Wabbit Season or What to Eat in the Event of a Zombie Apocolypse

A few months ago I checked the "game" section of my local Whole Foods and was surprised and intrigued when I found a whole rabbit!

I bought it.

Then I went home and researched all of my cookbooks for a good recipe. I wasn't sold on what I found (the hubs isn't a big fan of stew-ish tasting meat because it ends up tasting like vegetables) so any slow cook recipes or braised in vegetable and liquid recipes: not so much. Then I turned to Pinterest and found it. A classic French recipe for Rabbit braised in a Crème Fraîche Mustard sauce.

Truth be told, my husband has had rabbit before but it was in survival school when he was in the Army and it was caught, killed and cooked on the spot. There was no crème fraîche or mustard...barely salt and pepper...so anything would be an improvement from his first experience.

Then...I did some research on how to butcher a rabbit (not as easy as you think!)

And two weeks ago, I dove in.

Pre-Butchering.

First - the butchering. I think that's truly the best word that could be used for what I did, because I'm pretty certain I butchered the butchering. What I got right, however were the legs and tenderloins so it ended up just fine. Rabbits are fairly lean but do have some silverskin (that silvery, thin lining you often see on meat) which needs to be removed since it's so tough. Patience and a sharp knife are your best tools here.

Giving credit where credit is due (and because I did not take step-by-step photos) here is a great resource for cutting up a rabbit for cooking. Before you get all squeamish: rabbit is commonly eaten in Europe...and this knowledge would come in super handy in the event of a Zombie Apocalypse given their abundance and propensity to, um, breed. You're welcome.

Now for the recipe. This recipe is from Saveur magazine. Saveur is a fantastic foodie resource - recipes come well tested - so I went for it. And I halved the recipe....

Ingredients:

• 2 rabbits (about 2 1⁄2 lbs. each), each cut into 6 to 8 pieces - I used one rabbit.
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ¹⁄₂ lb. pancetta or unsmoked bacon, cut into 1⁄4"-thick strips - I used about 1/4 lb of unsmoked bacon
• 1 ¹⁄₂ cups crème fraîche (3/4 cup - quick and easy way to make crème fraîche: mix equal parts sour cream and heavy cream, whisk it up and let it sit. Voila!)
• ³⁄₄ cup Dijon mustard (6 TBS)
• 2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh thyme (1 TBS)
• 2 tbsp. roughly chopped fresh sage (1 TBS)
• 2 tsp. black or yellow mustard seeds, crushed (1 tsp)
• 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced (6...because you always want a lot of garlic!)
• 4 bay leaves (2)

Once you've cut the rabbit up and prepped the above ingredients, the rest is easy peasy!

Generously salt and pepper the rabbit pieces and put them in a large bowl. Mix the remaining ingredients and pour over and coat the rabbit pieces with the mixture. Cover the bowl and marinate overnight in the fridge.

Finished product. Delicious!

Remove from the refrigerator and let the rabbit come up to room temp.

Heat oven to 400 and make sure there is a rack in the middle. Place the rabbit pieces in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan (two if you need) and top with any remaining marinade.

Roast the rabbit, turning once, and basting occasionally with pan juices until the juices have reduced and the rabbit is cooked through. About 55 minutes. Set oven to broil and cook until golden brown (about 5 minutes but do NOT walk away during this time, keep checking because a broil can go from golden to burned very quickly)

What's this business about zombies?

Serve the rabbit with pan juices. I roasted some sliced red potatoes with some fresh thyme. Asparagus is a perfect vegetable. Saveur recommends a low-tannin red but we went with a dry chardonnay and thought that was the perfect pairing on a summer night.

The verdict: it was good! The marinade was very terrific. If I made it again with only one rabbit I would not half the sauce recipe. My take on rabbit meat: it's worth the try but I didn't fall in love with it like I did venison or lamb.

That said, I'd make rabbit again - and would explore another recipe. I'd also use the marinade again on chicken.

We don't watch those zombie shows but I do feel like Chris, Fenway and I are equipped a little better to survive an apocalypse!