Recipe: Rabbit Chili
Posted on 5 April 2008 under Game Cooking, Recipes | No Comments
Yesterday was one of those times. One of those times when you start looking through the pantry, the fridge, both freezers and find nothing but … fish. Lots of fish. There was a pound of ground chuck back there but I was feeling a little more creative than that. But there’s way too much fish.
Mary doesn’t like fish.
Ok, so that’s somewhat of a misnomer. She’s getting used to liking some seafood. Chilled steamed shrimp with horseradish dipping sauce is good and so is some salmon. I did a Lake Superior whitefish the other day that she enjoyed. So she’s getting there with the right cooking.
There’s lots of fish because I like fish. A whole Hell of a lot. So we buy fish.
Oooo … check that out. There’s a rabbit in there, too. Not just any rabbit either. This is domestic rabbit from Lee Williams House of Meats in Point Place, Ohio. Hmmm …
Mary’s liked rabbit ever since I made Rabbit Gumbo courtesy the fine folks at Pel-Freez. So, something with rabbit …
There’s no fresh vegetables in the house (shopping is today). I’m thinking some kind of, maybe, like a rabbit noodle soup? That’d be kinda cool. The problem is, when you boil rabbit the “broth” is really kind of a funky thing that you don’t want to eat. I’d have to have, say, a gallon of chicken broth. Ain’t got it. But I have these three cans of veggies. I have a couple 28 oz cans of tomatoes (one tomato sauce and one seasoned diced tomatoes), and a 14-1/2 ounce can of tomatoes with some chili seasoning in it. Maybe some kind of tomatoey rabbit stew? Black beans and corn … that works with a sorta chili thing. I could add some wine to kick it up, maybe some onion, a red onion. Oh, and there’s a little bit of good beef stock in the pantry. That’d kick up the richness of the flavor just a little bit too.
So, that’s what I did. I boiled the rabbit to get the whole thing started, then just dumped that nasty rabbit water. Really, don’t use that stuff. But make sure the rabbit is fork-tender without going into water overbloat. It should come off the bone in decent, tender chunks.
I washed the pot then dumped all three cans of tomatoes into it so they’d heat up. Deboning rabbit takes a little time because it’s a touch stringy but there’s lots of good stuff in there. I just deboned it right over the pot of tomatoes, the meat going right in. The canned veggies got drained, and the black beans rinsed under cold water, and they all went right into the pot. After adding about a cup of red wine and the beef broth I still had to add some salt and pepper to kick up the flavors to where I like them. The red onion got chopped, and the whole thing left to simmer.
Yeah, real easy. The hardest part was deboning the rabbit.
Good? Well, seeing as Mary had two bowls and Aaron had three, I’ll say it kinda works. Telling Chef Tad about it later he’s like, “Alright, alright, I’m getting hungry now …”
Rabbit Chili
Serves 6 - 8
Ingredients
1 whole rabbit, cut up
1 28 oz can tomato sauce
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes with chili seasoning
1 15 oz can sweet peas
1 15 oz can black beans
1 15-1/2 ounce can whole kernel yellow and white corn
1 cup dry red wine
8 ounces beef stock
1 medium red onion
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Place the rabbit pieces in a large pot. Add enough water to cover the rabbit plus about another inch. Add a couple tablespoons salt. Boil the rabbit until it’s fork-tender, adding more water if necessary. When the rabbit is done, remove it from the pot to cool.
While the rabbit is cooling, dump the rabbit water and wash the pot. Place the pot back on the stove, add all three cans of tomatoes, the red wine and beef stock, and set the burner for medium heat. When the rabbit is cool enough to touch, debone it, adding the meat to the tomatoes.
Drain all three cans of vegetables, rinsing the black beans under cold water, and stir the veggies into the tomato-rabbit mixture. Chop the onion and add it as well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
Re-season with salt and pepper before serving with a side of buttermilk biscuits.
Eat This Blog: Muskrat Dinner at Erie VFW Post 3295
Posted on 26 January 2008 under Eat This Blog, Game Cooking, Michigan Cuisine, Photos, Special Events | 2 Comments
In a nutshell: This dinner, a Muskrat Dinner served at Erie VFW Post 3295 yesterday evening, was far nicer, far tastier, far more satisfying than I had imagined it would be. There was no “gaminess” to the meal I ate, which you can see in the above photo. Mary said she had one bite that tasted “off”. Other than that, we cleaned our plates.
Imagine a good roast beef, rich and flavorful, so tender it falls apart, cooked with strips of bacon and some carrots and onions for extra flavor. Add tiny annoying bones that you have to keep fishing out of your mouth no matter how careful you are, plus a couple textural surprises on occasion that aren’t difficult to deal with. Top with banana peppers, serve with smooth mashed taters, creamed corn … and freshly made turtle soup, complete with okra.
Oh yeah, baby. That there’s some good eatin’!
More after the jump …
Wild Game: Dixie Dave’s ‘Old Dixie Inn’, Birch Run
Posted on 9 September 2007 under Cookbooks, Game Cooking, Grilling, Hunting, Michigan Cuisine, Restaurant Chit-Chat | 1 Comment
Ok, where do I start here? Right … the beautiful Apple Dumpling with Homemade Vanilla Sauce you see in the above photo. Flaky pastry on the outside, real apples on the inside with the flavor and juiciness you’d expect from real apples, and the vanilla sauce being not too sweet, with just the right amount of vanilla to perfectly compliment the apple dumpling itself.
Longtime readers, check out that card. Yup, that’s the one … the restaurant I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I wasn’t sure was still open. That’s where this wonderful dumpling came from, just this afternoon.
I’m not saying this dumpling was good just because I screwed up. I’m saying it was good, because … damn … this was the best apple dumpling I’ve ever had. Bar none.
It was $3.50. Really, that’s all. It could feed two people, just like the server said. But yeah, I ate it all. I’d eat more of the second one I’d bought, but Mary’s made off with that one …
For new readers, here’s a little history of my screw-up with Dixie Dave’s. Heck, I don’t think Chef Dave Minar, Dixie Dave himself, knows all this yet, but here it is:
- Last year at Cabela’s, I found the 4th edition of Dixie Dave’s wild game cookbook. I’ve never made anything out of it, but decided I wanted to visit the place. Besides, his recipe for Pan-Fried Testicles was a great way to gross out teenagers.
- Dec. 14th, 2006 - Blogged about Gift Cookbook Recommendations, and included Dixie Dave’s book.
- Jan. 4th, 2007 - Included Dixie Dave’s cookbook in my list of the Ten Strangest Cookbooks I own, and included some of the titles of recipes in the book.
- March 5th, 2007 - In my discussion on Scary Foods, I once again mentioned Dixie Dave’s recipe for Pan-Fried Testicles before talking about how Chef Tad sprung Steak Tartare on Aaron and I one evening.
- August 24th, 2007 - This is where I screwed up. While building my Michigan Cuisine web site, Dixie Dave’s web site threw the wrong kind of error. And in trying to call them, the phone company interrupted. I lamented how they might be closed. Really, even though those two things happened on the same day, I jumped the gun and posted it. I won’t do that again, because …
- September 1, 2007 - I received a comment from Chef Dave Minar! Yup, Dixie Dave’s Old Dixie Inn IS open! Other Emails from him followed on the same day.
Darn …
So, to make a long story even longer, after a family reunion up in Millington, Michigan, just this afternoon, and getting up the right kind of courage, I opened the front door of Dixie Dave’s Old Dixie Inn in Birch Run, on the corner of Birch Run Rd. and Dixie Highway, took a deep breath, and asked if the Chef was in.
There he was, cooking for his patrons like any real Chef will.
Chef Dave and I had a nice chat, talking about food blogging, about his work on Mike Avery’s Outdoor Magazine (seen in the Toledo and Monroe areas on Buckeye channel 5 on Saturday mornings), about his being invited to do Taste of the Nation: Toledo but not yet being able to, about his selling 20,000 copies of the cookbook, with a new one on the way … It was a very nice visit, lots of fun, and I’m glad I stopped in to give him the personal apology he deserved.
Unfortunately, this evening Dixie Dave’s web site still isn’t working. Even the link he suggested I use on this page at the Outdoor Magazine web site links back to the Outdoor Magazine web site itself. I hope that gets taken care of soon, as Dixie Dave’s deserves an online presence.
The restaurant itself is very unassuming, tucked into the SE corner of that intersection of Birch Run Rd. and Dixie Highway:
The menu contains a large number of dishes I’d like to try. As Mary and I were just coming from a huge family reunion, where lots of German Lutherans try to out-cook each other (pics tomorrow!), we were full to the gills! But Chef Dave’s menu … how about some Blueberry Walleye? Or maybe Bronzed Pork Chops with Jack Daniels’ BBQ? Or an Elk Steak with Woodland Mushrooms? There’s some stuff on here I just have to try at some point. Like the Sportsman’s Appetizer, “Dixie Dave’s own recipe of elk and venison paté and smoked wild game sausage, served with toasted French bread“. There are dishes you never thought you’d see in Michigan, like Louisiana Bayou Wild Boar, Medallions of Elk Forestiere, and even Wild Game Steak; “Please ask waitperson for the selection and preparation of the steak of the day.” Of course, for those less inclined toward game, there’s Chicken Cordon Bleu, New York Strip, Fish & Chips with Slaw, and even Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. Me, I think I’m headed toward the Al-E-Gator, “Farm-raised gator sautéed with lemon butter“. Thank you, sir, I’ll have that with a side of Fluffy White Rice …
Ya’ know, I’m probably lucky Chefs in Michigan don’t seem to have the egos Chefs do in other areas, or Chef Dave could have come through that kitchen door with a knife! I know, because when I showed up at the Frog Leg Inn this past Friday afternoon through the kitchen door, Chef Tad muttered to Sous Chef Janelle, “… where’s a knife … a really big one …” … and all I could find was a metal ladle …
Thanks for the understanding, Dixie Dave! We’ll definitely see you again!!
Recipe: Tequila-Lime Grilled Deer Venison
Posted on 15 August 2007 under Game Cooking, Grilling, Recipes | 1 Comment
So, what do you do when someone gives you some decent, gorgeous hunks of beautiful, mouthwatering deer venison?
That’s right. Ya’ go out and get yourself some decent tequila. Well, that’s what I did anyway.
Mary and I love the flavor of the mixture of tequila and lime. Back when I was first trying out the various functions of the Canon A560 I use for these photos, there just happened to be a pile of chicken drumsticks lying there. The drumsticks had been marinated in a commercially-available tequila-lime marinade, and then grilled. The end result was so darned purty I went ahead and posted the photo. Unfortunately, when I tried to use the photo for Windows Live Messenger, Jaden quipped, “What’s in that pic … chocolate chip cookies?” Yeah, sure … and they taste like chicken …
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