Stuffed Rabbit Recipes

CAJUN-STYLE STUFFED RABBIT LEGS

Steps:

• Using small knife or boning knife, starting at top of each thigh bone, cut meat from bone, pushing and scraping as necessary, down to the leg bone. Cut off and reserve thigh bones. Leave leg bone intact and attached to boned thigh.
• Place pieces in a flat dish and sprinkle with 4 tablespoons each of chopped onion and celery, carrot rounds, syrup, 2 tablespoons wine, basil, tarragon, thyme, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne and salt. Blend well and set aside to marinate, preferably overnight in refrigerator.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 450 degrees.
• Place reserved rabbit bones in one layer in a small skillet and place in oven. Bake until well browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven but do not turn off oven. Add remaining 8 tablespoons of wine and the water and bring to boil on top of stove. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, or until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Discard bones and set sauce aside.
• Put crab meat in a bowl. Heat butter in a small skillet and add remaining 2 tablespoons each of onion and celery, along with sweet pepper and garlic. Cook briefly, stirring, and add to crab meat. Add mustard, remaining 1/8 teaspoon cayenne, sherry, lemon juice, bread crumbs, cream, salt and pepper to taste. Blend well with fingers.
• Open up thigh cavity of each leg and fill with equal portions of crab mixture. Press around top of thigh to compact the filling. Arrange stuffed legs in one layer in a baking dish. Bake in oven 30 minutes.
• To serve, cut each thigh crosswise into four pieces of equal size. Serve with the reheated sherry sauce spooned over.

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.

STUFFED RABBIT

Steps:

• Wash the rabbit with white wine vinegar.
• Soak the rabbit in salt and water for at least one hour.
• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Pat dry the rabbit.
• Season inside and out with salt and pepper.
• Mix the sausage, oatmeal, celery, carrots, mushrooms, apple, egg, sage, rosemary, parsley and onions (optional cranberries) together in a mixing bowl. Stuff inside the cavity of the rabbit.
• Tie closed with cooking twine.
• Place rabbit in a casserole baking dish, surround with excess stuffing inside foil, add well-seasoned beef stock, bay leaf and cook for 1 3/4 hours, or until tender.
• Cut off twine and serve.