Pioneer Dinner; cooking rabbit.

Well, our pioneer themed dinner worked out quite well!  Before I go on to that, though, here's how I ended up cooking the rabbit for the evening.

The rabbit we got was frozen - fresh wasn't even an option.  Friggin' expensive, too.  Just over $25 for the one.  The bison roast was more expensive, though, and wasn't really much more meat, so we stuck with the bunny.

Ingredients for this dish:


1 whole rabbit
about 1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (or water)

Once it was thawed, we figured out why we couldn't see the hind legs.  They were tucked into the body cavity, where we also found the liver (which fell out, so it isn't in the photo) and kidneys (which were still attached).

Some of the recipes I found included instructions for the liver and kidneys, but not for how I'd decided to cook it.  In the end, I chopped them up and gave them to the cat.  Only one of our cats will eat real food, for some reason, and she was more than happy to have it all to herself. :-D

If this had been an old rabbit, I would have soaked it in salt water for a while, first.  As it was, I just rinsed it out.

I then had to figure out how to cut the carcass into pieces.  I've never butchered a bunny before.  The legs were easy enough, but the body took a bit more figuring out.

I've decided I need a cleaver, though.  Making do with a chef's knife will only go so far.  Bunny bones are weak enough to go through, but it still took a bit more than I was comfortable doing with the knife I had.

This is what I ended up with - 8 pieces.  Plenty of meat on those back legs.  The ribs are quite scrawny, though.  The rib and back pieces got rolled up to make the thickness similar to the leg pieces.

The pieces were then dredged in a mixture of flour, salt and pepper.  Some versions from the time period had the pieces rest for a while, then get dipped in beaten egg, followed by breadcrumbs. I decided our hypothetical settlers weren't established enough to have eggs or large amounts of flour.  For a long time, if the settlers were able to grow their own grain at all, they usually had only enough to grind small amounts in a coffee grinder to make bannock or pancakes.  Breadloaves, especially yeast breads, didn't become common until the late 1800's, early 1900's.

The floured pieces were then browned in a pan.  I used bacon fat for this.  Pigs became common well before cows, so pig fat was more available than any other kind.  People would let their pig root around in the bushes, feeding itself throughout the spring and summer.  In the fall, they'd butcher it, preserve the meat (usually smoked or brined) and render the fat for use in the winter.  Adequate dietary fat was a major concern.  In the early years, a lot of people died of "rabbit starvation."   Rabbits were plentiful and easy to catch, but the meat is very lean.  It was the only food source for some people, but didn't have adequate amounts of fat for the human body's needs.  So even though their bellies were full, they were hungry, as their bodies craved fat.  Unable to get any, they died of "starvation."

Isn't that a cheerful subject.

*ahem*

The browned pieces were then set aside for later.

 Onion pieces were then added to the pan the rabbit was browned in.  I found myself needing to add more bacon fat, though, as the pan was really dry.

At this point, if our hypothetical settlers had had other veggies, they'd add the cut up pieces now.

When the onion (and any other veggies that might be there) were softened, I added about 3 cups of chicken broth that had the last of the dredging flour mixed into it.  Orignally, the broth might have been made from Prairie Chickens, other game, vegetables, or just plain water.

The broth was cooked down to about half it's volume, give or take.  With the flour in it, it started to thicken a bit, too.

Once the broth was cooked down, the browned pieces were returned to the pan and left to simmer for about 1 1/2 hours.

It went over really well at the dinner. Both of the girls found it delicious.  I had one person comment that this was the first time she'd had rabbit, and it won't be the last! *L*  With 20 people, we all took only a little bit each, and there was actually some left.  For a while.  A couple of the kids discovered them, and polished them off. *L* 

This is definitly something we'd do again - if we're ever willing to spend that much money on it again! *L*