Rabbit

[Harry]

"I have never tried rabbit. What does it taste like?"

It's good. If you can find it where you live (try a grocery store in a black neighborhood), by all means give it a try. It's cheap (at least where I live--about $5 for a cut-up rabbit) and can be cooked any way you can cook a chicken.

Edited August 16, 2007 by Harry (log)

[Pontormo]

Conduct searches looking for posts by Hathor, especially in the Italian forum, but I think she's posted in the Dinner thread, too. (Andrew Fenton did a cute little wabbit hunt at one point, too, but I am not sure he was happy w its conclusion.)

You do realize this is somewhat twisted. I am surprised no one has referred to your name or the fact that Beatrix Potter's Peter is an eater of lettuce.

[Peter the eater]

You do realize this is somewhat twisted.  I am surprised no one has referred to your name or the fact that Beatrix Potter's Peter is an eater of lettuce.

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I have always thought of myself as more of a "pumpkin eater" although, like Anthony Bourdain's great fear, I will likely return in a future life as an edible mammal.

[Peter the eater]

Well the rabbit wound up getting frozen for a month or so. We roasted him yesterday, whole with cipollini onions, garlic and fennel. The kids liked it. I think it was a little bit dry and overdone. I think I'll chop it up next time as many suggested, thanks again.

[David Ross]

Peter-next time try searching the web or looking in your cookbooks for recipes with rabbit in mustard sauce. That's a classical pairing-the tanginess of mustard against the sweetness of the rabbit meat. I do a braised dish of rabbit with mustard sauce and I add some wild mushrooms, usually morels in season. It's sort of the theory that what 'grows together goes together.' In other words, we shoot little Peter Cottontail in the forest where the morels grow!

[FoodMuse]

Hi there,

I host an online cooking show called Fearless Cooking. I'm cooking rabbit in a few hours for the first time.

That's actually one of the ideas of the show. I sometimes cook things for the first time on camera, sometimes it's delicious and sometimes not.

I'd love any hints on keeping my rabbit from being too dry. Based on the past eGulllet threads seems like that's a real problem.

Thanks -Grace

[JimH]

I found two threads from other forums, I hope it gives you some ideas:

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12376

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f...52/m/6160021443

[rmillman]

Make sure you have a bunny already dressed: not good for the camera otherwise

[FoodMuse]

JimH

Thanks for the great links. The search engine here on eGullet is not so great. I hadn't seen those.

rmillman

Hah! I shoot video for the internet. I can show anything I want! That is the beauty of not being on TV. Anything goes.

That said, I bought two for 3 bucks a pop in Boston over Christmas. They were so cheap i thought I'd just stick them in my suitcase and hope for the best. They were still frozen when I got back to NYC and have been frozen until I defrosted them yesterday. They are skinned, but I'll have to cut them up (on camera).

Grace

[JimH]

Here's a list of rabbit topics from EG forums: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?act=Se...highlite=rabbit

ETA: I'm sure it will respond to your bacon treatment, since you don't have time to brine it.

Edited February 5, 2008 by JimH (log)

[Vicious Wadd]

Do your recipes have to be original? If not, there's a great braised rabbit dish in the first Inn at Little Washington cookbook. The key to keeping the rabbit moist was to remove the loins and cook them seperately: Basically, the thighs and saddle were braised in apple cider. The loins were given a quick sear, then finished in a hot oven until just done.

You could do a another braise using a similar method with the loins in what I like to call puttanesca ingredients: pitted black olives, tomatoes, onions and capers. (I'd leave out the olives and capers until about 15-20 minutes prior to completion.) Garnish with a little flat leaf parley.

Good luck and let us know how things turn out!

[gfron1]

If you have access to the current Art of Eating periodical, it has an article on rabbit that's really wonderful (as always with that mag).

[Tonyy13]

Whenever I braise rabbit, I add cream to the braising liquid. The fat in the cream helps keep the meat more moist than it would be otherwise. Other things I have done are curing and then poaching in clarified butter or duck fat.

Good luck!

TA

[gfron1]

I just wanted to add that I've re-read the rabbit article in AoE because a customer of mine came in yesterday to sell me some of her rabbit meat. (Universes aligning)

Because of the article I now know that the Silver Fox breed was the favorite in a tasting by Tami Lax on behalf of Slow Food. I also know that older rabbits are better tasting and have better texture. Rabbit stock is apparently increcible and requires very little seasoning.

Now I'm armed with useful info to talk to my new supplier of rabbit!

[jfrater]

I recently bought a whole (gutted) rabbit from Burrough Market in London and prepared it and cooked it - it was yum! I thought you might all like to see some photographs.

1. The shopping. All of this food was bought at Borough Market in London. It is all fresh from English farms. Yum yum. There is enough here to feed 3 of us for 1 week at £60.

2. The rabbit up close.

3. The rabbit skinned

4. The rabbit cooking

5. Potatoes a la Lyonnaise to go with the rabbit

6. French beans to go with the rabbit

The rabbit was cooked in red wine, and port, with onions, fresh herbs, and pancetta (which you can see in the first photo).

It was yum! I will definitely be doing it again. Oh - and the rabbit only cost £4.

[Daniel]

Gorgeous photos.. Thanks for posting that.. Yeah, nothing scary about rabbit.. I have never gotten mine with the fur on.. I am assuming fur on helped with the price.. You should try making a terrine.

I have a question, in terms of butchering the rabbit, were you made aware of the glands on the back legs.. Rabbits use this glands to spray territory and whatever. If not removed, the meat tastes pretty awful.

Edited February 15, 2008 by Daniel (log)

[jfrater]

Gorgeous photos.. Thanks for posting that..  Yeah, nothing scary about rabbit.. I have never gotten mine with the fur on.. I am assuming fur on helped with the price.. You should try making a terrine.

I have a question, in terms of butchering the rabbit, were you made aware of the glands on the back legs.. Rabbits use this glands to spray territory and whatever. If not removed, the meat tastes pretty awful.

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Daniel: I had no idea about the glands - I didn't remove any that I am aware of! I had better do a bit of research before doing that again I can't say I noticed any problem with the flavor of the rabbit. I will definitely do a terrine at some point!

[FoodMuse]

Sorry I'm only getting back to this thread. I'd bought my rabbits frozen for $3 each. Once defrosted I found why they were so inexpensive. There was an odd smell coming from them. Oh well.

jfrater- Your photos are fantastic! I really enjoyed them.

Can anyone tell me if Art of Eating is available online? I'd like to have a look at it.

Thanks,

Grace

[Henry dV]

£4......£4........ The most these are sold, in the fur as you bought yours, is £1-20, seriously this really hacks me off, all they have done is transport it and sell it on

I could understand £4 for a skinned and jointed bunny but in the fur GRRRrrrrrrrr!!

Try and find someone who shoots or better still ferrets and you will be supplied with succulent rabbit for very little if anything at all, shame I`m at the other end of the country

Soak the jointed meat in milk and you won`t get any taint, or better still check if it is a doe, as opposed to a buck and you won`t have the smell/taint especially from this time of the year until October(breeding season).

[Malawry]

I have a friend who raises rabbits (one of the benefits of living on the rural edge of suburbia). I nabbed two today. He gave me all the livers from the bunnies he killed yesterday. He said he doesn't think bunny liver makes for good pate, which was my first thought. I had planned to saute the two livers I expected from my two rabbits and eat them on a salad for lunch, but it seems like a waste to cook seven livers for eating on salads. Other ideas?

(The legs are curing for confit, and the saddles will be used in the excellent D'artagnan "Floppy-Eared Chicken" recipe. I have tarragon going bonkers in the garden just begging to season some bunnies.)

[Abra]

Spring is here, time to eat rabbit! I made a really delicious dish of mustard-roasted rabbit legs on a bed of parsnips and carrots with a splash of white wine. The recipe details and a picture are here.

[liuzhou]

I've recently found myself a regular supply of rabbit (farmed, but good quality). It comes both in the whole beast and jointed. I've made a couple of dishes (braised in red wine with wild mushrooms and later a sort of stir fry riff) with which I was reasonably happy, but wondered what else I can do with it. It is a meat I do like.

[Norm Matthews]

There is always the old German standby for that wascally wabbit called Hasempfeffer. I like and there is also rabbit fricassee. Farm raised rabbit is young and tender. These two are braised recipes for older rabbits hunted in the wild but the recipes are still good for younger ones too. this didn't work a minute ago. Trying again http://honest-food.net/2012/12/04/hasenpfeffer-recipe-dumplings/

Edited September 20, 2013 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Franci]

I cook rabbit very often. I have my usual recipe that, every time I try something different, people in the house rebel: coniglio alla bergamasca, to eat with polenta.

Brown the rabbit in pieces in some oil and butter, with rosemary, cloves (about 10), when has a nice color, deglaze with some wine (I prefer white), salt of course, and add some warm water to keep it moist. Cook with a lid ajar for about one hour. I add liver toward the end.

Another way is to cook "alla monferrina" basically you boil the rabbit with flavorings (carrot, celery, onion, sage, etc, cloves, some white wine), let it cool in the water and then remove the meat from the bones in chunks. Make layers in a terrine of meat, salt, garlic, pepper and sage, cover with oil, repeat. Let it rest some days before consuming. This is the traditional recipe and it's fairly good but I don't like it because of botulism concerns. If I could find a way to prepare safely it's a nice dish to keep in hot weather. You add a salad and it's a very good meal.

I also like to use heads and liver for a traditional sauce for pasta from Tuscany.

Garlic, onion, celery, a small carrot, parsley, peeled tomatoes, lemon rind, some rosemary, bay leaves, mixed spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, juniper) a small piece of dark chocolate, a tablespoon of pine nuts, some soaked sultanas, a glass of red wine, some oil, salt and pepper.

Cut the vegetables with the herbs (except the bay leaf that you add whole, afterwards) and soften in oil. Add the cleaned head, brown and deglaze with wine, add tomatoes, sultanas, the spices, chocolate and lemon peel, bay leaf, add some salt, some water and cook about an hour and half. Toward the end you add the liver in pieces. When it's cooked you remove the meat from the bones, and add back to the sauce, remove the lemon peel and the bay leaf. Cook some penne al dente and add to the sauce.

I also like it breaded and fried.

Edited September 20, 2013 by Franci (log)

[FrogPrincesse]

Lapin a la Moutarde/a la diable (rabbit with mustard) is what my mom used to make when I was little. It's a nice braise with Dijon mustard, white wine (I believe) and crème fraîche. It is really delicious because it has a lot of flavor (rabbit on its own does not usually have much), and the rabbit stays very moist. I think I attempted it only once on my own, but did not have a clue about how to properly break down a rabbit at the time (I could only find it whole and it did not occur to me to ask my butcher to do it for me). I want to try this again soon.