Cook A Rabbit For Dinner

Do give rabbit a try, especially if you are concerned with blood pressure. Cooking rabbit is just as simple as cooking a chicken. And it has more potassium and less sodium than more common meats, and as you may already know, getting more of the former and less of the latter looks like an important factor for healthier blood pressure. Rabbit is also rich in niacin, a B vitamin; a 4 ounce serving provides more than half the day’s recommended allowance.

Although leaner than fatty meats, rabbit may still contain more fat than alternatives such as flounder or skinned chicken breast. This is especially true of rabbit that has been raised expressly to be sold as food. So as always, be on the lookout for the lean and trim away any separable fat that you can.

Most poultry markets carry rabbit, but try to order ahead, especially around Christmas and Easter. Choose a rabbit that weighs 2 pounds or less to ensure tenderness. The flesh should be smooth and pale. To make handling and cooking easier, ask the butcher to cut your selection into seven pieces for you - four legs and three back pieces.

Keep the rabbit in the coldest part of the refrigerator in a rightly closed plastic bag. It will usually keep for up to two day if kept cold. The back pieces have lots of meat on them, while the center piece will have side flaps reminiscent of veal scallops. During long cooking, tuck these under the center to prevent over cooking.

To adopt rabbit into your culinary repertoire, use it in place of chicken in a favorite recipe. Rabbit flesh is slightly denser than chicken, however, so you will need to increase cooking times slightly.

Here are some additional suggestions to get you started with rabbit:

• Simmer rabbit with chopped tomatoes, onions, sweet peppers, and bay leaf.
• Sauté rabbit with mushrooms and shallots, then simmer in stock with a pinch of mustard.
• Poach rabbit, then shred and add to fried rice or pasta.

For a great rabbit dinner, try this recipe:

Ingredients:

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon freshly ground white pepper

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons flour

1 rabbit - about 2 pounds, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 bay leaves

1 ½ cups chicken stock

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine black pepper, white pepper, red pepper, thyme, oregano, and flour. Then dredge rabbit in the mixture.

Add rabbit to hot oil in a large skillet and sauté over medium heat until fragrant and just brown, about 7 minutes.

Add garlic, bay leaves, and stock and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low, cover loosely with crumpled foil, and simmer until rabbit has cooked through, about 25 minutes.

Make sure to remove the bay leaves before serving. Serve hot with rice or corn bread and sautéed greens.