Roast Rabbit Food

SIMPLE ROASTED RABBIT

Steps:

• Defrost and cut the rabbit.
• You will need six parts for roasting: 2 hind legs, 2 front legs, and the backstrap (loin) cut into 2 pieces (Note 2).
• Place the rabbit on a large cutting board lying on its back and open it up. Cut the belly flaps. Go under the armpit and cut the front legs with the whole shoulder.
• Grab the back legs with your hands and break that part open. Find where the tailbone is and cut along there.
• Cut the backbone and the ribs. Find the last rib with your fingers and cut right along that last rib. Repeat on the other side. The whole cut will be like a V. Grab the piece with your hands and break it apart so that you can see the joint between the bones and cut right there.
• Divide the backstrap or the loin in the middle. Find where the vertebra is and cut right there. Press with the knife or use a cleaver.
• Place the pieces in a roasting tin.
• In a small bowl mix olive oil, white wine, 4 grated garlic cloves, 2-3 sprigs chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper. Pour over the meat and turn the meat a few times in the marinade to coat it all over. Cover with plastic wrap/cling film and marinate for at least one hour, preferably 3-4. Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/ 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Add 3-4 whole garlic cloves and the remaining rosemary sprigs to the roasting pan. Pour in the water.
• Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, flipping the meat pieces about every 10 minutes. If you'd like the meat to get more color, turn on the grill during the last 5 minutes of the cooking time.
• The front legs and back strap pieces are smaller than the hind legs. I usually remove them after 30 minutes already, but I always check to see if the internal temperature is right, it should be 71 degrees Celsius/ 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Checking with a thermometer is the best way to ensure that the rabbit is safe to eat but not overcooked. If you overcook it, it will become dry.

SLOW ROASTED RABBIT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Season the rabbit with salt and pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the rabbit pieces and brown on all sides. Place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, onion, ketchup, garlic, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and water; pour over the rabbit.
• Bake uncovered for 90 minutes in the preheated oven, basting frequently. Meat should be very tender when done.

HOW TO ROAST A RABBIT

Steps:

• Begin by catching the rabbit. (You knew that was coming, didn't you?).
• Dress if not already dressed (the rabbit).
• If you're not dressed either, do so.
• Dig little Petunia out of the flour bin.
• Heat oven and warm up the roasting pan.
• Cut up the rabbit.
• Go change the baby's diaper.
• Answer the phone.
• Sift the flour and roll the rabbit pieces in it.
• Wash flour out of Petunia's hair.
• Grease the roasting pan and pick all the toys up off the kitchen floor.
• Go look for Tommy. He was on the front porch the last time you saw him.
• Call Joe Henderson about those seeds.
• Return to kitchen.
• Mop flour off floor where Petunia put rabbit.
• Clean off rabbit.
• Mop flour off Petunia.
• Turn off the oven--it's too hot now.
• The butter has congealed. Melt it again.
• Let Tommy in the back door with the fresh eggs.
• Use the broken one in the recipe.
• Answer phone.
• Change baby's diaper.
• Take Tommy's broken egg and beat it.
• Beat it back to the kitchen.
• Beat the other egg.
• Sit down and collect your wits--no, collect the children.
• Beat the two eggs together.
• Take the kids and beat it!
• Take the rabbit and beat it to the creek.
• Cut up rabbit for bait and go fishing.
• Fish may be fried the same way.

ROASTED RABBIT FOR A SUNDAY DINNER

Steps:

• If rabbit is not already prepared, wash it and trim away any skin and unwanted parts. Most rabbits come with the kidneys and other organs, regardless of whether they are prepared. Reserve these.
• Mix sausage meat and breadcrumbs together, kneading in the rosemary. Stuff the chest cavity of the rabbit with the stuffing, and continue down the torso, leaving a firm mound of stuffing from chest-groin.
• Wrap bacon rashers around rabbit, securing at the back with toothpicks, to seal stuffing inches.
• Roast rabbit on a medium/low heat for 1 hour, turning from one side to the other regularly and basting with any leaked juices.
• Meanwhile, boil potatoes in lightly salted water until firm, but starchy on the outide. Drain.
• Remove rabbit from roasting tray and set aside. Add lard to tray - once melted, toss in the pearl onions (whole), the carrots (roughly chopped into large pieces) and the potatoes. Toss vegetables in meat juices and lard, then replace rabbit on top. Roast a further 30 minutes, spooning over the hot lard as required, or until onions begin to blacken and potatoes turn golden and crisp.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove and set aside the rabbit and vegetables, allowing each spoonful to drain any juices back into the roasting pan.
• Pour stock into pan and scrape the bottom to lift up any stuck pieces of meat or vegetable, and to thoroughly combine the stock with the juices.
• Pour mixed stock and juice into a pot, adding a sprig of rosemary and the reserved rabbit organs. Place rabbit and vegetables back in over on a very low setting to keep warm.
• When stock reaches a rolling boil, mix the teaspoon of flour with a little water to form a paste, and add to the stock. Once thick and rich, taste and season to preference. Strain stock to remove organs and rosemary.
• Serve rabbit, surrounded with the roasted vegetables, and with the stock offered on the side as a gravy. Goes beautifully with redcurrant jelly.

HONEY ROAST RABBIT

Steps:

• Rinse the rabbits and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut each one into three pieces; the hind legs, the front legs, and the loin. Cut the hind and front leg sections into 2 pieces each, leaving the loin in one piece. You should now have 5 sections per rabbit.
• Place the rabbit pieces in a large deep nonreactive bowl.
• In a small sauce pan over medium heat, reduce the orange juice to half a cup. In a small bowl, combine the pepper, fennel, saffron, cayenne, and salt. Add the reduced orange juice and the lemon juice, whisk together, and let stand for 10 or 15 minutes. Add the honey and mix together. Pour this mixture over the rabbit pieces, toss so that each one is evenly coated, and let sit at room temperature for about 1 hour, loosely covered. Toss the pieces every 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the rabbit from the marinade and place on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast the rabbit for 20 to 25 minutes, until done through with no trace of pink remaining. Baste once with the marinade halfway through the cooking time, then again when you remove the rabbit from the oven.
• Place the rabbit pieces on a platter and surround them with sprigs of watercress and wedges of lemon. Drain the onion slices briefly on paper towels, separate them into rings and scatter them over the top.

WHOLE ROASTED RABBIT WITH GARLIC, ROSEMARY AND CORIANDER

Steps:

• Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
• Spread rabbit out as flat as possible and place it on prepared pan.
• Season both sides with salt and pepper.
• Combine oil, garlic, rosemary, coriander, peppercorns and chili powder in a small bowl.
• Rub mixture over both sides of rabbit.
• Cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 475°F.
• Uncover rabbit.
• Roast until tender and cooked through, 30-35 minutes.

ROAST RABBIT WITH THYME

Steps:

• Ask your butcher to joint the rabbit, cutting the legs into two pieces, the saddle into three and the shoulders and front into two. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
• Put the rabbit in a large roasting tin, season and add 1 tbsp of the thyme leaves. Add the oil and toss until the rabbit is well coated. Roast for 20 mins.
• Add the onions or shallots and the garlic, then stir well and roast for another 15 mins, stirring again halfway through. Sprinkle over the remaining thyme before serving.

ROAST RABBIT

Steps:

• Sprinkle rabbit with salt and pepper on the inside.
• Fill with stuffing, fasten opening securely and spread with fat.
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Roast in an uncovered pan at 350F for 1 1/2 hours or until tender.

ROAST RABBIT WITH STUFFING

Steps:

• Rub the rabbit inside and out with a mixture of the lemon juice, fennel, sage, salt and pepper. Then refrigerate for at least two hours. In the meantime, prepare the stuffing.
• Melt butter in a saucepan. Add rice, then stirfy for a minute. Sir in water, salt, rosemary, pepper, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom. Cover and bring to a boil, then allow to simmer over medium/low heat for 15 minutes. Stir in almonds and onions, then set aside for stuffing.
• In the meantime, combine all the ingredients for the basting juice and set aside.
• Stuff rabbit, then sew closed. Place in a roasting pan with 1 cup water, then baste generously. Cover, then place in a 350 degree F. preheated oven. Roast for an hour, basting lavishly every 20 minutes. Remove pan cover, then cook and continue basting, using pan juices if basting juice is finished, for another hour or until meat turns tender. If rabbit is not brown, broil for a few minutes. Serve piping hot.
• Note: If you use wild rabbit, clean and wash it while wearing gloves. If animal is diseased this will ensure that the cook will not catch the disease. Roasting will kill any bacteria making the rabbit safe to eat. Also, to eliminate the wild taste, soak the cleaned animal for at least two hours in a cup of vinegar mixed with enough water to cover the rabbit.