He weighs about four pounds, and he’s plump and cute.
He’s going to look even cuter when he reappears in the terrine or pate I’m going to make this weekend.
No, I’m not going to butcher him. I bought him dressed and ready for cooking today at the Race Street Fish Market. I found and downloaded a good rabbit terrine recipe, but I’m more in the mood for nice pate de lapin. Anybody got an authentic recipe to suggest?
I have never had rabbit, but I have been told that they have a “different” oder. Is this true? A friend of mine is a big hunter and refuses to shoot a rabbit due to this offensive oder after skinning it. He gets grossed out just thinking about it. What do you think?
Do you know that rabbits actually scream when you kill them? It is a very haunting thing that you remember forever. I was raised on a farm and I was tasked with “dressing” them. I no longer eat rabbit.
The pigs, chickens and cattle probably put up a big shriek too.
WillyK: There’s probably a big difference between farm-raised rabbits and wild rabbits. I’ve only had farm-raised, and I think they’re delicious. They’re a bit meatier, richer tasting than chicken. Europeans seem to eat a lot more rabbit than we do – in stews, pies, terrines, etc.
I had a cute bunny once, but I only rented her. $10 for one song. And I wasn’t allowed to pet her.
How in gods name did you kill them?? Skin them FIRST? I’ve killed many a rabbit out hunting. I’ve never heard one utter a sound, even the couple that didn’t get cleanly killed the first time never screamed when finishing them off.
I have a story involving one such incident, but it traumitized me at a young age, and I still don’t like to think about it, so I don’t think I’ll repeat it. But even still it didn’t scream.
My one cat, Noel, looks just like a rabbit.
WAAAHHH!!!
Guinastasia, Does it also seem to have a gem between its eyes and a craving for carrots? If so, please remember that intergalactic starships are not to be activated in your citys bounds.
Rabbits don’t scream, and I watch one die about once a month, but then again they might I just don’t hear them as my python is suffocating them. I generally like to pick the really cute looking ones as food.
Azargoth, you just haven’t encountered a “screamer” yet. I had a large (14 ft) Burmy for a number of years (she just died back in January - broke my heart) and I’d say 1-2 of every 12 bunnies would scream. Some would even scream just when you picked them up to present them to the snake. The snake did silence them within a few seconds though. It’s a very unnerving sound. I prefered use the white ones with pink eyes as feeders. Nasty little rodents.
I know my brother had a casette tape of a screaming rabbit that he used to lure coyotes. He aquited it through a Cabela’s catalogue. It worked like a charm.
He’d turn on the tape player and the coyotes found that noise outright irresistable. My brother would sit on a truck with a i/r spotlight and pick them off as they approached. They’d come back again and again, as long as they thought they were hearing the sound of a dying rabbit.
Actually, rabbits can scream, and it’s one of the most god-awful sounds I’ve ever heard. One of the dogs we had when I was in high school caught a rabbit once; and rather than kill it or let it go, she started tearing its fur out. Blood-curdling sound. Gives me shivers twenty years later. We got it away from her, but it’s back was mostly bare by then. Ow, ow, ow, ow…On the subject of flavor, I’ve never had wild rabbit, but farm raised ones are delicious.
:eek:
Wild ones are fine & I don’t know what stink your friend meant, maybe that one was ill? You do have to make sure that you get all the shot out though! Not a problem I personally have had, but one of my friends didn’t clean the rabbit fully. Slight toothache but no real damage.
Re wild vs farm reared - definitely have farm reared for geese - the wild ones are much tougher and taste strong & rather fishy, because of the diet. The farm ones are gorgeous though.
Another friend compares rabbit to chicken, similar texture, but more flavour.
I usually just chunk 'em in the ole Briar Patch. They tell me they HATE that.
The ruffle-edged egg noodles called trenette absorb some of the rich broth in the rabbit mushroom sauce.
Ingredients:
[ul]
[li]3/4 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded[/li][li]a 2-pound rabbit, thawed if frozen, cut into serving pieces and liver chopped and reserved if desired[/li][li]all-purpose flour for dredging[/li][li]3 tablespoons olive oil[/li][li]5 ounces pancetta (Italian unsmoked cured bacon) or bacon, chopped coarse[/li][li]1 large onion, chopped[/li][li]2 large garlic cloves, chopped, plus 1 small head garlic, left unpeeled and whole[/li][li]1/4 cup white-wine vinegar[/li][li]1/2 cup dry white wine[/li][li]2 cups beef broth[/li][li]1 cup water[/li][li]2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed fresh herbs such as sage, rosemary, and thyme leaves[/li][li]3/4 pound trenette or pappardelle[/li][/ul]
Method:
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Cut mushrooms into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Pat rabbit and reserved liver dry. Season rabbit with salt and pepper and dredge in flour, shaking off excess.
In a large heavy ovenproof skillet heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown rabbit on all sides. Transfer rabbit to a plate and in the skillet sauté pancetta or bacon, stirring, until golden. Add onion and chopped garlic and sauté stirring, until onion is golden. Add vinegar and wine and deglaze skillet, scraping up brown bits. Simmer onion mixture until liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. Cut off and discard top 1/4 inch of head of garlic, exposing cloves, and add head to onion mixture with broth, water, and herbs. Bring mixture to a simmer and season with salt and pepper. Stir in mushrooms and rabbit and braise, covered, in middle of oven 1 hour, or until meat is tender.
Transfer rabbit to a plate again and remove garlic head and squeeze softened cloves into sauce, discarding skins. Mash garlic with fork and stir sauce well.
Using 2 forks shred meat, discarding bones, and stir into sauce with reserved liver (if using). Simmer sauce over moderate heat 10 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and cooled, uncovered, and before being chilled, covered.
In an 8-quart kettle bring 7 quarts of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until al dente (about 2 minutes for fresh, longer for dried) and drain in a colander. In a heated bowl immediately toss pasta with sauce and garnish with parsley.
Garnish with finely chopped fresh parsley leaves.
I had a ton of rabbits growing up as pets, lop eared, angora, dwarf, you name it, I had it. They do indeed scream when they are afraid. Occationally one would escape the hutch, and after hours of chasing it (those buggers can MOVE,) my father would catch it with cat-like reflexes, and the little thing would scream its heart out. He wasn’t hurting them, just catching them. But the sound was horrid. Made me drop them a couple times.
They make fine pets when you’re not feeding them to snakes or putting parsley on them. 
I had one rabbit that I rescued from a bad situation who was litter box trained. He had previously lived in a dorm room, quite happily.
My previous post was inappropriate and cruel. I also was remiss in not posting an apology response last night when I should have.
[/]pugluvr** I am sorry and ask for your forgiveness.
Now, for a good rabbit story. I lived in the desert where they have jackrabbits which are larger than a cat. I saw my cat, a large 16 pound pure white baby, chasing a jackrabbit, next thing I see is jackrabbit chasing cat. It was a sight that has given me much laughter over the years as I remember it.
I can fully attest to the fact that under the right conditions rabbits scream.
My late golden retriever Amber, who was the most mellow and loveable creature on God’s green Earth, Amber, who was gentle and understanding when little children would yank on her tail or try to ride her, Amber, who never once snapped at my new puppy Kona when he would nip her on her sensitive nose with his needle-sharp puppy teeth, Amber was a TERROR with rabbits.
I once took her to the woods and she took off after a jackrabbit. I would have thought years of milk-bones and comfey living would have dulled her instincts enough to make catching a wild rabbit impossible, but she managed to chase down and throttle the thing. The screaming this thing did was HORRIFIC, and sent my blood cold.
Heres the cold-blooded killer here: