Sautéed Rabbit Liver
(The Tucci Table, page 134)
Stuffed Roasted Rabbit
(The Tucci Cookbook, page 272)
Potato Croquettes
(The Tucci Cookbook, page 26)
Carrot Cake
(The Tucci Table, page 189)
Eventually, every cookbook presents a few recipes that strike fear in the heart and mind of an aspiring chef. We knew we had arrived at that moment when we were confronted with the reality that we were about to eat Peter Cottontail.
We debated whether or not we had to catch the rabbit first (actually there are more rattlesnakes surrounding our home in the Tennessee mountains than rabbits) or attempt to find a local butcher to provide one. We opted for the latter, although that proved to be more difficult than first contemplated.
Surprisingly, rabbit is not easy to find in mid-Tennessee. None of the local butcher shops or grocery stores carried it. The meat manager at Whole Foods initially thought that they could obtain rabbit, but later, informed us that they could not.
We had observed that Little's Fish Market carried whole, de-boned frozen rabbit when we visited there a few weeks ago, but one recipe required bones (for sauce) and another specified rabbit liver, so we decided to go to the Nashville Farmers Market on Saturday morning and try our luck.
On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, we trekked to the Farmers Market to no avail. We did purchase fresh butter for future use.
Next, Michelle checked the internet and located a rabbit farm south of Murfreesboro where customers hand-select their own rabbit and they kill and dress it for you on the spot. It seemed almost a little 'too fresh' for us. And after looking at photos of hundreds of friendly smiling white rabbits posted on the company website, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.
Eventually, we called C & F Meat Company, in rural College Grove. They confirmed that they sold vacuum-packed whole rabbits. Vacuum-packed ... that sounds more like it!!
After driving nearly an hour, I pulled into the parking lot. There were several cats loitering outside and when I opened the front door I was literally face to face with a 750 pound steer. Unfortunately for him, he was upside-down, stripped of his skin, and hanging by the stubs of his rear legs.
It was an impressive sight to say the least.
There were several large freezer cases to my right, one door had a paper label typed "rabbit" taped to it. There were two frozen rabbits inside. The manager off-handedly said, "there isn't much demand for rabbit these days" as she rang up a tab of twenty-three dollars for one whole specimen.
We had found our holy grail and were ready to cook!!
The rabbit was frozen rock-solid. So as soon as he got home, Tom began thawing it. And since Michelle was not home from work yet, he also took on the carrot cake.
There were two important cake-related breakthroughs:
1. Tom unwrapped the new Cuisinart food processor and figured out how to use it.
2. While he was making the carrot cake, he actually touched a banana.
Pastry baking is far more difficult than other forms of cooking. There are many more ingredients, some of which add no flavor, but only induce certain chemical reactions ... and they must be measured with great precision. Everything has to be just right in order to get a good result. Looking into the oven, the carrot cake was rising nicely. We kept our fingers crossed as the kitchen began to fill with the wondrous aroma of baking confection.
As the rabbit thawed, it became clear that it was not boneless. It also had giblets. This was big news for Michelle, who really wanted to prepare Tucci's Sautéed Rabbit Liver recipe.
As Tom had never de-boned or dressed anything before, he watched several YouTube videos on how to de-bone a rabbit.
And finally, after some hesitation, he got to it ...
Well ... he butchered it ... literally and figuratively. When the next step of the recipe called for pounding the meat flat, it was unnecessary, because all he had on the cutting board was a pile of mush. We kept moving forward, pretending to have a nice rectangle of meat. We laid on the chicken breast, prunes, and spices, rolled it up in foil, and placed it in the oven.
The rabbit bones were tossed inside the roasting pan, along with olive oil, as a starter for gravy drippings.
Potato croquettes were a nice change of pace. The process was very simple; mixing mashed potatoes with bread crumbs, hand-forming individual pieces, and lightly frying them in a sauté pan.
We debated whether or not we had to catch the rabbit first (actually there are more rattlesnakes surrounding our home in the Tennessee mountains than rabbits) or attempt to find a local butcher to provide one. We opted for the latter, although that proved to be more difficult than first contemplated.
Surprisingly, rabbit is not easy to find in mid-Tennessee. None of the local butcher shops or grocery stores carried it. The meat manager at Whole Foods initially thought that they could obtain rabbit, but later, informed us that they could not.
We had observed that Little's Fish Market carried whole, de-boned frozen rabbit when we visited there a few weeks ago, but one recipe required bones (for sauce) and another specified rabbit liver, so we decided to go to the Nashville Farmers Market on Saturday morning and try our luck.
On a cold and rainy Saturday morning, we trekked to the Farmers Market to no avail. We did purchase fresh butter for future use.
Next, Michelle checked the internet and located a rabbit farm south of Murfreesboro where customers hand-select their own rabbit and they kill and dress it for you on the spot. It seemed almost a little 'too fresh' for us. And after looking at photos of hundreds of friendly smiling white rabbits posted on the company website, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.
Eventually, we called C & F Meat Company, in rural College Grove. They confirmed that they sold vacuum-packed whole rabbits. Vacuum-packed ... that sounds more like it!!
After driving nearly an hour, I pulled into the parking lot. There were several cats loitering outside and when I opened the front door I was literally face to face with a 750 pound steer. Unfortunately for him, he was upside-down, stripped of his skin, and hanging by the stubs of his rear legs.
It was an impressive sight to say the least.
There were several large freezer cases to my right, one door had a paper label typed "rabbit" taped to it. There were two frozen rabbits inside. The manager off-handedly said, "there isn't much demand for rabbit these days" as she rang up a tab of twenty-three dollars for one whole specimen.
We had found our holy grail and were ready to cook!!
The rabbit was frozen rock-solid. So as soon as he got home, Tom began thawing it. And since Michelle was not home from work yet, he also took on the carrot cake.
There were two important cake-related breakthroughs:
1. Tom unwrapped the new Cuisinart food processor and figured out how to use it.
2. While he was making the carrot cake, he actually touched a banana.
Pastry baking is far more difficult than other forms of cooking. There are many more ingredients, some of which add no flavor, but only induce certain chemical reactions ... and they must be measured with great precision. Everything has to be just right in order to get a good result. Looking into the oven, the carrot cake was rising nicely. We kept our fingers crossed as the kitchen began to fill with the wondrous aroma of baking confection.
As the rabbit thawed, it became clear that it was not boneless. It also had giblets. This was big news for Michelle, who really wanted to prepare Tucci's Sautéed Rabbit Liver recipe.
As Tom had never de-boned or dressed anything before, he watched several YouTube videos on how to de-bone a rabbit.
And finally, after some hesitation, he got to it ...
Well ... he butchered it ... literally and figuratively. When the next step of the recipe called for pounding the meat flat, it was unnecessary, because all he had on the cutting board was a pile of mush. We kept moving forward, pretending to have a nice rectangle of meat. We laid on the chicken breast, prunes, and spices, rolled it up in foil, and placed it in the oven.
The rabbit bones were tossed inside the roasting pan, along with olive oil, as a starter for gravy drippings.
Potato croquettes were a nice change of pace. The process was very simple; mixing mashed potatoes with bread crumbs, hand-forming individual pieces, and lightly frying them in a sauté pan.
Dan rushed to the grocery store to get cream cheese for the carrot cake icing while the two of us prepared the croquettes for frying. Perhaps we forgot lesson number one ... again ... read the entire recipe first?
Things were coming together. The croquettes were gently frying, the rabbit liver was soaking in milk, the carrot cake was cooling on the counter, and the main course was ready to be removed after an hour and a half in the oven.
Then things really got hopping. Tom removed the roasting pan, set the meat aside, and made a roux (using King Rabbit Chardonnay, 2015) with the rabbit bones and drippings on the stovetop.
Michelle stood beside him, carefully sautéing the liver in butter. In all the excitement, the last few croquettes inadvertently burned to a crisp in the pan between us.
Michelle stood beside him, carefully sautéing the liver in butter. In all the excitement, the last few croquettes inadvertently burned to a crisp in the pan between us.
Within minutes, everything was plated. It was beautiful!!
And how did it all taste?
From our first bite, we knew that we were enjoying something special. Dan commented that it 'tasted like Christmas'. I think it may have been the combination of sage and the prunes. The meat was incredibly juicy and mild. The liver was great too, as would almost anything soaked completely in butter. The croquettes tasted like 'county fair food' ... in other words, sinfully good.
Even the burned croquettes were consumed.
We couldn't believe how wonderful this meal was, and the best evidence of it was the fact that, when we were finished, there was virtually nothing left.
Then the carrot cake was rolled out. We cut it open and it was a thing of beauty. If anything, it might have been very slightly underdone, with a small 'bone' in the center ... a sign that it was near-perfectly moist.
Michelle's cream cheese icing? Wow, it tasted like the stuff on professional wedding cakes!!
Going in, we were somewhat intimidated by the cooking challenge posed by unusual recipes like this. At the end of the day, however, we were both surprised and very satisfied by the results we achieved.
Our skills and confidence have grown considerably. Likewise, our perspective on food has been significantly expanded as a result of taking on such challenges ... and isn't that what an experience like this a really all about?
And how did it all taste?
From our first bite, we knew that we were enjoying something special. Dan commented that it 'tasted like Christmas'. I think it may have been the combination of sage and the prunes. The meat was incredibly juicy and mild. The liver was great too, as would almost anything soaked completely in butter. The croquettes tasted like 'county fair food' ... in other words, sinfully good.
Even the burned croquettes were consumed.
We couldn't believe how wonderful this meal was, and the best evidence of it was the fact that, when we were finished, there was virtually nothing left.
Then the carrot cake was rolled out. We cut it open and it was a thing of beauty. If anything, it might have been very slightly underdone, with a small 'bone' in the center ... a sign that it was near-perfectly moist.
Michelle's cream cheese icing? Wow, it tasted like the stuff on professional wedding cakes!!
Going in, we were somewhat intimidated by the cooking challenge posed by unusual recipes like this. At the end of the day, however, we were both surprised and very satisfied by the results we achieved.
Our skills and confidence have grown considerably. Likewise, our perspective on food has been significantly expanded as a result of taking on such challenges ... and isn't that what an experience like this a really all about?