comes from, it also promotes even cooking.

I prepare saddle in a # of ways, but technique is what is important.

You can confit the thighs and legs a few days in advance, then season your saddle,sear and place in a very hot oven for 15/20 minutes.

Remove the saddle and put foil over it (tightly, not as a tent) this will help to hold the heat and help the blood rest.

I love glazed parsnips and Charintias carrots (in season) and fresh hearts of palm with rabbit.

[NickV]

A friend has access to whole rabbits, all organs intact. I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for preparing rabbit organ meats. I know it would require a substantial amount of rabbits to make anything with say, livers or kidneys, but any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[fimbul]

It's probably pretty obvious, but I should think the livers and/or kidneys of two rabbits would make a great pasta sauce. This is off the top of my head, but my ideas are running in this direction:

Saute them until just pink, remove from pan. Add fennel, garlic, and thyme to the pan, then deglaze with rabbit or chicken stock and white wine. Reduce to desired consistency. Chop up the organs, return them to the pan with the liquid for a second, then pour over pasta.

I, uh, cooked a lot of rabbit this weekend.

[Bicycle Lee]

where are you guys that you can get whole rabbits? I want some...preferably with some of their blood too.

[fimbul]

I'm in Alexandria/Arlington, VA. The local Whole Foods sells whole bunnies, though they come sans blood.

[Malawry]

I think with any of the organs, you're talking about getting many many bunny parts before you have much of anything worth cooking.

I bet cooked rabbit livers would make a great amuse-bouche in any number of incarnations...canapes, pureed and stuffed into mushrooms, made as a single ravioli served on a soup spoon for each diner.

[eunny jang]

You asked for innard-specific recipes, but if that leaves you with a whole bunch of rabbits left over....

Check out the Zuni Cafe Cookbook for the rabbit mixed grill recipe towards the back: I think Judy Rogers wrote it specifically to address the problem of trying to cook everything on/in a rabbit for one meal.

Edited June 8, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[fimbul]

I think with any of the organs, you're talking about getting many many bunny parts before you have much of anything worth cooking.

I bet cooked rabbit livers would make a great amuse-bouche in any number of incarnations...canapes, pureed and stuffed into mushrooms, made as a single ravioli served on a soup spoon for each diner.

Oddly enough, the last two rabbit I cooked had livers of a size nearly equal to their loins. Is this an oddity? Did I have heavy drinking rabbits?

At any rate, from two rabbits I got two large livers, 3 kidneys the size of gizzards from a 3.5lb. chicken, and two hearts a tad smaller than those. I ended up using the hearts in the stockpot, the livers for my (spoiled) cat, and the kidneys in a sauce, but I'd think, given the richness of organ meats, that you could make a meal for two from two or three bunnies.

Am I nuts?

[Malawry]

To be honest, I've not seen bunny innards. I just made an assumption based on the size of bunny bodies. I guess I was wrong. Thanks for correcting me!

[fimbul]

To be honest, I've not seen bunny innards. I just made an assumption based on the size of bunny bodies. I guess I was wrong. Thanks for correcting me!

Eh, who knows. My rabbits might have been from Perigord.

[culinary bear]

I was in Slovakia for Christmas 2001 and I was fortunate enough to be taken out shooting on the 26th - many hare met their match in a slivovitz-fuelled (yet very well run) shoot.

The hearts, liver, lung and kindeys were sauteed with onions, tomatoes, garlic and paprika, then finished with sour cream - really nice with some dense chewy local bread.

I imagine the same would work for rabbit.

[Schneier]

I made rabbit stew for dinner tonight.

Yesterday, at the market, I bought a whole rabbit. It was sitting in the display case, butterflied and with the head attached. The butcher was kind enough to cut it up for me, and to remove the head. (First the fishmonger offered to remove the fish heads for us, and then the butcher offered to remove the rabbit head for us. Head removal: the sign of good customer service.) I also bought some potatoes, leeks, mushrooms, and tomatoes. All good stew options, I thought.

Back home, I looked over my rabbit. There were a bunch of good looking pieces, and several pieces that were obviously more bone and gristle than meat: sections of the rib cage, for example. I decided to stew them all, figuring that the non-eating pieces would give the stew flavor. I washed the rabbit, and removed the various organs that were still there. (It was great fun pretending I knew what the hell I was doing.)

Never having cooked a rabbit before, I turned to Julia Child's recipe in "The Way to Cook." She suggested marinating the rabbit for 24-48 hours before cooking it. This was perfect, as I didn't want to cook the rabbit until today anyway. I made a marinate from olive oil, the juice and zest from a lemon, some soy sauce, pepper, a handful of dried herb mix, and chopped onions, garlic, and carrots. The pot wouldn't fit in the refrigerator, so I put it in the back of the cave. Every eight hours or so, I stirred the rabbit around in the marinade.

Today I drained the rabbit, dried the pieces off, dredged them in flour, and browned them. Then I cooked the marinade bits, and another cup of chopped onion, in the remaining oil. I deglazed the pan with vermouth, and threw everything into the stew pot. I added a couple of carrots, some potatoes, more vermouth, and the remaining stock. (This is all pretty much according to Julia Child, except for the carrots and potatoes.) I set the whole thing on the stove to simmer for an hour. Near the end I fiddled with the spices, and served it.

It was delicious. The rabbit was tasty and tender. The liquid was delicious. The carrots and tomatoes added. Everything worked.

The only problem is that rabbit is much too much for two people; we had over half the meat left after dinner. I'm definitely making this when guests come to visit.

Bruce