Braised Whole Rabbit, with Apple, Onion, Tomato

Contains:  Nightshades.  Is: An unexpected meat.

When shopping back down in Connecticut just prior to Christmas Eve, in my searching for foods for the Feast of the Seven Fishes, I found a rabbit.  In a semi-splurgy mood, I took it home with me.

I’ve had rabbit before.  My parents would occasionally cook it, and there was one memorable occasion in Spain years ago, more of which at the end of the recipe.

Rabbit can be a very lean meat, so one has to take care in how it is to cook.  Low and slow is the direction I took.  Added fat can help it – strips of bacon laid over the meat, perhaps?  But I didn’t have bacon.  Braising liquids, especially of an acidic nature?  Yes, this I could do, and did.

This was a whole rabbit.  It even came with some of the innards. Two kidneys, a liver, and, for some unknown reason, two hearts.  For this recipe, I discarded the liver, but kept the other organs.   The brand’s name is D’Artagnan.

The rabbit with stock/broth, apples and onion. Plus some seasoning.

Prep Time:  15 minutes.
Cook Time:  2.5 hours.
Rest Time: 10 minutes.
Serves: 3.
Cuisine:  Not specified.
Leftovers:  Why not?

The canned tomato has now been added.

Braised Rabbit, with Apple, Onion, Tomato

INGREDIENTS:  

• One fresh or thawed rabbit, about 2.5-3.0 pounds, cleaned.  Hearts and kidneys can be retained.
• Approximately two tablespoons of Better than Boullion chicken or vegetarian stock added to water.  Low sodium is preferred but not essential.  Alternatively, any good homemade chicken or vegetable stock should work.  The amount of liquid will depend on the size of the pan – it should com up halfway or so to the top of the main parts of the rabbit.
• 1 apple, core removed.  Chopped into about 5-6 segments.  Leaving skin on is fine.
• 2 medium onions, quartered or so. 
• 28 ounce / 794 gram can of whole peeled tomatoes.
• Juice of one lime.
• 1/2 teaspoon or so of ground allspice.
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground white pepper. 
• Salt, if needed – or add at the table.  

METHOD: 

Pre-heat oven to 325 F / 165 C.

If needed to fit the rabbit into the braising pan, cut/break it into half.  Situate in pan, and if keeping add the kidneys and heart(s) into the chest cavity.  Add liquid – if using the Better than Boullion, follow the jar directions.  Otherwise just pour in homemade stock.

Add apple chunks around and in the rabbit chest cavity.

Squeeze in the lime juice, especially onto the rabbit and apple.  Add the onion chunks.  Sprinkle on the allspice and ground pepper, and any desired salt.  Since I didn’t use the reduced sodium Better than Bouillion, I figured if I needed some, I could do that while eating; your mileage may vary.

Add the can of tomatoes, sauce and all, over the top, spread around as need be.

Bake at 325 F for two and a half hours.  When ready, the leg meat should pull away from the bone.  Rest and serve.  (Roasted and salted new potatoes with rosemary or fennel seeds would make an excellent side.)

NOTES:   

Rabbt meat can be dry.  I am pleased to note that the D’Artagnan rabbit, cooked low and slow, braised with plenty of liquid and acid ingredients, is not.  For a wild rabbit, I’d suggest a a few slices of bacon atop, along with cooking for three hours before testing.  One would have little idea of the age of a truly free-range wild rabbit.

Flavor is somewhere between that of white meat / dark meat of chicken.  And at least here, the meat’s texture is not dry or grainy like standard chicken breast.  And, it is tasty.

Ah, that venture in Spain!  I was in high school when the parents  took us to Spain – Dad had business there.  We stayed in a very small and rural town near Cadiz for about ten days.  There was one restaurant in the area.  If it had a name, we never saw the signage.  It had dirt floors.  Although we had a cabin to stay in, equipped with kitchen facilities, we often went to that eatery. Since we were near the coast, the specials were usually some variety or other of seafood.  There was no printed menu.

I knew some Spanish from taking Spanish, but 1) our language classes did not include food items, and 2) I was learning Cuban-accented Spanish from a Cuban refugee, not Castellan, and 3) I can’t track languages if spoken too fast. So, I was of little use here.

The days we’d eaten there – it had been seafood every time before.  So when the manager or owner started jumping up and down with his hands waving over his head to attempt to cross the language barrier, we were confused.  I come from adventurous stock – we said, “Si, por favor!”

We were served rabbit, a portion of one large rabbit for each of the four of us.  And with a flourish, the manager/owner slid the portion of honor to my mother.

She gasped.  The head.  Staring up at her.

Mother was an adventurous eater but that was a step beyond her.  She exchanged the head with Dad for some of his other portions of rabbit.

I don’t remember how this rabbit was prepared – too many years gone past – but that it was indeed good.  (The rabbit I just cooked, though “whole” came headless, btw.)