Braised Rabbit With Olives Recipes

BRAISED RABBIT WITH CRACKED OLIVES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees. Place rabbit back down on cutting board. Remove any fat from the inside of the rabbit. Cut along the tailbone, keeping the knife against the bone, and detach the thigh. Repeat to cut off the second thigh, starting at the end of the tailbone. Remove liver and kidneys; discard, or save for another use. Cut through the rabbit, below the shoulder blade, to remove the foreleg. Repeat to remove the other foreleg. Turn rabbit over, and cutting along the rib bones on each side, remove loins. Repeat with remaining rabbit. Reserve bones for stock. Wrap loins from top to bottom with pancetta. Set loins aside.
• Season shoulders and legs with salt and pepper and coat lightly with flour. Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place legs and shoulders in pan and cook until brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from Dutch oven and set aside.
• Add butter, onion, celery, and carrot, and cook stirring until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato puree and cook 3 minutes. Pour in wine and crushed tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half, 12 to 14 minutes.
• Add stock, browned rabbit, 1 cup olives with their brine, rosemary sprigs, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Transfer to oven and cook until fork tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove meat from sauce; set aside. Strain sauce through a medium sieve, discarding solids. Return sauce to Dutch oven. Heat sauce on stove until reduced to desired consistency, skimming fat if necessary. Remove meat from reserved shoulders, and discard bones. Return legs and shoulder meat to sauce. Chop remaining 1 cup olives and stir into sauce with chopped rosemary. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
• While the sauce is reducing, heat a medium skillet over high heat, add remaining 2 tablespoons oil, and heat until smoking. Add rabbit loins, and cook until brown, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer loins to cutting board, and allow to rest for 1 minute before thinly slicing. Add linguine to boiling water, and cook until tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a serving platter. Top with sauce, and surround with slices of loin. Serve immediately.

BRAISED RABBIT WITH OLIVES

Steps:

• Rinse rabbit and pat dry; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 4 tablespoons oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add rabbit to pot and brown, turning often, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer rabbit to bowl. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pot. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes. Mix in potatoes, bell peppers, tomatoes, olives, celery, capers, garlic, and thyme; cook 5 minutes. Mix in vinegar and 1/4 cup water. Add rabbit. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes. Spoon some of vegetable mixture over rabbit. Cover and simmer until rabbit is tender, stirring occasionally and adding more water by 1/4 cupfuls if mixture is dry, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon vegetables into large dish. Top with rabbit. Garnish with parsley and serve warm.

ITALIAN-STYLE BRAISED RABBIT WITH ROSEMARY AND MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Cut the rabbit into 9 pieces (or ask your butcher to) as follows: with a sharp cleaver, cut the saddle (center portion) into 3 pieces, leaving the kidneys attached. Cut the front portion (front legs) in half through the backbone. Chop each hind leg into 2 pieces. Reserve the liver and heart to sauté as a snack.
• Heat .25 inch of olive oil in a Dutch oven or deep, wide heavy skillet over medium heat. Season the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with flour. Lightly brown the rabbit for about 3 minutes on both sides, working in batches. Drain on kitchen towels, then transfer to a baking dish in one layer. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Pour off the used oil, wipe out the pan and add 2 tablespoons fresh oil. Heat to medium-high, add the onions and cook till soft, about 5 minutes. Add the leek, garlic, rosemary and mushrooms. Season generously with salt and pepper, and add red pepper flakes to taste. Cook for 2 minutes more, stirring.
• Add the chopped tomatoes and wine, and let the mixture reduce for 1 minute. Add the broth, bring to a simmer, taste and adjust seasonings.
• Ladle the mixture evenly over the rabbit. Cover the dish, and bake for 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

BRAISED RABBIT

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, cook rabbit in oil until lightly browned; remove and keep warm. In the same skillet, saute onion until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the broth, thyme, pepper and bay leaf. , Return rabbit to pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until meat is tender and a thermometer reads 160°., Remove rabbit to a serving platter. Discard bay leaf. Combine the flour, lemon juice and water until smooth; stir into pan juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve with rabbit.

ROASTED RABBIT WITH OLIVES AND FETA

Steps:

• Place rabbit pieces in a large bowl and toss with rosemary, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a small saucepan over medium heat, simmer wine until reduced by half.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add rabbit pieces and garlic in a single layer and cook until meat is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes a side. (If the garlic gets too dark before the rabbit is finished browning, put the garlic on top of the rabbit to keep it from cooking more.)
• Put lemon slices, olives and half the butter into the pan. Pour in reduced wine. Cover and transfer to oven for 5 minutes. Uncover and scatter feta over top. Continue cooking until rabbit is just cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes more. Stir in remaining butter and more salt if needed, and serve.

ORANGE BRAISED RABBIT

Steps:

• Prepare rabbit Lay the boned saddle skin side down on a clean work surface and season with salt and pepper. Lay fatback strips down the center end to end and then a sprig of rosemary. Season generously with salt and pepper. Wrap the flaps of the saddle over to enclose, and secure with twine.
• Brown rabbit Season rabbit pieces on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat the skillet over medium-high heat for 1 minute, then add enough oil to barely coat bottom of pan and heat until shimmering. Cook the rabbit pieces (in batches if necessary to avoid crowding the pan) until well browned, starting with the skin side down and letting them sear before turning (to prevent the meat from tearing). This will take 4 to 5 minutes per side. Reduce heat if the bottom of the pan is getting too dark. (If there are burned bits after all the rabbit has been cooked, deglaze the pan with a little water and discard liquid and bits.)
• Cook aromatics Reduce heat to medium and add the oil, onions, and garlic. Lightly season with salt and pepper, if desired. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes, then stir in the red pepper flakes and cinnamon. Continue cooking and stirring until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes more.
• Braise rabbit Heat oven to 200°F. Deglaze pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits from bottom, and continue boiling until the liquid is slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Stir in the orange zest and juice, olives, and remaining sprig rosemary. Arrange the rabbit pieces skin side up in a single layer (they should fit snugly). Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover tightly and cook until the saddle is just cooked through, about 30 minutes. Transfer saddle to an ovenproof platter, cover and keep warm in the oven. Continue cooking legs until very tender, with meat almost falling off the bone, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Transfer legs to the platter.
• Finish sauce Boil the braising liquid in the pan until it thickens and turns syrupy, 6 to 7 minutes.
• Serve Remove the rosemary sprig from the sauce and from the saddle; discard. Slice saddle piece crosswise into 1-inch pieces. Arrange one of the legs with a couple of saddle slices on each plate, then spoon some of the olives, onions, and sauce over the rabbit. Garnish with orange wedges.
• Equipment
• A large straight-sided skillet (with a 3-quart capacity) will be large enough to hold all of the ingredients for braising. Make sure it has a tight-fitting lid, as rabbit (especially the loin) is particularly prone to drying out. You can also use a Dutch oven.
• Ingredients
• Fresh rabbit can be found at butcher shops and some specialty markets; call ahead to order, since it might not always be in demand, and have the butcher fabricate it for you and bone the saddle.
• This dish can be made with 3 pounds of bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (in which case you wouldn't need the extra rosemary sprigs or fatback). The cooking time should be about the same.
• Fatback, or salted pork fat, is available from most butchers; pancetta can be substituted. You can leave it out, but the rabbit won't be as flavorful.