Care and Management of Rabbits/Chapter 21
XXI
PREPARING THE RABBIT
PREPARING THE RABBIT
To really enjoy the delicious flavor of the modern, domesticated rabbit one must know how to properly prepare the same for the table. The modern rabbit is a different article of diet from the wild rabbit, and many people really deprive themselves of a great deal of the fine flavor and taste by preparing the domesticated rabbit under recipes that belong entirely to the wild rabbit.
There are certain distinctive characteristics between the two animals which should enable the novice to tell at a glance whether he is purchasing a wild rabbit or one of the domesticated breeds.
The wild rabbit is small, long and slender in shape and the meat is dark throughout. Unless you are living in the West your wild rabbit will seldom weigh more than three or four pounds dressed. Jack rabbits, of course, exceed this weight, but in all other respects they resemble the common cottontail.
In the case of the domesticated rabbit, however, you will find the dressed rabbit compact and well filled out in shape, the meat white throughout like the breast of a chicken, and the weight running from three pounds up to ten and fifteen pounds dressed. There is a difference in flavor, too, which can be recognized only after one has eaten both animals. The wild rabbit is apt to be strong and rank in flavor. The domesticated rabbit is sweet and juicy and of fine texture.
The difference between the two as an article of food is due to many causes. A great many people have just cause to dislike the wild rabbit and do not care for it as an article of food. They should not fall into the error of believing that the domesticated rabbit is subject to the same objections as the wild rabbit.
In the first place, the domesticated rabbit is one of the most carefully fed food animals in existence. It does not suffer from scavenger tendencies as does poultry and swine, and its diet is even cleaner than that of the horse.
Due to these traits and to the fact that it makes a rapid growth, the flesh is unusually delicate in texture and flavor.
In selecting a rabbit to fry, try and get one about three months of age. If you can get them younger than this, so much the better, but the usual marketing age is from ten to twelve weeks of age for frys. A three-months-old domesticated rabbit should dress about four and one-half pounds and it is not too old to fry nicely.
In buying dressed rabbits upon the market it is possible to tell the age easily by means of a simple test. By pressing the lower jawbone between the finger and thumb one can tell whether the rabbit is old or young. If the bone snaps easily, the rabbit is young; if not, then you know that you have an old rabbit. Another way to tell age is by the weight. A mature Belgian will weigh about eight pounds; a mature New Zealand Red will weigh, nine to ten pounds, while a mature Flemish Giant will often weigh over fifteen pounds.
For roasting or stews, the rabbit is excellent up to one year of age. An old rabbit while not suitable for frying, will have none of the rancid flavor found in old poultry or other food producing fowls or animals. While they can be used up to one year of age for roasting and stews, the best age is at six to eight months, although the rabbit is good eating at any age.
As soon as the rabbit has been dressed, it should be placed in cold water for about two hours. If purchased dressed upon the market, the same treatment will do no harm. In the winter time, a great deal can be added to the enjoyment in eating the rabbit by allowing it to freeze overnight. It can either be hung on a line or placed upon a glass slab for this purpose.
If the rabbit has been purchased alive you will, of course, have to dress it. This is not a difficult operation, in fact, much easier than dressing a chicken.
The proper way to kill a rabbit is to hold it by the hind legs and strike it a sharp blow on the back of the head behind the ears with a stout stick or club. Then bleed it immediately by inserting a sharp paring knife in its throat. As soon as this has been done, hang it up by the heels and commence to remove the skin.
First, make a cut around the hind feet at the first joint, then cut the skin across the vent to the other hind leg. You now have an opening, after the legs have been freed from the skin, through which you can take the body of the rabbit. This is done by taking the skin off cased; that is, over the head. No more cuts are made in the skin, for, if it is winter, you will want to save it as it is valuable.
You will find that the skin will slip off easily like a glove. As soon as the skin has been removed, slit the abdomen from a point about midway between the hind legs up to the ribs and remove the intestines. This is a very easy operation. Five minutes after killing the rabbit, it should be ready to place in the cooling water.
As soon as the intestines, have been removed, wash the carcass thoroughly in cold water. It may either be placed in the water to cool whole or cut into pieces ready to cook. The object is to drive out the animal heat quickly. Many people accomplish this by pouring a quart of ice cold water into the vent immediately after making the incision in the skin preparatory to skinning the animal. While desirable, it is not necessary.
If you are killing your own rabbit, the best time to do it is the night before you wish to serve it upon the table. In winter it can be killed several days in advance of time of serving provided it is allowed to freeze. The best time, however, is about ten to twelve hours before the time of serving.
There are many different ways of preparing the domesticated rabbit. It may be served immediately or it may be salted down in barrels as pork, or it may be canned successfully and then served when needed.
Where one has a hutch full of rabbits in the back yard, however, there is no need of canning the meat as there will generally be a plentiful supply on hand at all times, if the fancier regulates his litters properly.
The following recipes will set the domesticated rabbit off to its best advantage and will help the busy housewife to solve that ever-present problem: "What can I serve that's different?"
Roast Rabbit
Fill the rabbit with a dressing made of bread crumbs, seasoned with salt, pepper, butter, sage and oysters, moistened with hot water. It should then be sewed up after having fastened the legs down to the sides, sprinkled with salt and placed in a roaster. Place some bits of butter or fresh pork on it, add a little water. Use a medium hot oven and bake from two to four hours.
Fried Rabbit
Cut into pieces and sprinkle each piece with a mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Fry like chicken to a nice brown, in lard and butter, taking from thirty to sixty minutes according to age.
Stewed Rabbit
Cut into pieces and place them in a kettle, just covering with water. Let it come to a boil, then skin and add some salt and a large piece of butter. Stew it until dry and done, but be careful not to let it burn. The meat is then removed to a dish, a tablespoonful of flour placed in the kettle, stir well, adding cream and milk, pepper slightly and pour it over the meat.
Another very common way to stew the rabbit is to place the pieces in a kettle, add hot water, small pieces of fresh fat pork, and salt, and place over the fire and cook until dry and done. After allowing it to fry for a short time, place the meat in a dish, put a tablespoonful of flour in the kettle, adding about a pint of hot water, then pour the whole over the rabbit.
Rabbit Pie
The rabbit is stewed until done, and seasoned well with butter, salt and pepper. The baking pan is then lined with a crust of biscuit dough. Place the pieces of the rabbit therein, add a few pieces of dough, then pour on the broth from the stew and cover the whole with the top crust. Bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes.
Boiled Rabbit
Skewer head and legs close to the body and place in a kettle with enough warm water to cover, boil until tender. This will depend upon the age of the rabbit. When tender, place in a dish and smother with mushrooms, onions, liver sauce or parsley and butter, whichever is preferred.
Potted Rabbit
Place pieces in a stone jar, filling spaces between meat with bacon and veal, diced a pound each. Also cut the liver of the rabbit fine and mix it in; add a teaspoonful each of mace, cloves and black pepper and salt. Thin slices of bacon should be placed on top and cover with a lid made of plain paste of flour and water. Set the jar in a pan containing water and bake in slow oven. It can be kept from burning by placing a greased paper over the paste. No water should be put on the meat. When done, set away to cool, then pound the pieces of the rabbit, bacon and veal into a paste, mix in gravy from the bottom when boiled almost dry. More seasoning should be added, if necessary. Press solid into small cups or jugs covering top with melted butter and set away in a cool place.
Spanish Rabbit
Take one large onion, one chili pepper and four medium sized tomatoes and slice in a stew pan and bring to a boil. The rabbit should be cut into pieces and put in as soon as it boils; add one teaspoonful of salt and enough hot water to cover. When done thicken with flour and add butter the size of an egg.
Roast Rabbit and Onions
A layer of onions should be placed in the bottom of the pan, then a layer of finely cut meat, then another layer of onions and so on until the pan is filled. A double roaster will be found to be the best. No water is necessary as it is furnished by the onions.
While only a few of the many excellent recipes for preparing the domesticated rabbit have been given, they serve to give an idea as to the multitude of uses to which the rabbit may be put in the kitchen. The meat of the rabbit will be found to be economical and at the top of the list in nutritive value.