Wosie Cooks Wascally Wabbit

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY EVERYONE !

Mr. Hawthorne decided at the last minute to grill rabbit for dinner the other night. Since rabbit meat is relatively low in fat it can be tough, making rabbit stews and braises popular. I usually fry my rabbit pieces first, then put them in a casserole with an herbed crust and they come out tender and extremely flavorful. Check out my rabbit casserole and the herbed crust I made for Easter. I called it my Easter Bunny Pie. If I'd done that when my children were wee bitty things that probably would have made them cry. Now they just look at me and shake their heads. Since Mr. Hawthorne wanted to grill rabbit, I needed to marinate it first to get the meat nice and tender.

My marinade ingredients: Olive oil fresh rosemary garlic wild onions from my garden orange

I grated the zest of 1 orange then added the juice and pulp.

Sliced garlic and onions went in.

Rosemary.

Olive oil.

And some white wine.

Then I gave it all to Mr. Hawthorne for him to smash the garlic and onions. Normally I would have let this marinate overnight, but because of time restraints I came up with an idea. We got out our vacuum sealer, put the rabbit pieces and marinade in the bag, and vacuum sealed it. I thought this might cut down on the marinating time.

Here's the vacuumed sealed rabbit in the marinade.

I love the giblets and so do the rest of the Hawthornes so I'm going to make a giblet gravy.

I chopped the giblets and sliced the mushrooms and garlic.

First, I sauteed my mushrooms in butter.

When the mushrooms were browned, I added the chopped giblets. Rosie's tip #45: When sauteeing mushrooms, do NOT salt them. Salting brings out the moisture in the shroom and they will end up steaming. Only add the salt after they've cooked and browned.

Next I added in about 3 tablespoons of flour and cooked it.

Then I gradually added in a can of low-sodium beef stock, stirring and cooking until nicely thickened.

Don't forget the white wine.

After marinating for about 2 hours, Mr. Hawthorne put the wabbit on the gwill for about 15-16 minutes on low, turning a few times.

I took the marinade and brought it to a boil to pour over the rabbit.

Delicious, grilled rabbit. Tender and flavorful. The marinade was quite good. You could taste every ingredient.