{"id":155,"date":"2011-01-26T06:30:27","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T06:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/?p=155"},"modified":"2011-01-26T21:55:56","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T21:55:56","slug":"be-vewy-vewy-quiet-im-hunting-wabbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/?p=155","title":{"rendered":"Be Vewy Vewy Quiet, I’m Hunting Wabbit!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\"Rabbit<\/a>\n\t

Rabbit in a Mustard Sauce<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It could be the Easter Bunny. Perhaps it\u2019s Peter Rabbit’s fault. I, personally, blame Warner Brothers. Whatever the reason, Americans do not eat rabbit and whenever I mention it in polite society, I feel like Elmer Fudd trying to feed Bugs Bunny to my son for dinner.<\/p>\n

I know the vast majority of people will have decided that this is a recipe they won\u2019t ever try even before they finish reading this sentence. Please know that you can make this dish using chicken with equally excellent results and it\u2019s okay to read on.<\/p>\n

Why even try it with rabbit? Why not just leave cute little Peter alone to deforest Mr. McGregor\u2019s garden? First, it\u2019s delicious – really, really delicious. Contrary to belief, it\u2019s very mild and, yes, it does taste similar to chicken. Second, it\u2019s incredibly lean and healthy meat. If you were to live on a diet of rabbit alone, you would soon die from lack of fat. Third, it\u2019s sustainable and can be produced as fast as bunnies can reproduce! No more needed to be said on that point. Still, I have one more reason to cheerlead the choice of rabbit consumption.<\/p>\n

Americans (for the most part) have no problem consuming over 250 pounds of meat each year with barely a thought of those farmyard friends who gave their life for our meal. Rabbits are different. They force us to confront our carnivorous selves. You don\u2019t think about cuddling with a chicken, cow, or pig, but with rabbits you do. Perhaps if we ate rabbit as much as we do chicken, we would be desensitized to it as well. However, with a rabbit laid our in your kitchen your grand soliloquy will be:\u00a0 \u201cCarnivore or Vegetarian: that is the question.\u201d<\/p>\n

I continue to be a carnivore, but rabbit has given me opportunities to talk to Andrew about honoring the life given for our meal. We don\u2019t\u2019 waste any part and \u00a0make stock from leftover bones (we freeze them until we have enough). We have even used the skull (yes, it\u2019s often still attached) to explore rabbit anatomy. Ultimately, It was rabbit that led us to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) group to ensure that all of our meat and poultry is ethically and sustainably raised. \u00a0I hope that some of you will give rabbit a try. \u00a0I promise you won’t be sorry.<\/p>\n

Even though I may not have convinced you to try rabbit, I think the recipe that follows is so good and easy that you should make it this week with chicken. To be honest, \u00a0I was actually on my way to the Farmers\u2019 Market to get a chicken to make this for dinner last night, when I found a stand that had one free range, naturally fed, and humanely raised rabbit left.\u00a0 The Elmer Fudd in me came out and I nabbed that waskerly wabbit.<\/p>\n

This recipe is my take on the famous French Rabbit in a Mustard Sauce. There are a few common ingredients you will find in most recipes: bacon of some sort, Dijon, cream, garlic, bay, and herbs. For years I have browned the rabbit pieces first and fried the bacon separately and then thrown it all together to slowly cook on top of the stove. Thanks to a recipe in a fantastic cookbook \u201cA platter of Figs\u201d by David Tannis (a must have book), I now throw it all together in one pot and bake it. \u00a0It\u2019s so easy that it\u2019s now a weeknight possibility.<\/p>\n

Provecho!<\/p>\n

Rabbit (or Chicken) in a Mustard Sauce<\/p>\n

1 rabbit or small chicken (about 2 \u00bd to 3 lbs) cut up in 6 pieces (see note on cutting up a rabbit)<\/p>\n

8 ounces bacon or pancetta<\/p>\n

8 cloves garlic<\/p>\n

8 tablespoons Dijon<\/p>\n

1 cup cream or 1 cup cr\u00e8me fraiche<\/p>\n

1\/3 cup white wine<\/p>\n

2 tablespoons fresh herbs chopped. Thyme is a must, but I interchange rosemary or sage and sometimes use all three<\/p>\n

2 bay leaves<\/p>\n

Freshly ground pepper<\/p>\n

1 teaspoon salt<\/p>\n

Cutting up a rabbit or chicken in to pieces:<\/p>\n

Note: Use a sharp pair of poultry shears and cut along both sides of the back bone and remove it. \u00a0You will now have two rabbit halves. \u00a0Carefully cut the skin around the front and rear legs and using a boning knife clear the meat that attaches the legs to the body and cut off at joint. \u00a0This will make sense once you are actually doing it. \u00a0You will be left with the loin (meat that runs along the back) and the ribs. \u00a0The ribs have very little meat and Andrew hates bones, so I debone the ribs and fold this thin flap of meat back onto the loin. \u00a0Again, this will make sense once you are into the butchering. \u00a0Don’t worry if you make a few mistakes the first time. \u00a0It’s likes everything else: practice makes perfect. \u00a0Of course, if you have a good butcher, have him\/her do it for you \u00a0and save yourself some time.<\/p>\n

\n\t\"Whole<\/a>\n\t

Whole Rabbit<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\t\"Cut<\/a>\n\t

Rabbit in 6 pieces<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Cut the bacon\/pancetta into smallish pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the cream, mustard, herbs, bay leaves and pepper.<\/p>\n

Put the garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle (or Cuisinart), grind it to a paste and add to the bowl. Mix everything together and add the rabbit\/chicken pieces and coat well.<\/p>\n

You can cook it at this point, but letting it stand for a few hours helps develop the flavor. I like to make it to this point the night before and stick it in a large Ziplock bag and let it sit until I\u2019m ready to use it the following night.<\/p>\n

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put all the ingredients in a baking dish and bake for about an hour, checking to turn the pieces half way through. Serve with Braised peas with pancetta or Brussel sprouts with Walnuts and a salad with a lemon vinaigrette.\u00a0 (Recipes to follow in the next few days.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It could be the Easter Bunny. Perhaps it\u2019s Peter Rabbit’s fault. I, personally, blame Warner Brothers. Whatever the reason, Americans do not eat rabbit and whenever I mention it in polite society, I feel like Elmer Fudd trying to feed Bugs Bunny to my son for dinner. I know the vast majority of people will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-recipes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=155"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155\/revisions\/188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feedingandrew.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}