Yummies for the Tummies!

Cookin’ Rabbit Throughout the Year

A wonderful feeling is experienced by us when we sit down at the table to eat and can see that everything on the table was raised by us. We know we are not eating meat that has been injected with who knows what hormones, medications or exposed to dangerous viruses. Our vegetables are grown organically, we know too that they have been raised without harmful pesticides or bioengineering. Rabbit is heart and tummy friendly too! Rabbit is a very versatile animal from a chef’s point if view. It can easily be converted from your favorite chicken, turkey, veal, pork, tuna or even beef recopies. Rabbit meat has a delicate flavor so you have to be careful to be “light handed” using spices. Rabbit blends very well with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses; sour cream, white wines, especially Marcella wine, garlic and mushrooms.Ground rabbit is an excellent sausage to use for breakfast sausage, in spaghetti and chili sauces as well as stroganoffs. It depends simply on how you season it. It also makes great burgers, hash, chowders and meatballs.Leftover rabbit makes for wonderful casseroles, stir fry, salads, spreads, soups, stews and gumbos.

Rabbit may be B-B-Q, grilled, baked, braised, deep fried, pan fried, creamed, roasted or pan broiled. It is only limited by your imagination!

Stuffed Rabbit Loins

· ½ loaf of day old French bread, toasted & cut

into 3/4-inch cubes (about 10-12 cups) · 1 cup each, chopped onion and celery · 4 Tbsp butter or extra virgin olive oil · 1/2 red apple, peeled, cored, chopped · 1 cup chicken stock or water· Minced garlic· 1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley

· 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning or ground sage

(to taste) · Salt and freshly ground pepper (to taste)

· 2 rabbit loins marinated in white wine for at

least 4 hours· FlourIn a large sauté pan on medium heat melt butter or olive oil (reserve 1Tbsp for later) in the pan, add chopped celery, onion, apple and seasoning. Sauté’ until tender. Mix in bowl until evenly covered and moist, set aside. Lightly coat rabbit loins in flour. Add remaining olive oil to pan and brown loins. Transfer loins into baking dish, stuff center with bread dressing, and secure flaps with baking skewers. Cover pan with foil, bake 1 hour at 325, remove foil the last 20 minutes to brown. Meat is done when it easily flakes with a fork. Make a gravy sauce with the juices, pour over loins and serve. Café des Fédérations's Rabbit with Mustard Sauce

1 rabbit (2 ½ to 3 ½ pounds), cut into about 8 pieces, bone in
½ cup Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 bottle dry white wine
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoons superfine flour, like Wondra
3 branches thyme
1 bay leaf
Chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Brush one side of each rabbit piece with mustard, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil and butter in a large pan over medium heat. When the fat is hot but not smoking, add several rabbit pieces, mustard side down. You may need to cook them in batches, so as not to crowd the pan. Cook until browned, about 10 minutes, and then brush the uncooked top of each piece with the remaining mustard. Season with salt and pepper; flip and cook until brown, 10 minutes more. Add several tablespoons of the wine to the pan and scrape up the browned bits. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and stir to coat. Pour in the remaining wine, the thyme and bay leaf. Add the rabbit. Return the pan to medium heat and simmer until the rabbit is tender and the sauce begins to thicken, about 1 hour.4. Transfer the rabbit to a warmed platter. Discard the thyme and bay leaf. Reduce the sauce to the desired thickness; then season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the rabbit and sprinkle with parsley. Serve immediately over buttered noodles or rice. Serves 4.

Rabbit Ragu With Pappardelle

1 rabbit (2 ½ to 3 ½ ), cut into 8 pieces, bone in
Kosher salt and ground
black pepper
¼ cup olive oil
1 anchovy (optional)
1 medium onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Pinch of red-pepper flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup seeded, chopped San Marzano tomatoes
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
12 ounces pappardelle
Pecorino Romano cheese, for grating.1. Pat the rabbit pieces dry and season with salt and pepper. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, add the oil and brown the pieces, working in batches if needed to avoid crowding. Transfer to a plate.2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the anchovy (if you choose) and mash it until it dissolves into the oil. Add the onion, carrots and celery, stirring until soft, about 5 minutes. Then add the red-pepper flakes, garlic and tomato paste, stirring for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the wine, turn the heat to high and boil to burn off the alcohol, about 4 minutes. Add the tomatoes, broth, bay leaves and thyme. Return the rabbit pieces to the pot, spacing them evenly so they are partly covered by the liquid. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the rabbit is falling off the bone, about 2 hours. Turn the pieces at least once.3. Turn off the heat and discard the thyme and bay leaves. Remove the rabbit from the sauce and let cool; then pull the meat from the bones. Shred some pieces and leave others large. Return the meat to the pan and simmer the sauce until thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the butter, piece by piece. Season to taste with salt and pepper.4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pappardelle until al dente. Before draining, save a cup of the pasta water. Toss the pappardelle with the sauce over low heat, adding pasta water as necessary if the sauce is too thick. Divide among pasta bowls and top with the grated cheese. Serves 6.