Bunny or Rabbit . . . Pet or Meat?
I vote meat . . . tender, delicious meat. For several months I'd been wanting to cook a rabbit, mainly because I had never before done so. I finally found one for sale by Eco Friendly Foods at the Dupont farmers market a few weeks ago; they have them for sale occasionally, but not often, and they typically sell quickly . . . the early cook gets the rabbit. I threw the rabbit in my freezer when I bought it, because I knew it'd be a few weeks before I'd get around to cooking it. I got around to it last weekend. I braised the rabbit in it's own juices and some rosemary-infused olive oil, then finished it by making a white wine sauce with a touch of tomato paste and a bunch of rosemary and served it alongside roasted new red potatoes with rosemary.
Before I get into the recipe, I'll tell you a little more about the rabbit. I pulled it out of my freezer on Saturday, planning to cook it Sunday. I ended up making up my own recipe, but read several recipes that I'd read online and nearly all of them advised soaking/rinsing the rabbit in cold water for at least a few hours/times. I'm not sure why this is part of the recommended prep for a rabbit. Do any of you? So I thawed the little bunny in a bowl of cold water in my fridge, beginning on Saturday, and at least two or three times over the course of the next 24 hours, I changed the water. When I was ready to cook the cute little thing, I rinsed it a final time and dried it with paper towels before cutting it into 8 parts. Why 8 parts? Because most of the recipes I reviewed recommended doing so. It wasn't immediately obvious to me when looking at the bunny exactly how I should divide it into 8 parts. So when I was at the farmers market Sunday morning, I stopped by the Eco Friendly Foods tent and asked them for advice, then I followed their advice. I removed the two rear legs (2 pieces), the two front legs (2 pieces), then divided the body into 4 pieces by removing the spine and then dividing each half in half. Now, for the recipe, which, I should add, was delicious. I'll definitely be making this again.
- 1 rabbit, about 3.5 lbs., cut into 8 parts
- 1/2 cup rosemary olive oil (regular olive oil would do)
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 2 baby leeks, cleaned thoroughly and halved
- 1 cup white wine (I used the delicious Italian 2006 Punggl Pinot Grigio)
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 2 carrots, halved
- 2 sprigs of rosemary, de-stemmed and chopped
- salt and pepper
- Soak rabbit in cold water in refrigerator for several hours, changing the water a few times, then dry thoroughly and cut into 8 pieces when ready to cook.
- Heat rosemary olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add the garlic, leeks and rabbit pieces, reduce heat to low and cover with a tight lid.
- Cook over low heat for about 2 hours, occasionally turning the rabbit pieces, but being sure to replace the lid. The rabbit will release quite a bit of liquid, so you'll be braising it in olive oil and it's own juices.
- After 2 hours of cooking, remove the lid, turn the heat up to medium-high and simmer away the liquid, turning the rabbit pieces occasionally.
- While the liquid is simmering away, dissolve the tomato paste in the white wine.
- Once the liquid has simmered away, add the wine/tomato paste, carrots and rosemary. (I waited until this stage to add the carrots, mainly because I didn't want them cooked into mush. But you could certainly add them earlier, at the same time you add the garlic and leeks. Follow your heart.) Bring the wine mixture to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low. Continue to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sauce has thickened, turning the rabbit pieces occasionally.
- When you're happy with the consistency of the sauce, season with salt and pepper to taste . . . then serve. I garnished the dish with some "micro basil," which is the fancy name I've decided to give the basil that's really, really struggling to grow on my windowsill. How's that for marketing?
Hi! Found your blog through Joy The Baker. Very nice!
I vote food, but I have a funny story. A few years back I was working at a restaurant that served a fish and game platter. One day we received an angry email from a lady that was outraged that we would serve one of the top three companion pets in North America as a food (delicious rabbit rillet). She then went on to explain that rabbits are great lap-animals and they can even be litter trained. Her rant ended with the comment "I wouldn't eat a dog or a cat, so why would I want to eat rabbit?". Chef read this to us with a smirk on his face. Apparently it was all he could do to not write a sarcastic reply letting her know dogs and cats would be a great idea for the future and if she knew where he could source it, he would love to put a domestic pet platter on the menu.
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Hilarious story! Thanks for sharing. And I'm glad you found me through Joy's awesome blog. Welcome. Take off your shoes; stay awhile.
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That looks amazing. It might have to go on the menu for the upcoming Independence/Birth Day celebration. We could call it "Liberty Bunny."
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Excellent idea!
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I vote hilarious because you kept calling it "bunny." I can't wait for the hate mail.
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Bring on the hate!
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I'm all for the Meat aspect of it.. I just can't bring myself to cook it though, lol.. I leave that up to my uncle.. maybe one day.. it is so delicious though.
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whats next love...bambi?? but..micro basil...brilliant..
xoxo
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I must admit that I'm a little surprised by your request, but anything for you, dear. How would you like him served? Bambi tartare?
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I say pet and bunny...it makes it seem so much more taboo and scary to eat! Lokks delicious.
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I totally vote meat, delicious!
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I'll eat rabbit as long as you stop calling it bunny, and referring to how cute it is. But Bambi tartare.. well, now that sound mouth-watering. In all sincerity- beautiful work with the rabbit! Looks delish!
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That looks gorgeous, but as rabbits are rare enough as pets in my country, they're virtually nonexistent as meat
I read two of my Jamie Oliver cookbooks and neither has any instructions for soaking rabbit-- it simply uses it as is, from the butcher. My other cookbook by Auguste Escoffier marinates civet of hare in brandy (!!), olive oil, and herbs, for a few hours, but it is generally a tougher meat and it's also the marinade
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I vote meat. Rabbit is good stuff. They look cute but I'd rather eat them than keep them as pets.
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