# recipes please? also some questions.



## happy acres (May 12, 2014)

Do any of y'all, my good rabbit buddies, have a really good, easy recipe for rabbit? If you do, will you share it? Thanks!

Also I'm wanting to tan the furs, but have never done so.  Does anyone know how? Can you tell me step by step?

And where is a good place to get those metal thingys that go on the ends of the rabbit's foot to make a key chain?

Thanks for any and all information!


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## M.L. McKnight (May 12, 2014)

I season my rabbit with a bit of salt and pepper then let that sit for a half hour. After that I toss it in some seasoned flour and brown it in a saute pan with bacon grease. Set the rabbit pieces aside and add carrots, onions, celery and apples to your pan. Cook them until the onions become translucent, add some chopped garlic, fresh rosemary and thyme, 1Tbsp cocoa powder and get everything good and coated. Add two cups of good port wine and when it begins to bubble around the edges pour it over your rabbit pieces in a roasting pan. Add one cup of chicken stock and cook at 350 until the rabbit is tender. Eat over rice or with good mashed potatoes.


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## happy acres (May 13, 2014)

Sounds good!  I found some websites about tanning the fur and making the keychains, so now just keep those recipes coming!

I'm wondering if I could just substitute rabbit for chicken in some recipes? If I did, how would it affect cooking times? Or taste?


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## M.L. McKnight (May 13, 2014)

Rabbit is pretty versatile and can be used in place of all sorts of proteins. Cooking times would need to be adjusted for the size of the cut of meat and the thickness. Rabbit won't necessarily taste like chicken but it does derive a fair amount of flavor from what is cooked with or put on it, with a bit of richness to the overall taste. I'm a chef instructor with my own farm, I've cooked a lot over the years.


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## happy acres (May 13, 2014)

Made fried rabbit with gravy for supper. Pretty good!


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## Pioneer Chicken (May 13, 2014)

happy acres said:


> Sounds good!  I found some websites about tanning the fur and making the keychains, so now just keep those recipes coming!
> 
> I'm wondering if I could just substitute rabbit for chicken in some recipes? If I did, how would it affect cooking times? Or taste?



Yup, that's what I often did when I had rabbit.  My favorite dish to make was rabbit pot pie. 



M.L. McKnight said:


> Rabbit is pretty versatile and can be used in place of all sorts of proteins. Cooking times would need to be adjusted for the size of the cut of meat and the thickness. Rabbit won't necessarily taste like chicken but it does derive a fair amount of flavor from what is cooked with or put on it, with a bit of richness to the overall taste. I'm a chef instructor with my own farm, I've cooked a lot over the years.



Also agree with this.


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## happy acres (May 14, 2014)

I'm wondering if a beer braised rabbit and sauerkraut would be good?


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## VickieB (May 14, 2014)

New recipes are always fun but I recommend getting used to replacing your other meats with it too. Mainly, because if you only use it for new recipes it won't be long and you'll not be using it as often. We have a tendency to go back to the tried and true recipes we're used to, and if we know how to replace those recipes with rabbit, we'll be eating more of our rabbit. I ground some up the other day, and so we've had rabbit burgers and tonight it will be Sloppy Joes. I mixed the rabbit 50/50 with ground beef. You cannot tell a difference. Next time I'll probably try 75/25 with rabbit and beef.


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## Baymule (May 14, 2014)

Rabbit chili over fritos is delicious.


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## GLENMAR (May 16, 2014)

I made rabbit enchiladas.


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## happy acres (May 17, 2014)

That looks really yummy!


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## VickieB (May 17, 2014)

GLENMAR said:


> I made rabbit enchiladas.
> View attachment 3622


Glenmar, those look awesome!


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## GLENMAR (May 19, 2014)

They were. Here's the recipe I used.
http://www.homeintheholler.com/sanity/rabbitenchiliadas.html
The only thing different that I did was I did not grill the rabbit. I cooked it down in a dutch oven covered in beer, until almost all the liquid was gone and the rabbit was well done.


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## hardcore (Jun 11, 2014)




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## jodief100 (Jun 13, 2014)

Y'all are making me hungry.


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## happy acres (Jun 13, 2014)

Thinking about using rabbit instead of beef in a stroganoff. I think it'll be good.  Also thinking about chili. Mmmmmm!


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## hoosiercheetah (Aug 7, 2014)

Rabbit Stroganoff sounds fantastic, let us know how that goes!


Here's what I do with chickens, and it should work with rabbit, too:

Take the whole rabbit and brine it.  The brine should be 1/4 cup (non-iodine) salt per quart of water.  I brine the critter in my crock pot crock in the fridge overnight, but if your crock doesn't come out of the pot, you can do it on the counter for 2-4 hours and get the same result.
If your crock pot is big enough, do two rabbits.

Lay two long strips of heavy duty foil across each other (90 degrees) on the counter.  Drain the brine, do not rinse the rabbit, set him in the middle of the foil cross.

Season with pepper and garlic powder.  Do not add more salt!  Place two whole carrots, two cellery stalks, and one onion, quartered, in each rabbit chest/abdomen area.

Wrap the rabbit snugly in the foil, fold-up and roll-down style. The idea is you want the rabbit in a more or less water tight foil cocoon.  Be careful not to wrap so tightly that the arm or leg bones puncture the foil.

Crock it.  Depending on the size of the rabbit, an hour on high followed by 3-4 hours on low ought to do it.  By comparison, for a medium chicken I do 2 hours on high and 3 on low.  If you've got two rabbits in there, 2 hours high, 4 hours low ought to do it.  After you do this a few times, you'll figure out how to adjust the time for your particular crock - mine runs pretty hot, for example.

When the time is up, carefully lift the whole foil package out of the crock and set it in a very large mixing bowl.  A lot of juice is going to come out of this thing, and you want to catch it all.

Gently unwrap the foil, and be careful, it's bloody hot in there.

Pick all the meat off the rabbit.  It should fall off the bones.  Put the meat aside for serving any way you like, but at this point it's straight up delicious.  Use it in your favorite chicken salad sandwich recipe, and sing with the angels.

Strain all of the rabbit juice into a tupperware container big enough that the juice only fills it half-way.  Add as much water as you have juice.  Congratulations, you have rabbit stock!

Use the rabbit stock in any recipe that calls for chicken stock.  It makes awesome soup.  Use it to cook white beans for beans and cornbread.  Sing with angels some more.

That's about it!


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## happy acres (Aug 7, 2014)

Sounds heavenly!


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## Shorty (Aug 9, 2014)

We just cooked our first rabbit and it turned out great! If you have ever had sauerbraten and liked it then you will probably like this I do have to admit is an acquired taste

Hasenpfeffer
1 rabbit about 2.5 lbs
3 cups white vinegar
3 cups water
1 Tbl Pickling spice 
2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 onion
8 cloves
2 bay leaves 

We mixed all of that in a large nonmetallic bowl. Add rabbit pieces; cover and refrigerate for 48 hours, turning occasionally.

1/4 cup Flour
2 tbl butter
1 cup sour cream

Remove meat; strain and reserve marinade. Dry meat well; coat lightly with flour. In a large skillet, melt butter; brown meat well. Gradually add 2 to 2-1/2 cups reserved marinade. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove meat to a warm platter. Add sour cream to pan juices; stir just until heated through. Spoon over rabbit.


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## trampledbygeese (Aug 13, 2014)

Awesome thread!
I wish I still had rabbits, but someone in the family became very attached to the babies and wouldn't let us eat them.  One day I'll have bunnies again!

But for now, I have a few hunter friends with wild bunnies in the freezer.  Anything I need to do different for cooking wild rabbit?


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## goatgurl (Aug 13, 2014)

2:51 in the afternoon and youall have made me hungry enough to go bunny huntin'.  i have been mulling over getting bunnies for some time and these recipes have about put me over the edge.  i think some one needs to invite us all for supper,lol


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## happy acres (Aug 13, 2014)

I have a few New Zealand Whites for sale.


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## goatgurl (Aug 14, 2014)

do you deliver?


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## happy acres (Aug 15, 2014)

Depends. Are you in Alabama? Northwest corner?


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## goatgurl (Aug 15, 2014)

oh no kiddo, its gonna be a long trip.  i live on the western edge of Arkansas, about a mile from Oklahoma.


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## happy acres (Aug 15, 2014)

Well, guess you'll have to go hunting wabbits then.


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## Latestarter (Jan 2, 2015)

As a hunter and never having raised and eaten "pet" rabbit, I would have to guess that the wild one are/would/could be a little "stringyer/gamier" than a raised one. They don't lead quite so easy a life (for the most part), nor get the best most nourishing foods... Can anyone who has done both verify?


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## Baymule (Jan 2, 2015)

Latestarter said:


> As a hunter and never having raised and eaten "pet" rabbit, I would have to guess that the wild one are/would/could be a little "stringyer/gamier" than a raised one. They don't lead quite so easy a life (for the most part), nor get the best most nourishing foods... Can anyone who has done both verify?


Wild rabbit is dark meat and ......well......it is "wild". Like Squirrel meat, if you ever had that. Domestic rabbit is ALL white meat. You can use it in any recipe you would use chicken in. I have made rabbit pan sausage, cassaroles, stews and chili.


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