Rabbit recipes

thule

groatie_queen wrote:

Not sure of the answer to your question, as I haven't seen rabbit for sale for many years. Where did you buy yours? I would love to use it again!

Most farms/estates in our area (south of scotland) are plagued with rabbits and have local guys who "deal" with the critters as they are a real pest,( my horse broke its leg in a rabbit hole recently....so i love to eat them!!,figured i,ll eat the cost of vets bill back in rabbit meat!!!).
Its worth just phoning a few farmers locally and getting the contact number of the local guns, who usually are only to pleased to give them to people who want to eat them and put them to a good use, rather than throwing them in a bin!!
On a similar note, as i notice your in scotland, there are so many pheasant shoots who have "mega rich" southerners who come to shoot the birds but dont want to take them home........the game dealers offer the shoot owners so little for the birds that they end up being dumped.........our freezer is stocked each winter with these delicous birds , (word got out that we actually eat pheasant/rabbit, so some days i get home from work to find a brace hanging on my door handle,)
Just ask around...............and as a last resort the local butchers in scotland usually have rabbit /pheasant in their freezers, or can get it from the game dealers for you, but i,m sure it tastes better when its free!!!

HappyIdiotTalk

Just out of curiosity, how can you be sure the rabbit was healthy? I thought mixy was quite previlent in rabbits around this country?

Plum_Pie

I recently made a stew very similar to the receipeThriftlady has posted but added merguez (i.e. spicy) sausages, peppers and white beans. It took 4 hours of cooking but tasted AMAZING.

allIcouldwishfor

waspie72 wrote:

Check out Jamie Olivers new book - thanks mum! - its got a couple of receipes for rabbit in it which could be worth trying out.

I tried barbecuing it as in Jamie's book. It was tough as old boots!!

thriftlady_2

allIcouldwishfor wrote:

I tried barbecuing it as in Jamie's book. It was tough as old boots!!

Rabbit doesn't respond well to this sort of fast cooking. It's much better cooked slowly.

I've never had any luck with Jamie Oliver's recipes.

navig8r

HappyIdiotTalk wrote:

Just out of curiosity, how can you be sure the rabbit was healthy? I thought mixy was quite previlent in rabbits around this country?

Rabbits get mixie from time to time and then they develope an immunity...When the population increases again another strain appears (some say not accidentally );) .and so the cycle continues..the disease does affect the meat but to check make sure there is no puffiness around the eyes ..difficult with joints:rotfl: and remember wild rabbits appart from a bit of lead are not full of nasty hormones and additives.
Back in the 50's before the rabbits were wiped out my mother roasted them in the rayburn by first stuffing the cavity with sage and onion then sewing up the flaps of skin and cooked till reddish brown Ahhh! I can smell it now!

Dave

thriftlady_2

navig8r wrote:

remember wild rabbits appart from a bit of lead are not full of nasty hormones and additives.
B

And you can't get more free range than a wild rabbit, and although you can't guarantee they're organic they have been fed on a natural diet, or should that be 'fed themselves'.

LittleBill

navig8r wrote:

check make sure there is no puffiness around the eyes ..difficult with joints:rotfl: and remember wild rabbits appart from a bit of lead are not full of nasty hormones and additives.

It's rare now that you get to see the rabbits with their 'clothes' on before you buy them .... and likely if you did see a mixy rabbit skinned unless it was very scrawny you would likely not be able to tell!

If you are buying rabbits skinned ... look for a paler colour ... this means younger ... and flesh turning reddish around the back ... the long fillety bit ... is a sign of age ... and toughness! ... Normally wild rabbits do not get a lot 'bigger' weight wise with age ... and a young average size rabbit will be tender and ample for 3 folks ...

BexTech

A couple of our local butchers still sell rabbit as does the Birmingham food market, often have rabbit.

The town we lived in before used to have rabbits hanging up with their clothes on, but even though it's only a couple of miles away not been to that butchers or past it in a few years.

Cullumpster

My local butcher sells loads of stuff like Rabbit and goat, i think the rabbits are about £2 skinned but still whole :eek:

I have talked my OH into trying rabbit and myself too i've never tried it, what would be the best way and do i have to cut i up myself or do you think ythe butcher would do it for me ?

The thought of chopping up Thumper isn't plesent :eek: