This Week's Theme Recipe

Well if those rabbits are going to kill us--well turn about is a fair trade!

Rabbit Fried with Onions

(with serious apologies to vegetarians!)

This comes from a favorite cookbook of mine, Elizabeth Acton's English Provincial Cooking.  OK, so people who seriously disagree with eating rabbits, even they are not vegetarians, can simply say--"that's English food, yuck!."  But British regional cuisine is better than most people know--they even have a serious undercurrent of actually eating vegetarian main dishes on farmsteads that butcher they're own livestock.  Rabbits are an English specialty and this is a tasty recipes.  Make it with chicken if you like.  I'm going to "translate" this from English cookbookese to US standards.

2 1/2 lb. rabbit, cut into serving pieces (butchers will do this if you like)

2 eggs, well beaten

2 cups fine breadcrumbs (that's fresh, but dried will do), mixed with 

    1/2 tsp. each salt and white pepper

1 stick butter

1 lb. yellow cooking onion, cut into rings

1 1/4 cups brown chicken, rabbit or beef stock (store bought is fine)*

1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

4 tbsp. whipping cream

Bring a large pot of water to boil and salt heavily (couple of tbsps.).  Add rabbit and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove drain and allow to get cold (trick:  this is easily done the night before).  When cold, place rabbit "joints" (ie:  parts) in egg and then into the breadcrumbs--place on plate to dry about 5 minutes.

Using two frying pans, divide and heat the butter to sizzling (a tip:  a little oil added to this will keep it from burning.), cook the onions in one and fry the rabbit bits in the other pan. Be sure to turn the rabbit often to brown to a golden color on all sides.  

Spoon the fried onions onto a warmed serving tray and keep warm.  Lay the fried rabbit over them as they are properly browned (little pieces brown fast, so keep an eye on them from the beginning of frying).  Meanwhile, stir the flour into the still hot onion pan, along with a little more butter to make what is called a roux.  Stir well to fry the flour for about 2 minutes (this is very important, since the flour will not thicken properly and will taste "raw" if not cooked enough).  Pour in the stock, stirring constantly until thickened.  Add the lemon juice and the heavy cream.  Lower heat and continue to stir, check the salt and pepper seasoning levels and serve in a gravy boat, along side the platter of rabbit and onions.  Good served with creamed potatoes, green beans (not cooked to death!) or greens peas buttered, or creamed spinach.  A green salad is also welcome.

This is an Italian rabbit dish

*regarding the stock:  you can enrich store bought stock or even Kosher chicken granules by heating it (obviously, you need hot water for the granules), and adding strips of lemon zest (just the yellow part--the white part is seriously bitter!!), and the rabbit liver and simmer for 20 minutes.  When done, the liver can be chopped and added to the sauce for a "giblet gravy" or--treat the pesky killer beasts innards as a treat for the cook--that'll show em good!!

Yeah I know...this is all in very bad taste...