Rabbits–for a Change

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 781, 9 July 1954, Page 22

Rabbits–for a Change

a pleasant change for dinner, and there are so many different ways of cooking them that you could have one per week for months without repeating the dish. Bacon and onions are the usual accompaniments to rabbits, but celery, leeks and parsnips are all appropriate. Rabbits may be stuffed and baked, stewed in brown or white sauce, curried, jointed and fried like chicken, made into pies, and little left-over pieces can be chopped or minced, mixed with a little chutney and parsley, and used for luncheon pasties or wholemeal sandwiches. Roast Rabbit Make stuffing with 1 cup each of breadcrumbs, chopped apples and chopped raisins (or sultanas), a tablespoon finely-chopped onion, 2 slices minced bacon, pepper and salt to taste, 1 beaten egg to bind (milk if no egg). Fill rabbit, sew it up, smear well with dripping, and bake in steady oven. Put a slice or two of bacon over rabbit last 14 hour. Takes 1 to 2 hours. Bake whole onions round rabbit, and baste occasionally. Rabbit Fricassee Cut one rabbit into neat pieces, and wash well in warm water, soak in milk and water (to whiten), then place in a pot with enough stock or milk and water to cover, add 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves, a bunch of herbs, salt and pepper. Simmer 1 hour or till tender. Make 1 pint white sauce, using half milk and half stock from the rabbit, add 2 teaspoonfuls capers, 1 teaspoonful vinegar from the capers, 1 teaspoonful sugar, 1 dessertspoon butter, salt and pepper. Strain the stock from the rabbit, pour the sauce over, and serve in a border of rice. Garnish with cut lemon. Keep the surplus stock for soup. Parsley or onion sauce can be used instead of caper. Rabbit Hawaiian Fry slices of tinned pinneapple till lightly -brown, in butter. Remove, fry chopped onions in same fat. Roll joints of rabbit (or chicken) in seasoned cornflour or flour, fry in fat. Put them in casserole with slices of bacon, the onions, and the pineapple slices on top. Make up pineapple juice with water to 2 cups, and add. Cover and cook 1 hour. Add curry if liked. Australian Curried Rabbit Wash and dry thoroughly 1 young rabbit, cut into small pieces and place in a pot with just enough cold water | to cover. Add 1 tablespoon tomato sauce, 1 sliced and fried onion, 1 sliced apple (peeled and cored), 1 sliced banana, 2 tablespoons each of seeded raisins and currants, 2 red chillies, 1 tablespoon plum jam and 3 or 4 small pieces of preserved ginger. Bring slowly to the boil and let simmer until rabbit is tender. Thicken with 1 dessertspoon best curry powder and 1 tablespoon cornflour (mixed to a smooth paste with a little milk), and serve with chutney and boiled rice. Canberra Rabbit Pie One young rabbit, 1 cup each cooked > diced bacon, diced potatoes, diced carrots, 1 onion (cooked), parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer rabbit one hour, cut into small pieces, add bacon and put into a large piedish with the vegetables ; tender rabbits make

— and parsley. Thicken with flour 2 cups of stock in which rabbit was cooked, and pour over rabbit and vegetables. Sprinkle

on salt and pepper, cover with short paste and bake till brown. Serve hot and garnish with parsley. Curried Rabbit, N.Z. Soak jointed rabbit in salted water. Wipe dry and roll in seasoned flour, Cut up 2 large onions and fry them brown in butter in a thick casserole or saucepan. Remove onion and fry _ rabbit joints, sprinkling freely with dry curry powder. When browned all over, return onion to pan, add a chopped apple, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, a tablespoon vinegar, and water or stock to nearly cover. Cook slowly on low heat, or in oven in a covered casserole till tender (about 2 hours). California Rabbit Wash joints of rabbits in salted water containing a little vinegar. Dry, coat each with seasoned flour. Melt a little bacon fat or dripping in deep pan, and brown joints well all over. Pan may be

first rubbed with a clove of garlic. Place browned joints in casserole, cover with milk, put lid on, and bake in hot oven 375 degrees till rabbit is tender (about an hour). Serve with red currant jelly or quince honey. Bulgarian Rabbit Soak rabbit in salted water 1 hour. Joint, wipe dry, roll each piece in flour. Place in casserole and cover with plenty of stuffing. Lay strips of bacon on this, and pour over ¥2 cup milk. Sprinkle with chopped onion, finely-chopped parsley, 1 diced lemon, pepper and salt, a pinch of grated nutmeg, a little spice and a few cloves. Finally add 1 cup water, cover with lid, bake moderate oven about -242 hours. Serve with creamed potatoes and green peas. Stuffing: One tablespoon chopped onion, 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, Yy 1b. breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon mixed herbs, 1 dessertspoon chopped candied peel (if liked), salt and pepper to taste. Bind with 1 beaten egg. Grandmother's Rabbit : This one came lately from a listener. Wash rabbit and soak about % hour in slightly salted water. Take out and place in baking dish; slice 2 large onions over it. Mix in a bowl a large cup of breadcrumbs, a_ teaspoon of chopped fresh sage, thyme and parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried, packet herbs), and large cup water; pour this over the rabbit and onion; put some dabs of butter (or dripping, especially bacon fat) over the top, and cook about 2 hours in moderate oven, until tender. Serve with potatoes and a green vegetable. No gravy is needed as the breadcrumb mixture makes the gravy, and more water can be added if a little dry when cooking.