Roasted Easter Bunny Dinner!

This year, since I wasn't hosting 17 of my nearest and dearest for Easter supper I decided to try something new and interesting on a small scale (just Michael and I). I'd heard that Rabbit was a favourite at this time of year ( I remember fondly the "bacon-tur-duck-en-nunny" -bacon on top of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken stuffed with a bunny - escapade), so Saturday I made my way to a nice little butcher in Kitsilano where I picked up a fresh, butchered Lapin. I had them quarter it for me and it waited in my fridge until this afternoon. I needed an easy-make recipe because after a night shift I wasn't too keen on standing over the stove for ages, and this is what I came up with:

Added to oven-safe pan:

coupla carrots

x1 dolla-sliced yam

three shallots, chopped

a few sliced fingerling potatoes

roughly chopped turnip. (I went with turnip in lieu of parsnip, which wasn't in-store today. pffft.)

salt and pepper to taste

dollup of olive oil

a few sprigs each of Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

about a cup - 1/5 cups of chicken stock

Mixed them about to even things out a bit.

Washed and patted dry my four pieces of Rabbit. I put a piece of Sage, Rosemany and Thyme on top of each one, and covered them all with slices of Wild Boar Bacon (found at the same butcher).

note: Ordinarily when I try a new food like this I like to let it speak for itself, but I read that game meats are quite lean and prone to drying out. The bacon was to help self-baste.

Covered it all with foil and baked in 350 degree oven for about an hour (ish). I uncovered it and cooked it a little longer to thicken things up and brown things out.

In the meantime, I had Michael make this delicious pear-Waldorf salad!

It's spinach, green pear, dried cranberries, walnuts, and a parmesan-type cheese we had in the back of the fridge to replace what is generally feta or chevre.

For the Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Jamie Oliver tells me that whenever you make a vinaigrette keep the oil/acid ratio to 3 parts oil to 1 part acid (vinegar or lemon juice). Helpful! So, I threw into a small (125ml) jam-jar:

the remainder of my EVOO (plus some canola to round out the ratio)

1 part balsamic vinegar

like, three cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

That whole salad combo tasted delish!

So, once the meat was cooked through and basted once I removed it from the pan and removed the veg separately, leaving the Bunny/Bacon/veg juice in the pan. I put it on top of the stove and got the mix to simmer a little, stirring constantly and encouraging it to thicken. I added a few teaspoons of flour to it in small scatterings to make it really believe it was gravy, and whisked it thoroughly until I fugured it was good and ready (only about 3 mins). I peppered it for luck.

Also, I steamed some beets. Then we poured the wine, and supper looked like this! :



Clockwise, from top: roasted veg, ma pretty flowers, waldorf salad, steamed beets, wine from a friend's 2010 wedding,
jam-jar of vinaigrette,  cuppa tea in the fancy china, pan gravy, Easter Bunny.

 

The rabbit tasted delish. Almost like chicken, but not. Definitely rabbit.





 I got flack from friends about eating rabbit, but from what I read it's not unusual in the U.K, and used to be a staple before we decided to mass-produce certain animals. It was a relatively inexpensive holiday meal, too - about $40 for everything and we've got leftovers for days!

Dear Tori: This post is dedicated to you. Be fearless in the kitchen! I did most of this without a recipe! (I just read a bunch and took the average!)

Happy Easter, everyone!