Make sure your harvest is healthy
This marinated braised rabbit is a great recipe conflated from two sources, "The Joy of Cooking" and allrecipes.com.
By BRENT BURKEY
For Smart
E’ Tutto Qua is a lovely Italian restaurant nestled in the beatnik district of San Francisco.
French champagne there costs more than $50 a bottle.
Thankfully, not all the fare is that expensive, and, on some days, it is quite unique.
Like, ever wonder what Elmer Fudd would do with Bugs if he caught him?
Answer: Probably cook up savory braised rabbit.
With hunting season in high gear, you can make a five-star-restaurant-worthy dish in your own kitchen with fresh game your family’s hunter brought home.
Fall is the season when wild game, including rabbits and the most-hunted Pennsylvania game animal — the white-tailed deer — is most readily available.
If you’re going to be on the receiving end of any fresh game, make sure your hunter knows how to keep the meat clean out in the field.
The first part of the pre kitchen care for the animal is obvious: Keep it cold after it is killed.
But the average hunter might not know that it is important to keep the animal dry, too, no matter how cold the weather might be, said Catherine Cutter, associate professor of food sciences at Penn State.
Cutter recommends dragging or carrying a kill out of the woods after it is gutted, then caring for it in a sterile environment, making sure it does not stay moist for too long and becomes wet
only at temperatures of 40 degrees or less.
As for that San Francisco rabbit, I didn’t order it. My grandfather always told me domesticated rabbit could be fatty.
That is the opposite problem of most game, which live their lives running around the wild or a suburban development. Either way, they are much leaner than something raised in a cage.
A few of the following steps might be in order once the game animal comes into your kitchen:
Salt water
Anything shot with a shotgun, might have several small pellets and pieces of hair inside the game animal. A quick way to draw them out of the meat is to soak the entire animal in salt water. Remember learning about osmosis in that biology class? This works the same way.
Marinade
While we’re on the subject, marinating game is important for at least two reasons: Game can taste “gamey” — and game can be dry. Fix both problems with marinades, including red wine for venison and bacon strips wrapped around a rabbit; the fat will draw into the meat. A favorite, come upon by accident, is a mixture of scotch whiskey, Worcester sauce and whatever dry barbecue seasoning is lying around your cupboard.
Meat thermometer
The biggest problem with game meat, because of its low fat content, is that it tends to dry out. This can be exacerbated by overcooking.But then again, processing hasn’t exactly gone through USDA testing, so you need to cook the meat to an adequate temperature.
Cook ground meat to 165 degrees; steaks and roasts to 145 degrees for medium rare, 160 degrees for medium and 170 degrees for well done; cook whole birds to 180 degrees and breast meat to 170 degrees.
Then just follow any favorite recipe for chicken (everything either tastes like beef or like chicken, so use recipes accordingly), and your gourmet meal awaits!
Marinated Braised Rabbit (Hasenpfeffer)
½ pound bacon, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 cups red wine vinegar or cider vinegar
2 cups water
6 cloves garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
½ cup coarsely chopped parsley
1 tablespoon each: Dried thyme, dried basil, whole cloves, whole allspice, crushed black peppercorns
1 rabbit, 3 to 4 pounds, trimmed, cut into 6 pieces
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1. Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp; transfer to paper towels to drain. Transfer to food storage bag; refrigerate.
2. Add the celery, carrots and onion to the bacon fat in the Dutch oven; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, about 8 minutes. Pour in the vinegar; cook, scraping up browned bits, about 1 minute. Add the water, garlic, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, basil, cloves, allspice and peppercorns. Cover; heat to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer; cook 1 hour. Set aside to cool, about 1 hour. Add the rabbit pieces to the marinade. Transfer to food storage bags, if desired. Refrigerate 24-48 hours.
3. Remove rabbit from marinade; pat dry with paper towels. Set aside. Remove bacon from refrigerator; set aside. Combine flour, salt and pepper to taste in a large food storage bag. Add the rabbit pieces, in small batches, shaking to coat. Reserve remaining seasoned flour.
4. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the rabbit, in batches if necessary, turning until golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Strain the reserved marinade through a sieve into the pan. Add cooked bacon; heat to a boil. Cover; place in oven. Cook until the rabbit is tender, about 2 hours. Transfer rabbit to a platter; keep warm. Place Dutch oven over medium heat; heat pan juices to a boil.
5. Meanwhile, combine ½ cup of the reserved seasoned flour with ¼ cup water in a small jar with a tight-fitting lid; cover. Shake thoroughly. Stir the flour-water mixture into the Dutch oven; cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Pour gravy over rabbit.
Nutrition information per serving: 757 calories, 43 percent of calories from fat; 33 g fat, 9 g saturated fat, 207 mg cholesterol, 25 g carbohydrates, 76 g protein, 845 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Source: The Chicago Tribune
½ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
½ cup orange juice
6 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons grated orange zest
6 (6 ounce) venison steaks
Stir together the soy sauce, hot sauce, orange juice, garlic, and orange zest. Marinate the venison steaks at least 2 hours.
To prepare: Preheat a grill for medium-high heat.
Remove steaks, and discard marinade. Grill to desired doneness, about 7 minutes total for medium, depending on thickness.
Venison with Sherry-Mushroom Sauce
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground sage
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup chopped Vidalia onion
2 cups sliced mushrooms or baby bellas
6 (3 ounce) venison tenderloin steaks
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
¾ cup sherry
¼ cup water
Combine ½ cup flour, sage, salt, and pepper in a resealable bag, set aside. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large pan over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook until almost soft. Add mushrooms, and continue cooking until soft. Remove from pan.
Turn heat to medium-high and melt 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. Toss the venison steaks in the seasoned flour and shake off the excess. Sear venison in butter for 6 to 7 minutes per side and remove.
Reduce heat to medium-low, and melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour, followed by the sherry and water. Return the vegetables and meat to the pan. Increase heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.
Easy Pheasant Casserole
1 (6 ounce) package dry bread stuffing mix
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ½ cups hot water
1 (10.5 ounce) can chicken gravy
1 pound cooked pheasant, cubed
1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine the seasoning packet from the stuffing mix with the butter and water. Stir in the stuffing crumbs until all the liquid is absorbed.
In a separate 2 quart casserole dish, combine the gravy, pheasant, vegetables and thyme. Stir all together well , then spoon the stuffing mix over the top.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Submitted to allrecipes.com
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