Recipe: Appetizing Braised Rabbit

Braised Rabbit. My husband and I do a lot of hunting, and we eat more wild game than domestic meat. I like to create my own rabbit recipes and this one makes such tender meat with a tangy, light sauce. I like to serve it with baked potatoes and steamed broccoli. —Dawn Bryant, North Platte, Nebraska.

In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, brown the rabbit well on all sides, in batches, if necessary. Place the browned rabbit pieces in a large roasting pan or Dutch oven with a lid, and cover the rabbit with the carrots and potatoes. You can cook Braised Rabbit using 13 ingredients and 17 steps. Here is how you achieve that.

Ingredients of Braised Rabbit

1. You need 3 lb of rabbit.
2. You need 2 tbsp of seasoned flour (I added about 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper each).
3. It's 2 tbsp of EVOO.
4. It's 2 tbsp of butter.
5. It's 4 oz of bacon.
6. You need 1 of onion, roughly chopped.
7. Prepare 3 of carrots, sliced.
8. It's 2 stick of celery, trimmed and sliced.
9. Prepare 1 1/4 cup of chicken stock.
10. It's 1 1/4 cup of dry hard cider (can us stout too), 1/2 pint.
11. It's 1 bunch of fresh parsley leaves, chopped.
12. Prepare 1 of salt, to taste.
13. You need 1 of pepper, to taste.

Rabbit, browned in olive oil, braised with vinegar and lots of garlic and onion, served with some sweet peas right at the end. Everything is in balance, from the zippy sherry vinegar, the warmth of the slow-cooked garlic, the rabbit, which turns luscious after simmering for hours, and even the peas, which really come off as sweet when. So this Italian braised rabbit skips that step and uses a Chinese technique instead: To prevent your braise from getting a layer of frothy scum on top (a layer caused by coagulating blood and proteins from uncooked meat), you blanch the rabbit for a moment before it goes into the pot. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with flour.

Braised Rabbit instructions

1. Soak the joints in cold salted water for at least two hours..
2. Pat pieces dry with paper towels..
3. Toss bunny pieces in seasoned flour, while singing little bunny foo-foo and ruefully whispering "I told you so..." to the pieces..
4. Preheat the oven to 400°F..
5. Heat the oil and butter together in a flame proof dutch oven on a stove burner..
6. Shake off (and reserve) any excess flour from the rabbit joints and brown them on all sides; lift out and set aside..
7. Drink from your cider collection. (The trick here is that you only use one bottle for the recipe...that leaves five you have to get rid of...imbibe!).
8. Add the bacon to the dutch oven and cook to completion, then set aside with the rabbit. Make inappropriate animal jokes when children are not present..
9. Add the vegetables to the dutch oven and cook gently until just coloring..
10. Add the reserved flour to the veggies to absorb the fats left in the dutch oven..
11. Stir over a low heat for 1 minute to cook the flour; seems like a good time to have more cider..
12. Add the stock and alcohol, stirring to make a smooth sauce. For an extra challenge, swig while stirring and not spilling from either you bottle or the Dutch oven. High-five yourself upon completion..
13. Return the rabbit and bacon to the dutch oven with half the chopped parsley and a light seasoning of salt and pepper..
14. Mix gently together while reciting double double toil and trouble, then cover with a lid and put into the preheated oven..
15. Cook for 15-20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 300°F for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the bunny is tender..
16. Add the remaining parsley and serve with some rustic sides..
17. This was a recipe I found in an Irish cook book; the instructions were modified to my liking..

Lean, mildly flavored rabbit is delicious when slow-cooked in a Catalan cassola (or cazuela, in Spanish) with tomatoes, carrots, almonds, and garlic. Adding a piece of the rabbit's liver is a traditional way of giving the dish deep, earthy tones. Dredge rabbit in flour; shake off excess. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Heat oil in a pan and cook rabbit until golden brown on all sides.