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Some of you may recoil in horror: those big ears, the quivering nose, the soft, cuddly fur sported by rabbits. How can a person eat a bunny? If you can bear the thought, read on. Rabbit meat is mostly lean, dark meat, and susceptible to a good many preparations, and especially to braising, and, dare I say, is similar to chicken.
Dressed rabbits are funny shaped creatures. The forequarters are meaty, then there are long flanks with barely any meat, ending in meaty hindquarters. Led by my old Silver Palate cookbook, rabbit fricassee with mushrooms and tomatoes served over polenta was my go-to recipe first couple times I cooked it. Ultimately, I found the bones I left in it were annoying and so before serving it, I took to removing them.
Rabbit and Shitake Pie
Serves: 3 to 4
Ingredients
- To braise the rabbit
- 1 rabbit
- 1 rib of celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and pepper
- Water
- To make the pie
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 1 ½ cups stock from braising and/or chicken broth
- Rabbit meat removed from the bone
- 3 to 4 dried shitake mushrooms, broken and soaked in hot water
- ¼ cup of Madeira or more to taste
- Dried thyme to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pastry sufficient to cover a nine-inch pie
Instructions
- Put the rabbit into a heavy pot with a tight fitting lid, and add the celery, carrot, onion and bay leaf, plus enough water to cover the bottom of the pot.
- Set over a medium heat and cook covered at a simmer until the meat falls from the bones.
- Remove the rabbit from the pot, and drain the liquid and vegetables in a colander, reserving the liquid.
- Pick the meat from the bones and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Heat the butter and olive oil together and add the chopped onion and cook until onions are softened.
- Stir in the flour and cook briefly with the onions.
- Add the stock and/or broth stirring constantly to avoid lumps, and cook until slightly thickened.
- Drain and add the mushrooms and cook for about five minutes.
- Add the rabbit meat, thyme, salt and pepper, and Madeira, and mix together. Taste and adjust seasonings.
- Spoon the mixture into a pie plate and top with the pastry, pinching to close the edges and cut a vent hole in the top.
- Bake at 375 until the crust is golden.
The last time I cooked rabbit, I decided on making individual pies for company supper, a slightly fussy approach but it looked a little more elegant. For a plain family supper, I’d make a one dish pot-pie. No matter what the finished product looks like, shitake mushrooms and a general glug of Madeira make all the flavor difference. No Madeira? Apparently you can use almost any wine – white or red. And I prefer a sauce made with broth rather than a cream sauce which comes in handy in case you have a lactose intolerant eater. Also, because I had gluten-avoiders in my company, I used cornstarch to thicken the gravy. Do what you need to, but the recipe below calls for flour.
