I raise large size meat rabbits and I was wondering if anyone here ate rabbit and had any ideas for recipes? Perhaps a particular way you like rabbit prepared? Thanks.

I love cottontails and they're best baked in a sauce since the meat goes dry on the grill very easily.

give Little Pigs a call...I'm sure their recipe is quite tasty...the name sure is cute!...lol

Krimsa If I ever get land I want meat rabbits. What breed to you have? My daughter had some dutch belted as a 4h project, but they were "pets".

I have a Californian and a New Zealand doe and then a Palomino buck. The kits have all been very nice and they reach a good weight with excellent meat. The Palomino is a good choice because he is not enormous but has smaller bones. That way you will have a good meat to bone ratio. Its a mistake to just breed the two largest rabbits you can find. That will give you too much weight in bone.

I like to fry a quartered rabbit in butter, salt, chilie powder and a touch of Franks hot sauce.

Simple and VERY tasty,mmmmmmmmm.

Have many kits do you raise from those 3 ? I figured trio is enough for me. I don't think I ever heard of Palominos, but I have read about Californians & New Zealands. At what age/ weight do you butcher? What do you do with the pelts?

1/4 cup oil for frying
1 (2 pound) rabbit, cleaned and cut into pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 bird's eye chile, seeded and minced
1 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded and chopped
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup cream of coconut

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Fry the rabbit pieces until browned on the outside. Transfer to a soup pot or large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, red pepper and chile pepper to the skillet; cook and stir until onion is transparent. Transfer to the saucepan.
Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, salt and pepper to the saucepan, and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 2 hours. Remove the rabbit pieces with a slotted spoon, and keep warm. Turn the heat up to high under the saucepan, and boil the liquid until it has reduced by half.
Return the rabbit pieces to the pan, and stir in the coconut milk. Cook, stirring gently, until heated through. Serve.

This is my recipe for success with rabbit I have been cooking for alongtime in some of the finest restaurants and this has won everyone over!
Enjoy
Chef Crystal A.

I havent done it in a very long time, but any of your chicken recipes should work fine.

My suggestion is to brine it or soak it in vinegar and water for several hours before you cook it to get rid of the "gamey," taste.

Ymmv.

-Dave

Rabbit is really not gamy at all. I mean domestic rabbit isnt. Its pure, firm, white meat with a very low fat content. Ive never had wild hare and that might be what you are thinking of as being more gamy.

btw if that one isnt your thing I have tons more just let me know my heads full of recipes

If I breed both of the does when the weather is good (you lose more in the winter from the cold) than I can have close to 20 kits at a time. You want to butcher at 12 weeks. The kits have a rapid rate of growth up until about 3 months of age and then it drops off. If you keep feeding them beyond that point, it becomes a waste of money/time. I just throw away the pelts right now but Im sure there might be a market for them.

Here is a Palomino buck. Mine looks exactly like this one. You can see they are kind of medium and not heavy boned. The New Zealands and Californians are larger than them. Its always better to have the does on the larger side so the bucks dont hurt them.

No thats great. Thanks!

This sounds awesome. I will give this a try. I have nine dressed rabbits in the freezer now.

Does it taste like chicken?

It actually doesnt. The reason is its much lower fat than chicken. Try it in a restaurant sometime. Its very expensive generally. Usually $25 a plate range. They serve you up the back legs which have the most meat.

this has inspired me to go out and shoot a few bunnys,maybe get enough for a new yrs feast.Keep the recipes coming

I've ate rabbit before, and I thought it was nasty. But then again, I was 12 years old at the time, and it was a wild rabbit, so that may have had a lot to do with it.

I have never tried the wild hare which is the wild rabbit. Im hearing its much more gamy than the domestic rabbit. Domestic bunnies are raised in large cages and so their meat tends to be white. I would like to try the wild hare just to get a sense of the difference. Im not a huge fan of gaminess either though.

I think wild is alright..but then I eat venison all yr too so maybe its an aquired taste?