59 Hare or There From:   Dominus@comcast.net Subject: Hare or There Date: December 10, 2003 7:20:23 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info I was wondering if anyone has any exciting rabbit recipes that they are willing to share? From:   dtalk1@aol.com Subject: Re: Hare or There Date: December 10, 2003 8:07:25 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Cajun Rabbit De-bone rabbit and cut into small pieces for frying Mix with flour, salt and pepper and blackened seasoning Brown on both sides in olive oil. Drain from oil. Cook enough rice and red beans for number of people. Cook both until nearly done. Mix precooked rice and red beans with chopped tomatoes and other Cajun seasonings to taste. Place in baking dish and then place rabbit on top of beans and rice - cover with foil and cook until done. Not fancy but good Cajun rabbit. Happy Holidays Max From:   old7025@earthlink.net Subject: Re: Hare or There Date: December 11, 2003 5:33:47 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info I have a recipe from Spain that I love.  It serves 4   Ingredients:                                                                                                                                             Picada Paste:            3/4 cup evo                                                                 1/4 tsp saffron     1 rabbit                                                                       1 clove garlic     1 chopped onion                                                          1/4 tsp salt      3 crushed cloves of garlic                                            1 oz ground pine nuts     2 sprigs of parsley                                                       1 oz ground blanched almonds      4-5 small artichokes                                                      1/2 tsp cinnamon     1 lemon                                                                       1 sprig parsley chopped     3 Tbs flour                                                                    1/4 -1/2 cup dry sherry     1 cup dry red wine     1/2 cup stock or water       salt     Fresh ground black pepper    Heat 1/2 cup evo in a casserole and sauté the rabbit pieces, onion, garlic and parsley until they brown   Trim the artichokes, remove the tough outside leaves, rub cut surfaces with lemon juice, sprinkle with flour and fry in remaining evo for a few minutes. Add to casserole.   To make the Picada, pound all the dry ingredients, add sherry and make a fine paste   Add the Picada to the casserole, along with the wine and stock or water, season, cover and simmer over a low flame for 1 hour or until the rabbit is tender.   I serve with a orange and bib lettuce salad, green beans and tomatoes, and Flan for dessert.  Since I am not the Wine buff you are, I leave the wine to you   Enjoy Evy   From:   leslie.borden@comcast.net Subject: Re: Hare or There Date: December 12, 2003 7:31:12 PM EST To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Reply-To:   aroundthekitchen@aroundthekitchen.info Dom, You don’t have to order Thumper from D’Artagnan, which will cost you and arm and a leg.  You can usually get D’Artagnan’s rabbit at Sutton Place Gourmet, but that’s also expensive, you only save the shipping.  For a bargain, go to Eastern Market, but not Roy (Union Meat).  Rabbit is the only thing I don’t recommend from Roy, as his are thin and meager.  Go across the way to the poultry people (who also carry game, by the way) and get one of their nice plump little bunnies.  Here’s an idea adapted from Patricia Wells’ At Home in Provence, has several rabbit recipes, including one with roasted whole garlic heads and preserved lemons:  Cut the rabbit into serving pieces and brown it in a heavy skillet or ovenproof casserole (if you have a casserole that you can put on the flame).  Remove it from the pan and set it aside.   Take a couple of heads of garlic, whole, unpeeled, and cut the top off, about a third of the way down.  Brown them, cut side down and set aside with the rabbit.  Add chopped onion, celery, and carrot (mirepoix, as you know) to the skillet  and sauté till soft and a little brown, then deglaze with white wine.  Return the rabbit and garlic to the pan if the pan is ovenproof, otherwise transfer it all to an ovenproof casserole.  Add chicken broth (unless you had rabbit stock leftover from a previous cooking treat) to come maybe halfway up the side of the rabbit, and then add 4 or 5 slices of preserved lemons (recipe attached) and a bouquet garni of thyme, parsley, and bay leaf.   Preserved lemons are a wonderful secret weapon in your refrigerator, and they are very easy to make.  Put the casserole in a 350° oven for about an hour, until the rabbit is tender – you could also braise this on top of the stove, but I like to use the oven because then I don’t have to worry about the bottom of the pan scorching.  Yes, I rave about my little baby simmer burner on my cooktop, but it’s small in diameter, and I worry that the heat doesn’t diffuse to the whole casserole while it’s really hot under the middle of the pan.  Just use the oven, it’s easier. When the rabbit is tender and lovely, take it out and set it aside to compose itself – put a little tinfoil over it to keep it warm – and make a sauce:  scrape the pan liquid into a blender jar (if you think it’s too thin, boil it down a little first) and add the preserved lemons – discard the bouquet garni.  Squeeze the now-beautifully soft roasted garlic out of its skins into the blender jar.  Whomp it all up till it’s pureed and then return to the pan, or into a clean saucepan if you’d rather.  Thicken it with some instant flour (another handy secret weapon in the kitchen) or a tablespoon or two of beurre manie (flour and room temperature butter rubbed together to a paste).  Bring it to a boil and cook long enough to cook the flour, then serve (being sure to have added the juices that accumulated under the rabbit while it was composing itself).  This is great with couscous and whatever vegetable is in season.  These days, I’d go for broccoli if I could still get it, or kale (trim and boil it hard for 5 minutes, then sauté it in a generous amount of olive oil for 10 – 15 minutes, until it is tender). Now, as you’ve just seen, this was a basic braise, with the fancying up of the roasted garlic and the preserved lemons. You could do the same thing with chicken, and in fact, anything you can do with chicken, you can do with rabbit, including frying and etouffee or gumbo, or, carefully, grilling.  In fact, a pinch, if you think your guests would be hinky about eating Thumper, tell them it is chicken.  Unless they’re real good at small animal anatomy, they’ll never know. There are also a couple of good rabbit recipes in Lynn Rossetto Kasper’s magnificent book The Splendid Table, chief among which is Giovanna’s Wine-Based Rabbit, which is surpassingly tender and sweet, despite being roasted for a long time.   See you around the (game) kitchen,   lb PRESERVED LEMONS.doc