I'll just go mix up a cocktail whilst you do.
Isn't it funny?!
Well, it is if you're not a duck...
Today I made rabbit for lunch.
Technically, I made about 8 rabbits for lunch, I think.
I tried not to count the little legs.
I tried not to think about the meat being rabbit, for that matter. "It's just meat. You cook meat all the time. Cute meat, even. (I think cows are adorable.) It's just like fish or chicken or any old thing." Because really, that's what it IS.
It's not Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit cottontail in a little blue jacket from Mr. MacGregor's garden...
I hope.
If it was, he and his friends were really tasty!
Our family friend, Sparky, asked the other day if I would cook rabbit if he brought some cleaned meat. Well, sure! Why not?! How hard could rabbit be? It's stringy, dark meat. Roast the dickens out of it. Little sauce and spuds...shazaam!....lunch.
And really, that's all it took.
I found a recipe on the internet that had been scaled down from a recipe by a chef in Reno, NV, so it gave the impression of being more reputable than, say, one clipped from the back of Backwoodsman magazine. (Those recipes make me nervous. I can never tell if they're a joke or not. Especially when they suggest snipe can be substituted for rabbit or skunk....highly suspect....)
It seemed the only trick was cooking the rabbit for 3 1/2 hours at 350 degrees in a covered roasting pan.
Hunter's Rabbit
Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil
1 rabbit, cut into 6 to 8 portions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
15 medium-size mushrooms, quartered or sliced
2 shallots, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch dried thyme
Pinch dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup red burgundy wine
1 to 2 cups beef broth
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
To a large warmed skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of olive oil. Sprinkle the rabbit with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the rabbit to the hot oil and brown on both sides. Remove the rabbit to a medium-size casserole dish.(If you are making a LOT of rabbit, put it in a black enamel roasting pan. And stick that bad boy in the oven while you go on to the next part; a little extra roasting won't hurt it.)
In that same skillet, over medium heat, add more olive oil. Add the mushrooms and shallots (AND 2 T minced garlic cloves) and saute for about 2 minutes (or until the onions are nearly caramelized...it'll be all right). Transfer the mushroom mixture to the casserole. Sprinkle the flour, thyme, parsley and the bay leaf over the rabbit and stir in the tomato sauce, wine, and the beef broth.(OOOOKKAAYY...just put the flour and spices in a bowl, pour the wine and broth over them and wisk until smooth. Really. It's a better method. Then pour the whole mess over the meat.) You may add a pinch more of salt and pepper if you wish. Cover with foil and put in the oven to bake until the rabbit is tender, stirring every hour (Don't bother stirring...just roast the heck out of it. It will work! I promise!), about 2 to 3 hours. Rabbit meat should pull off easily from the bone with a fork. Remove from the oven and serve. (Preferably over mashed potatoes, because the broth is to die for...)
This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.
Recipe courtesy Frank Vargas, chef at Louis' Basque Corner in Reno, NV.
I forgot to take pictures of the finished product! A doubled recipe served one intrepid young girl, two bottomless pits of men, and one rather worried cook, with only enough leftovers for a small evening warm over for one person.
We'll certainly be making this again, and are thinking of using....oh, I don't know....duck?
1 comment:
Saved to my recipes! Thanks!
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