Mr. Hawthorne Cooks.

For the past two nights, Mr. Hawthorne cooked dinner - always a pleasure for me until I have to clean up after him. But he's getting better. We'd stocked up on rabbit from Harris Teeter. Mr. Hawthorne always checks the expiration dates on the rabbits. And he bought these on the last day. Instead of paying $5.99/pound, we got these for $1.50/pound. And we bought all they had. Harris Teeter's frozen rabbits are in an open freezer. We keep ours in a deep freeze, so we don't have a problem with the expiration date. Sadly, the meat people would have thrown these out.

Mr. Hawthorne made a flour batter with salt and pepper Montreal steak seasoning, and Cajun seasoning. The backs went in first, since they take the longest time to cook - about 20 minutes. And he used canola oil.

Remember not to overcrowd the pan when you're frying. It lowers the temperature of the oil and you'll end up with greasy food.

Drain the rabbit pieces on a paper towel.

He made a delicious sauce. About 1/2 cup creme fraiche (You could use sour cream.), a teaspoon or more (to taste) of Dijon mustard, and a sprinkling of chopped basil leaves. Just heat up and serve. It was the perfect accompaniment for the rabbit. Next up ... red snapper.

He seasoned with just freshly ground salt and pepper and sauteed them in a mixture of extra light olive oil and butter.

While the fish was cooking, he chopped a tomato, an onion, a green pepper, and some basil leaves. Mr. Hawthorne is truly taking advantage of the basil bounty in my garden.

He did a quick stirfry of the peppers and onions.

And added in the tomatoes at the end, just to heat through. A few tosses of the veggies to impress.

He turned the fish over and cooked until just barely flaky, maybe 4-5 minutes a side.

A little Chardonnay in the pan always brightens the flavors.

Then he drizzled a little cream in.

And lastly, a sprinkling of basil leaves.

And here's our dinner. This was so good, I think I could've eaten the whole thing.

The fish was delicate, sweet, light, and flaky. The vegetables were crunchy tender. The sauce was rich and flavorful. The basil just lit up the entire meal. Thank you, Mr. Hawthorne, for 2 delicious meals.