Braised Wild Rabbit w/ Smokey Bacon & Mushrooms

Braised Wild Rabbit w/ Smokey Bacon & Mushrooms
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Braised Wild Rabbit w/ Smokey Bacon & Mushrooms – I have a couple of favourite butchers I love to go to. Unfortunately my visits to them are limited to our annual and quarterly visits to family. This is why I go prepared with a big esky and lots of icepacks to bring my loot safely home.

Wagga Wagga is Knights Meats, an veritable candy store of meats. We always stock up on their Corned Hogget, enough to last a year as we only get there annually.

Canberra has Eco Meats in one of my favourite food markets, located right near my nana’s place, in Belconnen. If there is an animal you would like to try then here’s your place… among their cornucopia of meats are camel, ostrich, possum, crocodile, plus nitrite free bacon. This is where I stock up on bacon and wild rabbit before heading back to Sydney.

I love rabbit and have been eating it since I was young, even being the ‘lucky one’ and getting the bullet in one of my mouthfuls when eating a freshly shot one we had for dinner when we were in Finland.

There is a big difference between a farmed white rabbit and a wild rabbit. The flavour of a wild rabbit is definitely alot more flavoursome and as they may be older than the farmed ones, they can be tougher, which is why braising is the preferred method for wild rabbit. Having a stronger flavour also means you can be a bit bolder with the other ingredients you choose to put into it. The farmed rabbit has a more delicate flavour so softer flavours are needed so as to not overpower the rabbit.

If you aren’t sure if you would like wild rabbit or have yet to try rabbit then purchase a farmed one and then move up to the wild rabbit.

Happy hunting! Blondie

Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie

Wild Rabbit Mushroom Pie
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Yes, another pie… but how good are they?! If every dish could be put into pie form then I would be a very happy person.

My first proper memory of rabbit was back in Finland where, when staying with family at their summer house, we had freshly caught rabbit for dinner. What made it memorable for me was that my piece still had the bullet in it. Kind of a thrill when you’re a kid

This Wild Rabbit and Mushroom Pie is an easy, slow cooked dish and made even easier by keeping the rabbit whole, which I prefer when doing rabbit as a shredded meat as you have less chance of getting splintered bone into the meat – Rabbit is notorious for it’s bones splintering into the tiniest of shards if not cut properly and cleanly. Just be mindful of the leg bones, best to wash the legs and make sure there are no loose splinters around there.

If you’ve never tried rabbit before I highly recommend you giving it a go. It’s a great tasting, very lean meat that works well braised… and makes a nice change from chicken.

Blondie