Food + Drink
RECIPE: Smothered Sweet Baby Rabbit
After a magical weekend tubing at Seven Springs snow resort, I had to continue my kitchen servitude. With 8 more new dishes to try, my fiancé decided it was time to make things a little more interesting - so she surprised me with a moderately fresh caught rabbit and woefully, I obliged.
I generally hate eating cute animals but with a short countdown to my goal, I’ll cook or taste just about anything new at this point. This weekend’s new dishes included soda cracker pie, a family heirloom recipe of mine; and smoked white fish salad, which was similar to a smoked salmon spread made from white fish and whiting. If you’ve never eaten rabbit meat before, it tastes a lot like chicken; don’t we say that about everything? Anyway, it’s also naturally sweeter than most meats, if not cooked long enough it can be a little on the tough side because rabbits caught in the wild are naturally more muscular. For this recipe I decided to go for a good smothered rabbit, almost like country fried steak. I paired it with some roasted root veggies and roasted napa cabbage tossed with an olive oil and wasabi paste mixture, AH-MA-ZING! My guests were amazed and loved every single bite. If cooking a rabbit isn’t something you’re likely to go for, this recipe can be made with chicken or any other poultry as a substitute.
Smothered Rabbit
1 whole rabbit
1/2 cup of half/half
1 cup white wine (less sweet more dry)
1 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 packet Lipton onion mushroom seasoning packet
1/4 cup flour
3-6 tablespoons of cooking oil
Salt/ pepper and cayenne to taste
Essentials
Large ziplock or plastic bag
Pan with lid
Cut the rabbit into pieces, wash and pat dry. Salt and pepper the rabbit then toss in flour to coat. In a pan heat the cooking oil, when hot place the rabbit pieces in and brown until crispy but not cooked through; remove from the pan and set to the side. To the hot pan add the onions, celery, mushrooms and Lipton packet. Cook until onions appear transparent then add wine, 1 tsp of flour (left over from the rabbit toss), and half/ half taste and season if necessary. Allow to boil and add the rabbit and cook for 15-20 minutes covered garnish with parsley to brighten.
Enjoy!
