Seeking Recipe Testers!

In addition to my forays into medieval Scotland and historic St. Paul mansions, my husband and I have established a homestead, starting with a garden and chickens in the fall of 2021 in northern Minnesota. We have since moved to the Appalachian Mountains.

At Glenmirril Farms, we breed New Zealand White rabbits—for selling, for meat and for fur. When we began the switch from our suburban lives to more self-sufficiency, we started with growing plants. When I saw I could keep a head of lettuce alive, I made the bold move up to chickens. Our first four, Rhode Island Reds, were fantastic layers.

But we wanted a source of meat in addition to chicken. We weren’t ready to jump all the way to cattle. We looked first at goats and rabbits. My research showed me that rabbit meat is one of the healthiest meats there is. As a vital bonus in my book, nobody has ever been head-butted by or accidentally trampled to death by a rabbit. We hadn’t yet gotten the fencing set up for goats and this city girl felt safer with a twelve-pound rabbit than a twelve-hundred-pound cow. So, we got rabbits.

WHY RABBIT:

In America, we no longer eat much rabbit. But we should. It’s one of the healthiest, leanest, low-calorie meats you can eat. Next to veal, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, or chicken, rabbit has the highest protein, lowest fat, and fewest calories per pound. It’s low in cholesterol and fat; high in vitamin B, potassium, calcium, and phosphorous. It’s good for the metabolism and great for cardiovascular health.

As per the old joke, the meat tastes a little like chicken…maybe with a somewhat stronger, meatier flavor, although the flavor is also described as 'delicate.' It can be prepared in virtually any way you’d prepare chicken: sautéed it in oil or butter, fried, baked, breaded, braised, boiled, roasted, stuffed.  One classic that is different from any chicken recipe I’ve ever seen is lapin à la moutarde: rabbit in mustard sauce.

In many parts of the world and in the past, eating rabbit was quite common. But you won’t find recipes for rabbit in the average cookbook. I had no recipes in my cookbooks to prepare our own rabbits. So I made one devoted to rabbits.

My expectation was that, rabbit meat being an uncommon dish in the United States, I’d have to hunt long and hard for recipes. I found the opposite: I was so inundated by them, the trick was keeping the book short enough, as I intended it as an introduction to cooking with rabbit rather than a comprehensive source.

As a result, I’ve tried to include a variety of ways rabbit meat can be prepared: Stews, braised, baked, broiled, in casseroles, stews, pastas, chili, and with dumplings; as a main dish, with everything from mushrooms to red peppers, and even in tarts! Perhaps the only exception is ice cream. I haven’t found a recipe for rabbit meat ice cream! Or a cocktail. I haven’t come across a rabbit meat cocktail. If you find either of these, please let me know!

I’ve included a variety of cuisines—Asian, Italian, Indian, French, and German to name a few. I’ve included recipes with a variety of flavors and spices and a section on medieval recipes with rabbit as it was more commonly used then—and in fact regarded as a dish for kings.

We are ready for testers! If you'd like to try some of these recipes, I'll send you the manuscript and when I get your feedback, will credit you in the book and send you a free copy once it's published.

If you're interested, send me an email at gabrielshornpress@gmail.com with the subject line Rabbit Recipes, Interested.

In the coming weeks, I'll be posting a few recipes from the book here.

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