preparing rabbit

[thomis]

I have a recipe that I plan to use. What I'm asking here is the preparation before cooking. In other words, after I dress and skin my rabbit is it ready for immediate cooking or is there a standard procedure most folks do? Like dry age it in fridge a few days, soak in something, etc?
I've never prepared rabbit, just wondering what you folks typically do.
The recipe I'm going to try is a sort of oven braise in a pan with carrots, celery, potatoes and a few herbs.

 

[Naybor]

Here is an article on preparing rabbit for a meal that sounded right:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2096592_prepare-wild-rabbit-meal.html

I'm a "slow cooker addict" that would be good, too.

This is about the way I would make it:

http://www.food.com/recipe/crock-pot-rabbit-stew-192100

I usually use a package of "baby carrots" instead of chopping up larger ones.
also you can add a can of mushroom soup.
Maybe add a can of new potatoes about an hour before done.

Squirrel and Rabbit stew made this way is VERY tasty! Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Zeke/PA]

We have always soaked the Rabbit in a lite salt water solution mostly to thoroughly "bleed" it.
I'll share an excellent recipe:
Cut Rabbit into pieces (6) front quarters,backs, hind quarters.
Skillet Brown the pieces in oil .
Then place pieces in a roasting pan topped with a pack of onion soup mix, mixed as per pkg. instructions.
Place in 325 degree oven for an hour or so.
THEN, dump a can of Cream of Mushroom soup into the pan, crank up the oven to 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Enjoy!!

 

[cowpoke]

I think ill tryem to thanks.

 

[usmccpl]

Two ways. One is cook all day in the Crock pot with cream of mushroom soup and your choice of veggies. The next cut in about 6 peices fry in bacon grease then make into gravy and serve with biscuits.

 

[LiENUS]

My first rabbit I used the tenderloin sliced up into bite sized pieces I soaked in milk for maybe 20 minutes. While it was soaking I mixed some Italian breadcrumbs with a little Cajun seasoning and heated up some butter in a small frying pan. Then I Took the rabbit straight from the milk rolled it in the bread crumbs and tossed into the frying pan. When It was done frying I put it on a plate then began making a cream gravy with the milk that I had soaked the rabbit in and a little bit of beef broth. Came out pretty good.

 

[WNC Seabee]

We have always soaked the Rabbit in a lite salt water solution mostly to thoroughly "bleed" it.

We've always soaked them in a salt water bath overnight in the fridge as well.

 

[KodiakBeer]

I just roll them in flour/spices and fry them in olive oil.

Around here, rabbits are tasty and tender up until midwinter. After that, the taste and texture begins to deteriorate from lack of food or poor food. When you see alders and saplings with the bark gnawed off, it's time to quit hunting for another year.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Young rabbit, fry it after parboiling and overnight saltwater soak; old rabbit (tough when fried), slow cooker and a rabbit stew after parboiling and overnight saltwater soak. (GAD I'm hungry right now!).

LD

 

[Daniel Boone]

That would be a very small meal if you used rabbit tenderloins for anything .

Don't you realize that the tenderloin is the portion of meat inside of the rabbit directly in front of the anal canal.

What you meant to say was that you used the back straps.

 

[LiENUS]

Haha yeah you're right, sorry backstrap.

 

[thomis]

are you guys talking about cutting the backstrap out of a rabbit? i'm picturing a very small piece of meat, two skinny strips along the backbone right? i would have thought the bulk of the meat would be the thighs and legs.

by the way I haven't gotten my rabbit yet! But I keep checking the box trap every morning and putting fresh bait in there. there were rabbit tracks all around it when we had the snow on christmas day..

 

[LiENUS]

You can use the legs too, if its a good sized rabbit the backstrap may not be so tiny.
This is the backstrap from my rabbit

It's been sliced up obviously but its enough for breakfast. I kept the legs for stew. The point of using the backstrap is its the best cut of meat from the rabbit. It's not too gamey of a flavor and its very tender. Good luck with catching a rabbit, Maybe you ought to think about keeping it a month and fattening him up a little since you have a live trap.