Hunting with Mike

That’s my ole rabbit hunting buddy Jack Richmond with a pan full of delicious snowshoe hare.  So far, this year, the snow has been more north and south of Monroe, so I’m still waiting for a good blanket of the white stuff.  I’ve got rabbits all over my neighborhood, but the neighbors frown on shooting their “pet” rabbits.  I live in the country, and have a woods just 150 yards behind my house that is full of rabbits as well as squirrels!  The owner of the woods doesn’t allow any hunting so the “critter” population helps feed the local foxes and coyotes!

I do have a good recipe for rabbit, and will pass it along.  I have tried this one using butter for basting, but more recently I’ve tried bacon grease (saved drippings.)  I think I prefer the bacon, as it adds a real nice flavor to the rabbit.  Anyway here is what you’ll need.  Start with 1 cup of flour, and mix it with about 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.  You can also add some seasoning salt or garlic salt as you prefer.  About a 1/2 teaspoon of paprika or sweet basil can be added to the mix, along with 2 cups of bread crumbs.  Crackers will also work, but they have to be broken up very fine to get the right texture.  You are now ready to start the process of “gettin” dinnner on the table!  The rabbit should be quartered, and the bacon grease should be heated up.  Roll the rabbit pieces in the flour, pepper,salt, garlic, and paprika mixture.  Next use the melted bacon grease to coat the pieces, and then your ready for the bread crumbs and basil to be added.  I’ve tried frying it this way, but it is much better to bake it, and less messy also.  Place rabbit in a baking pan and put in preheated oven at 370 degrees.  Depending on the size of the rabbit each side should be baked for 30-45 minutes.  Use your own judgment here, as you don’t want to dry the meat out.  Once it starts getting brown check it for tenderness-then bona-petite!

Mike

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 at 6:27 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.