Growing up, we called rabbit “fast chicken”. My grandpa raised them. It was always just normal for us, but I get it being weird for someone not used to looking at them as food.
What's funny is I've never eaten rabbit, but I've always read Fantasy where many times the characters are traveling through the woods and often ate a hunted rabbit or deer. So I've always thought of rabbit as a food animal. Weirdly I own 2 rabbits that I love very much and could never think of eating them. Hell the idea of them eventually dying of old age makes me cry, but some nameless rabbit bought in a grocery store or hunted in the wild. Sure I'd try it. Just... don't tell Chewey or Shadow. Lol.
@@Southernpinesranch Economically it makes sense. They reproduce quickly, mature quickly and as you only need them to live a few months, besides your breeding pairs, they're easy to feed. So long as their housing is humane, and they get the best life possible I couldn't fault you. The only thing is, its one thing to hunt an animal. It's a whole other thing to raise an animal from birth, taken care of it just to kill it. And rabbits can be very loving and sweet animals compounding that. So you have to ask yourself if you have the stomach for it. I got no problem admitting I couldn't.
My dad hunted rabbit and pheasant all winter. It wasn’t sport, it was food! I still dream of my mother’s wild rabbit gravy over her biscuits. I have tried “tame’ rabbit, but it just isn’t the same.
Like most Americans, I don't get a lot of opportunities to eat rabbit, but the few times I have, I've loved it. That said, I also recall the story my French teacher told me about a 6th grade class trip to Paris, where they basically went to a restaurant and ordered the whole menu to give the kids a shot at trying a bit of everything. So, this one girl decides she loves whatever she got and asks what it is, and the waiter says it's rabbit. Oh, did I forget to mention this was on Easter Sunday? Girl bursts out crying, sobbing, "I ate the Easter bunny!" Not intentionally cruel, btw; in France they don't have the Easter bunny, instead all the church bells fly off to Rome and drop candy on the way back.
@@vsanchez7158 So was I. That school didn't do any exchanges that I was aware of by the time I went there, and when I moved to a different district, we had an 8th grade 5-day trip to Quebec, and we hosted some French students for a couple of weeks (from Lyon), and I think the Spanish classes had similar arrangements, and the other languages didn't have anything.
We have the easter bunny in France. It's a christian holyday, so France being a christian state father and protector of that religion during most of European History, we always had easter bunny since a LLLOOOONG time ago pretty much the start of that holyday but we sure as heck ate rabbit anyway. xDD But yeah some old branches of of the Catholic Church also have the bells that fly off to Rome. But easter bunny at least from my and friends around France perspective is way more known and celebrated.
The rabbit was probably farm-raised for meat and that's why it wasn't "gamey". I grew up eating rabbit and other critters and birds, at least during small game hunting season, and the wild ones may have a gamey flavor, which may also depend on the cooking process and added ingredients. Juniper berries are a principal flavoring in gin; in fact the English word is derived from French ginievre or Dutch jenever, those languages' words for juniper.
@@PaulyWally30 To a degree, yes. Deer that eat corn or are raised on animal feeds are going to taste more mild than wild deer that are eating whatever they can find. Rabbits though have been used for food on farms for hundreds if not thousands of years. The domestic breeds that are used for meat have been carefully bred to taste the best. They are really a great source of protein with very low fat and unlike most livestock, they aren't such a resource burden since they only need to eat timothy hay. They also reproduce quickly and reach maturity in just a few short months.
My grandfather raised rabbits and loved them braised in a Hunter mushroom sauce Seriously So freakin good and still some of my favourite memories of him the OG farm to table
What a good job you did here. It made me very nostalgic for growing up in the 1950's. Rabbits were sold with heads and fur on, I used to stand next to my mum as she skinned, be-headed, gutted and jointed rabbits for stew and dumplings. She was good at it. The only time I saw her a bit rattled was when my fiance gave her a fresh rabbit he had shot, she picked it up to start and dropped it quickly. She said, "Oh, it's still warm!" 🐰
Rabbits have a short gestation cycle, and have large litters. This makes rabbits ideal for homesteading, one or two rabbits will make a meal for a family
I own 2 rabbits as pets a male and female, and followed the advice to get them fixed. I was amazed at learning how optimized they are to reproduce, but how fragile they can be otherwise. It's like if life was a game, the Rabbit player put all their points in dexterity and reproduction, to out reproduce death.
Rabbits have many babies bc an average of 9/10 do not survive. That’s awful !! But this is how evolution has well evolved. Rabbits know they need more babies so they have more babies.
@@LolaRyck Rabbit reproduction systems are INSANE. Mating triggers ovulation almost making pregnancy a certainty. Their uteruses have 2 chambers meaning they can carry litters from two Fathers at the same time and they can get pregnant almost right after giving birth.
They do taste amazing, that subtle gamey flavour, and the meat just falls apart after slow cooking. I just make sure my bunny Herb, is not in the room and tell him I ate his arch enemy :) 🐇😂
I was wondering if there was anyone who kept them as a pet would eat them. I asked that to a guy who had a pet lobster in a tank. He got pretty upset about the question.
@@Danielson1818 I own 2 pet rabbits. I never could think of eating them. Afterall I promised them to take care of them. But the question doesn't bother me. Except a coworker who kept fucking asking over and over changing the conditions to force a yes. But that was more annoyance. Buuut I've always thought of rabbits as food animals until I ended up owning one that used to be a class pet. However most on the rabbit group I ask care questions to on FB would act like you requested eating their child. That said, I would try A rabbit. But could never eat MY rabbits.
@@Danielson1818 i have pets rabbit but their kids are delicious oups .It started when i was sad that soon i may lose my old male he around 6-7 years and decided to breed him before he passes and i decided to keep a female and a male but the one that i don't keep i decided to eat them because of the recession instead of selling them has pet .so yeah i have a room full of toys with free rooming litter train rabbits in my appartement they are very spoil even the one that i won't keep they all give me kisses .I breed small polish rabbit it a very versatile breed for different use plus they have the reputation for having a sweet temperament when they are well care for!
The first time I ate rabbit it was the closest Thursday to Easter at the scout group I helped at (was originally going to be the week before, but the farmer had to go away for a bit last minute). I’d had experience preparing fish, pheasant, and duck before, but not done rabbit yet. Until that point, we’d only done fish with the kids, but all had passed axe and knife safety beforehand. The rabbits were all pre-gutted, so the kids didn’t have to deal with that, but they did have to skin and chop them. It was quite odd to see the most squeamish girl go from not wanting to go near to chopping a rabbit’s head and feet off with an axe. She found it very tasty and asked if we could do rabbit instead of trout at the next winter camp. It’s now a common request.
They're a little tricky to cut up and figure out at first, but once you do it a few times, it's like doing a chicken. I buy them and cook them for my Jack Russell, they are the lowest fat/highest quality protein for dogs. You can buy them much more cheaply at the Asian/Chinese/Hispanic supermarkets. I live in Italy also, and they are ubiquitous like whole chickens in the supermarkets there since Italians eat them all the time. If you can get the liver, use it, many Italian recipes like the famous Ligurian rabbit stew include it as part of the sauce ingredients. You don't need the vinegar marinade with farm raised rabbits, the meat is very mild and not gamey.
I’ve cleaned, skinned and cut up rabbit, chicken, dove, quail, duck, squirrel, deer, hogs and a few other things. It’s basically the same process when cutting up.
I had some great rabbit this past February while visiting San Francisco. Went to our favorite Italian restaurant. It was prepared very much the same and served over some creamy polenta. Absolutely wonderful.
I love rabbit, and I have since childhood. I would say rabbit tastes more like veal than chicken. The loin is the part of the back without the ribs, often called the saddle. Most people cut the loin to include 3 ribs, which are easily removed to leave a neat piece of meat. The rest of the ribs go into the stock pot, as you noted. The thin, flimsy parts you cut off are called the flaps, which are excellent little bits. You did a great job with just the text as a guide!! This is a great video, and I hope it encourages more people to try rabbit.
Juniper berries is what knocked back the gameyness. Not sure how much you used. But for venison, about one or two ripe berries per pound of meat is adequate for this purpose. Using much more will make it taste like an air freshener cartridge.
@@archersfriend5900 I don't know about a berry, but the aroma from Chamaebatia has what could be described as an utterly overwhelming new car smell. So overwhelming that you instantly can't breathe through you nose.
I've had fried rabbit and made an Irish farmhouse chicken recipe using rabbit instead of the chicken. With farm-raised rabbits it's always nice to not have to worry about any buckshot that didn't get removed during the butchering process, like we did when I grew up. Julia's recipe looks delish, Jamie. Well-done. Much better than The Joy of Cooking's recipe for armadillo.
This is a very medieval dish! The rabbit was a very young rabbit, probably no more than 4 months old, which contributes to the tenderness. Rabbits that have reached full maturity are less tender and are considered better for stews, but this mainly applies to wild rabbits. I personally don't find much of a difference in the ones I raise. The difference is more when comparing younger wild rabbits to older wild rabbits, as it's not often easy to pick what rabbit you get if you're hunting. Instantly hooked on the channel, though! My brother forwarded this video to me because I raise buns. Super amused the whole time, you had me at "the friggin' heart!" LOL Pretty much how I think when I'm cooking.
The way I get around the whole rabbit thing is by remembering that rabbits are bred to be pets and those aren’t the ones you eat. There’s a difference between rabbits for food and rabbits for love.
Ngl it took me a couple days to watch because of the whole…ya know bunny rabbit (🤣) thing and I almost didn’t make it through that first 3 minutes but I’m glad I stuck around because you were hilarious as always!
I moved to France 5 years ago and absolutely remember the first time I had to cut up a whole rabbit. Here, they leave the head on so there's a nice eyeball staring up at you while you whack it's head off. The worst is when there's still a bit of fur stuck on the skin...beurk!
I'm glad someone besides me had all sorts of trouble cutting up a rabbit. I have only done it once, and will most likely never do it again. I totally empathize with your "yuk" factor. Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us...it is fun, it is entertaining, and it is full of good information. I especially love that you are being a normal human being about all of this, adding bits, leaving out bits and just rolling with all of it. Thank you very much.
I find myself yelling at you while watching you interpret, prep and cook. I also think you are hilarious for trying to follow the recipes to a T! Stay strong ! Lmao 🤣
My husband is Greek--and one of their specialty dishes is "Stifado," which is a rabbit stew with lots of shallots. As an American, I was skeptical at first (or, to be honest, even horrified), but it really does taste great. Hats off to you for having the courage to prepare this dish!
Had winter in Malta one year. Was going past a shop and noticed 6 bunnies hopping around in a cage, so cute, but didn't think too much of it. The next day the same window had 6 dead, skinned and strung up bunnies in the window, for a moment I thought they looked like cats! Malta the land with no birds.
Fun fact! In a lot of places, they'll leave a foot on the rabbit because, once they're skinned, you can't really tell the difference between them and cats. And some more unscrupulous shops will murder the local stray/lost cats and pass them off as rabbit. Hence leaving the foot.
I love these videos! I own pet rabbits so I wouldn't cook rabbit now but I have in the past (bought some pre-cut from a farmer's market). Rabbit is delicious, and I honestly like it better than chicken since it has no dark meat. However, I couldn't do it now because of my affinity for rabbits as house pets. I really want to try this recipe with chicken though!
if you want to keep a liquid at a simmer in the oven i advise using the "lid partially on" method. Just leave a little crack instead of sealing it entirely. If your braising liquid ends up a little too thick for your liking you can always dilute it with water or stock.
I stayed to the end,, yay! It does look really tender as you’re eating it. Well done! I hope you saved the livers to sauté. Very delish with eggs. Cheers!
We at rabbit a LOT when I ws a kid. We were dirt poor and while dad worked, my older brother would hunt. At least four times a week, we ate a "critter" that my bro brought home.... most of the time a brace of rabbits. Later on, my dad started raising domestic rabbits for commercial sales. He did well enough that we didn't have to eat wild rabbit anymore.... just domestic (LOL). Even at the tender age of 7, I started helping cut up whatever was on the menu for dinner! Rabbits, racoons, turtles, and various fish. In other words, I have no "Ick Factor".
I have 2 pet rabbits, both fixed. I'm so glad I did. The more I learned about rabbit reproduction the more amazed I was at how... optimized they are for it. I could probably hunt and clean game. Not sure I have the stomach to raise something from birth for the table though. "Okay little Thumper, it's your big day today... DONT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" Lol.
My friend eats squirrels. I never go to his house for dinner. 🤨🤨🤨 Meat is meat for some people. And when you have a family you go hunting - or fishing - when you have to
excellent. makes it seem like something to take a shot at. my grandma Jennie, used to discuss "hossenfeffer," as something not to fear. just another day in the kitchen. Nice
Never tried rabbit, not that I recall anyway. It certainly wasn’t a pretty dish, but there was little doubt how tasty it would be. Adventurous cooking, adventurous eating. Love it!
Hilarious when all the organs just went plop, and your reaction exactly the same as mine 🤣 you're such an adorable legend, Jamie! Keep this channel going forever if you please! Also, good call on sidelining the liver, that shit is disgusting no matter the animal it came from 🤢
This looks great, and reminds me... Back when I was a newlywed, my country-bred husband asked if suburban-girl me had ever eaten rabbit, which I hadn't, so he went out and got one for me to cook (luckily it was not still cute and fluffy). I had no idea what to do with it, but I found my old (Betty Crocker I think) cookbook (now dissolved into dust) and found a recipe for game meat stewed in wine, tomato paste, and onion. It was amazing! Would eat rabbit again anytime (so long as we weren't introduced first.)
Raised rabbit for a couple years. In my honest opinion, using it as stew meat or shredded meat is the way to go. I would make these rabbit tamales and they were so good!
I’m English when I was small and we had no money my dad used to get rabbits for 50p each which were wild we lived on rabbit. My mum was a brilliant cook. This recipe looks wonderful. Australians are pretty similar by the sounds of it to Americans. They really don’t celebrate rabbit that much but it is a wonderful thing. You can buy a rabbit here now about $40.🤭
Rabbits are delicious. My PaPa used to raise them. My Dad raised them, too, when I was a kid. We ate them once or twice a week. They are good marinated and fried.
The first rabbit I prepared was frozen...taking it out of the box I was in tears...after in enjoying Lapin au Moutard...I got another one...no more tears...Lapin Au Champagne...yum
Came here from the 2022 ranking video as I hadn't see this on yet. The look on your face at 1:30 perfectly captures the quiet horror of food. So funny, so disturbing.
I'm realistic enough to know that there are a lot of people that enjoy eating rabbit and it is a plentiful source of protein, but my 6 pet rabbits objected to this recipe.
Yes, interestingly Survivorman says there is a thing called protein poisoning, that is eating too much meat without much fat, such as the rabbit he had just snared, so he advocated eating the innards, brain etc., where some fat is on the animal.
I occasionally eat wild rabbit because they are a pest here with no natural preditors, so we have to keep the population in check. But all these people saying they'd try the dish with chicken... My little feathered princesses are horrified at the thought.
In Belgium (which you probably know quite good) we also add the head of the rabbit (no ears) to improve the taste!! Of course, we cook it with dark beer.
In Limburg (southern Netherlands) we make a simpler version of this for Christmas , the sauce is thickened at the end with what the French would call pain d'epice. Really good!
When I was a kid, my grandma and grandpa lived about 20-30 minutes away out in the country and I always loved eating rabbit stew, fried rabbit, baked rabbit etc. I miss this. Now that I live in the city you can't eat it. Sucks.
just for context I'm peruvian and yes, I've eaten guinea pig... regularly. it's so funny and sad seeing you struggle with the rabbit while still whole and taking out the insides, and weird to realize this is quite normal for me. Having that said I' dying to try that rabbit stew, looks decadent Great content!!!!!
I'm an American and it's normal for me too, I get a chuckle when people have difficulties with butchering and handling the insides, but I was raised as a hunter, so that's probably why it's normal for me lol.
Lol good job getting over the mental block of eating "bunny rabbits". They are delicious. This recipe seems like a lot of work but I may try it sometime.
discovered your channel about 4 weeks ago and have been binge watching your videos, they make me smile and laugh very often, thanks for them, even though i am more of a baker than a cook (as an amateur), i enjoy every one of them, love your style, may be you could try lapin à la moutarde which is a classic in French cuisine. All the best and congrats on your courage in getting out of your comfort zone very often
I work for a full service meat counter. Ive never encounter a rabbit (though id like to), but you did a DAMN fine job at butchering that rabbit. 5 amateur stars commended good sir! I dont think i coukd have done that well first try!
Not sure if take requests, but when I was younger I used to work for a local pizza shop. The dough they made was the best I have ever tried, unfortunately I forgot the ingredients used to make the dough. I challenge or request is for you to kinda recreate the dough. The difference is they used potatoes to make the dough. Only thing I remember was boiling a pot of potatoes and then smashing them down, and would add LeSaffre Saf Instant Yeasts & Leaveners yeast. Hopefully you accept this request 🙏 Thank you for your time, and amazing video's 👏
Rabbit is also really good in white wine. Make it like Coc o vin, and use apples instead of grapes. Rabbit is a fast growing protein with a low C02 footprint, because they can live of greens and veggies we don't eat. My family did rabbits during WW2 - I'm sure a lot of the rabbits ended in the soldiers "Chicken stew"
Here is an honest review of the series from watching a couple videos. I don't mean to be hateful with this: I watched a video in this series from about a year ago. I thought it was more recent so i didn't subscribe but i came back to try again. In these more recent videos, you seem to be reading the recipe in advance (not just skimming) which makes these more enjoyable. Definitely subscribed now and I can't wait to see what else you make. Sorry for the honesty. Keep up the good work!
Totally. I’ve changed my approach quite a bit since I first started this. Some of the earlier episodes I got into some trouble because I didn’t know what to expect in the recipe. I now read it over many times before starting. I still make mistakes and misread things, but I’m doing my best and always trying to become a better a cook
Jamie i love Rabbit Stew especially when the recipe dictates to add a full bottle of red wine, the prunes adds a different note to the receipt but next time add the liver, heart and what ever else comes with the rabbit. Obviously near the end ,thank you for making this very tasty stew. Ciao for now LDL
Ive got meat rabbits (NZ/Rex) growing in my garage and man this is some high class treatment for those little lapin's. I normally fry the rascals or do a much more traditional stew. Prunes and junipers and wine not included 😂
I had this in Nice, France with mushrooms added. Yum. I will also try this with Guiness beer instead of red wine. Or maybe usee a stronger dark ale with more alcohol. Definetely add the liver and maybe use Veal stock.
The first time I had rabbit (a place called Tapas in Boston) I really thought they had mixed up the order. It looked and tasted just like a chicken leg and thigh. If you had told me it was chicken, I would not have thought twice.
Whenever Julia tells me to blanche bacon, I'm like, "Do what now?" Same with ham. But I guess it helps tone down the smokiness. Anytime someone tells me to tone it down, I automatically just get a lil perturbed. Tone down bacon. OK then. But I guess it's to keep it from overpowering the dish. I saw a technique that had you almost cover it with water in the sauté pan and cook until the water is gone. Then just add the rest of the stuff you're sautéing. Anything to save dirtying another pan...def trying it. It makes more sense than putting the bacon in extra butter after you've removed the fat it was born with, haha. I have had rabbit. It's quite good. The prunes were a surprise. I'm not against them. And yep, don't think I could do well in a blind taste test with chicken.
I have at least three jack rabbits that use my yard for rest and recreation and yes they are cute a mine are very bold and saucy . I think they know I won't hurt them because when I go outside they don't even move from their preferred resting places unlessI get within about 8 feet! FYI Jamie I live in Calgary Alberta, I'm sure you remember where that is...
Remember to check prunes and dates for mold before use by cutting the top off and squeezing while inspecting that hole for a puff of spores. Sincerely a microbiologist who now hates eating everything.
I know this is one of your old videos but I just saw it for the first time and I have to comment about the Juniper berries. So these grow wild in California but not on the coast where I live for the most part, they grow about an hour drive east/inland, and I know the location of numerous trees on side roads off of a highway going between where I live and several cities like Sacramento in central California. I try to stop and pick some every time I drive on this road when they are in season, but if I don't end up being in the right place at the right time, I can also go to a local organic food grocery store that has small bins of all kinds of uncommon herbs and spices and little bags you can put them in and they are sold by weight. They have Juniper berries, likely collected by someone like me from our local trees, and they are like $16.99 USD a pound but five little berries will barely register on the store's scale when they weigh it so they will either charge a few cents for it or just give it to you for free. They even weigh an empty bag and the twistie they use to close the bag and subtract the weight of the bag and twistie to make sure you are only being charged for the weight of the spices themselves. Or if you want your spices in glass jars they sell ones with labels and have pens you can write what is in them on the labels. I am not sure how much you paid for your Juniper berries but I had to tell you this story when I saw you say they were expensive. If there is a store in your area like the one I am describing, find it, the one that is like 20 minutes from my house has every spice you have and have not heard of in these little bins with bags and jars you can fill yourself.
I have no idea why rabbit isn't a more popular meat in the US, it's honestly not too dissimilar to chicken and loads less resource intensive to raise. I grew up eating it (wild, though, not farm raised) and its a great food source.
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When you quietly said "my niece calls them bunny rabbits" I saw a horror in your face that horror directors WISH they could capture.
Growing up, we called rabbit “fast chicken”. My grandpa raised them. It was always just normal for us, but I get it being weird for someone not used to looking at them as food.
What's funny is I've never eaten rabbit, but I've always read Fantasy where many times the characters are traveling through the woods and often ate a hunted rabbit or deer. So I've always thought of rabbit as a food animal. Weirdly I own 2 rabbits that I love very much and could never think of eating them. Hell the idea of them eventually dying of old age makes me cry, but some nameless rabbit bought in a grocery store or hunted in the wild. Sure I'd try it. Just... don't tell Chewey or Shadow. Lol.
Ive been going back and forth on raising meat rabbits. Still on the fence.
@@Southernpinesranch Economically it makes sense. They reproduce quickly, mature quickly and as you only need them to live a few months, besides your breeding pairs, they're easy to feed. So long as their housing is humane, and they get the best life possible I couldn't fault you. The only thing is, its one thing to hunt an animal. It's a whole other thing to raise an animal from birth, taken care of it just to kill it. And rabbits can be very loving and sweet animals compounding that. So you have to ask yourself if you have the stomach for it. I got no problem admitting I couldn't.
My dad hunted rabbit and pheasant all winter. It wasn’t sport, it was food! I still dream of my mother’s wild rabbit gravy over her biscuits. I have tried “tame’ rabbit, but it just isn’t the same.
@@Southernpinesranch once you start raising them you won't see them as "cute" lol
Like most Americans, I don't get a lot of opportunities to eat rabbit, but the few times I have, I've loved it. That said, I also recall the story my French teacher told me about a 6th grade class trip to Paris, where they basically went to a restaurant and ordered the whole menu to give the kids a shot at trying a bit of everything. So, this one girl decides she loves whatever she got and asks what it is, and the waiter says it's rabbit. Oh, did I forget to mention this was on Easter Sunday? Girl bursts out crying, sobbing, "I ate the Easter bunny!" Not intentionally cruel, btw; in France they don't have the Easter bunny, instead all the church bells fly off to Rome and drop candy on the way back.
I’m impressed they went to Paris for a 6th Grade trip.
@@vsanchez7158 So was I. That school didn't do any exchanges that I was aware of by the time I went there, and when I moved to a different district, we had an 8th grade 5-day trip to Quebec, and we hosted some French students for a couple of weeks (from Lyon), and I think the Spanish classes had similar arrangements, and the other languages didn't have anything.
How long ago was that? I am asking because I grew up with the Easter bunny.
@@ankhi3585 I'm not exactly sure when the trip happened, but it would've been something like 1996 when my teacher told me about it. 1980s, maybe?
We have the easter bunny in France. It's a christian holyday, so France being a christian state father and protector of that religion during most of European History, we always had easter bunny since a LLLOOOONG time ago pretty much the start of that holyday but we sure as heck ate rabbit anyway. xDD
But yeah some old branches of of the Catholic Church also have the bells that fly off to Rome. But easter bunny at least from my and friends around France perspective is way more known and celebrated.
The rabbit was probably farm-raised for meat and that's why it wasn't "gamey". I grew up eating rabbit and other critters and birds, at least during small game hunting season, and the wild ones may have a gamey flavor, which may also depend on the cooking process and added ingredients. Juniper berries are a principal flavoring in gin; in fact the English word is derived from French ginievre or Dutch jenever, those languages' words for juniper.
Out in New Mexico, my family prized wild rabbits that fed on juniper berries. But traditionally it was just fried or stewed in blue corn mush.
Would the same thing happen to farm raised deer meat?
@@PaulyWally30 To a degree, yes. Deer that eat corn or are raised on animal feeds are going to taste more mild than wild deer that are eating whatever they can find. Rabbits though have been used for food on farms for hundreds if not thousands of years. The domestic breeds that are used for meat have been carefully bred to taste the best. They are really a great source of protein with very low fat and unlike most livestock, they aren't such a resource burden since they only need to eat timothy hay. They also reproduce quickly and reach maturity in just a few short months.
Rabbit usually isn't too gamey. Rabbit and squirrel are very similar and tasty
My grandfather raised rabbits and loved them braised in a Hunter mushroom sauce Seriously So freakin good and still some of my favourite memories of him the OG farm to table
angled my TV so my two pet rabbits could watch with me. Can't let them get complacent.
What a good job you did here. It made me very nostalgic for growing up in the 1950's. Rabbits were sold with heads and fur on, I used to stand next to my mum as she skinned, be-headed, gutted and jointed rabbits for stew and dumplings. She was good at it. The only time I saw her a bit rattled was when my fiance gave her a fresh rabbit he had shot, she picked it up to start and dropped it quickly. She said, "Oh, it's still warm!" 🐰
Rabbits have a short gestation cycle, and have large litters. This makes rabbits ideal for homesteading, one or two rabbits will make a meal for a family
I own 2 rabbits as pets a male and female, and followed the advice to get them fixed. I was amazed at learning how optimized they are to reproduce, but how fragile they can be otherwise. It's like if life was a game, the Rabbit player put all their points in dexterity and reproduction, to out reproduce death.
Rabbits have many babies bc an average of 9/10 do not survive. That’s awful !!
But this is how evolution has well evolved. Rabbits know they need more babies so they have more babies.
@@LolaRyck Rabbit reproduction systems are INSANE. Mating triggers ovulation almost making pregnancy a certainty. Their uteruses have 2 chambers meaning they can carry litters from two Fathers at the same time and they can get pregnant almost right after giving birth.
I'll keep just planting beans lol
Came across your channel recently and have been binge watching ever since. Love the videos and your humor! Keep it up!!
Same.
Same!
Yeah, I tried getting the bowl to drop from the ceiling too, it did not work and hit me on the head instead!! :D
I am doing the same thing, the self deprecating humor is a marvel and I relate to real world attempts at gourmet that are AWESOME!
Me too! Love the chaos and humour in his videos.!!
They do taste amazing, that subtle gamey flavour, and the meat just falls apart after slow cooking.
I just make sure my bunny Herb, is not in the room and tell him I ate his arch enemy :) 🐇😂
I was wondering if there was anyone who kept them as a pet would eat them. I asked that to a guy who had a pet lobster in a tank. He got pretty upset about the question.
@@Danielson1818 I own 2 pet rabbits. I never could think of eating them. Afterall I promised them to take care of them. But the question doesn't bother me. Except a coworker who kept fucking asking over and over changing the conditions to force a yes. But that was more annoyance. Buuut I've always thought of rabbits as food animals until I ended up owning one that used to be a class pet. However most on the rabbit group I ask care questions to on FB would act like you requested eating their child. That said, I would try A rabbit. But could never eat MY rabbits.
@@Danielson1818 i have pets rabbit but their kids are delicious oups .It started when i was sad that soon i may lose my old male he around 6-7 years and decided to breed him before he passes and i decided to keep a female and a male but the one that i don't keep i decided to eat them because of the recession instead of selling them has pet .so yeah i have a room full of toys with free rooming litter train rabbits in my appartement they are very spoil even the one that i won't keep they all give me kisses .I breed small polish rabbit it a very versatile breed for different use plus they have the reputation for having a sweet temperament when they are well care for!
I salute you... I would have been done at the organs. Love your entertaining and honest cooking shows.
Thanks Leticia!
rabbit liver is so good though :( me and my family always fight over it
Different strokes I guess... I was sad when he decided not to put the liver in :P
The first time I ate rabbit it was the closest Thursday to Easter at the scout group I helped at (was originally going to be the week before, but the farmer had to go away for a bit last minute). I’d had experience preparing fish, pheasant, and duck before, but not done rabbit yet. Until that point, we’d only done fish with the kids, but all had passed axe and knife safety beforehand.
The rabbits were all pre-gutted, so the kids didn’t have to deal with that, but they did have to skin and chop them. It was quite odd to see the most squeamish girl go from not wanting to go near to chopping a rabbit’s head and feet off with an axe. She found it very tasty and asked if we could do rabbit instead of trout at the next winter camp. It’s now a common request.
@@tianna3024 and the heart and kidneys.
They're a little tricky to cut up and figure out at first, but once you do it a few times, it's like doing a chicken. I buy them and cook them for my Jack Russell, they are the lowest fat/highest quality protein for dogs. You can buy them much more cheaply at the Asian/Chinese/Hispanic supermarkets. I live in Italy also, and they are ubiquitous like whole chickens in the supermarkets there since Italians eat them all the time. If you can get the liver, use it, many Italian recipes like the famous Ligurian rabbit stew include it as part of the sauce ingredients. You don't need the vinegar marinade with farm raised rabbits, the meat is very mild and not gamey.
I’ve cleaned, skinned and cut up rabbit, chicken, dove, quail, duck, squirrel, deer, hogs and a few other things. It’s basically the same process when cutting up.
I had some great rabbit this past February while visiting San Francisco. Went to our favorite Italian restaurant. It was prepared very much the same and served over some creamy polenta. Absolutely wonderful.
My sister in law raises rabbits so there's always rabbit in the fridge. I usually do it in a gumbo, but this looks SO good! Can't wait to try it out!
I'm so proud of how far you've come!!! You did so great butchering the rabbit. Well done Jamie!!!
Lol, but you did nothing but watch, so your proud of watching.😂
I love rabbit, and I have since childhood. I would say rabbit tastes more like veal than chicken. The loin is the part of the back without the ribs, often called the saddle. Most people cut the loin to include 3 ribs, which are easily removed to leave a neat piece of meat. The rest of the ribs go into the stock pot, as you noted. The thin, flimsy parts you cut off are called the flaps, which are excellent little bits. You did a great job with just the text as a guide!! This is a great video, and I hope it encourages more people to try rabbit.
Juniper berries is what knocked back the gameyness. Not sure how much you used. But for venison, about one or two ripe berries per pound of meat is adequate for this purpose. Using much more will make it taste like an air freshener cartridge.
my grandma didn't use any berries but she had organic rabbit. the taste is unparalleled.
What berry would you use to make it taste like new car?
@@archersfriend5900 I don't know about a berry, but the aroma from Chamaebatia has what could be described as an utterly overwhelming new car smell. So overwhelming that you instantly can't breathe through you nose.
@@davidcookmfs6950 a much more dignified response than I deserved ;)
I was looking for this comment. They’re bang on.
Be well friends.
Your channel inspires me to try out things that would normally intimidate the crap outta me. Thank you for being amazing.
I love this channel! I'm new to his content and Jaime is amazing. I'm binge watching everything!
This recipe had like a zillion steps. Finished dish looked delicious though. You’re like a professional cook now!
well, maybe only a thousand but that's still 980 too many! ;D
Eliminate the marinade for 24 hrs, and eliminate the blanching of the bacon. Not necessary for today's ingredients but was necessary back then
I've had fried rabbit and made an Irish farmhouse chicken recipe using rabbit instead of the chicken. With farm-raised rabbits it's always nice to not have to worry about any buckshot that didn't get removed during the butchering process, like we did when I grew up. Julia's recipe looks delish, Jamie. Well-done. Much better than The Joy of Cooking's recipe for armadillo.
Grew up with Mom's wild rabbit on special Sunday dinners..... sometimes with wild mushrooms and cream gravy....the kidneys are my favorite part
This is a very medieval dish! The rabbit was a very young rabbit, probably no more than 4 months old, which contributes to the tenderness. Rabbits that have reached full maturity are less tender and are considered better for stews, but this mainly applies to wild rabbits. I personally don't find much of a difference in the ones I raise. The difference is more when comparing younger wild rabbits to older wild rabbits, as it's not often easy to pick what rabbit you get if you're hunting.
Instantly hooked on the channel, though! My brother forwarded this video to me because I raise buns. Super amused the whole time, you had me at "the friggin' heart!" LOL Pretty much how I think when I'm cooking.
My dad would go rabbit hunting and would make rabbit and dumplings. The rich broth, and light fluffy dumplings were so yummy!
The way I get around the whole rabbit thing is by remembering that rabbits are bred to be pets and those aren’t the ones you eat. There’s a difference between rabbits for food and rabbits for love.
Ngl it took me a couple days to watch because of the whole…ya know bunny rabbit (🤣) thing and I almost didn’t make it through that first 3 minutes but I’m glad I stuck around because you were hilarious as always!
It’s fun watching you cook. You do make me giggle. I’d eat it, but looks like a messy meal to cook.
long time too, but that's the point with French cooking, they seem to have all day!
I moved to France 5 years ago and absolutely remember the first time I had to cut up a whole rabbit. Here, they leave the head on so there's a nice eyeball staring up at you while you whack it's head off. The worst is when there's still a bit of fur stuck on the skin...beurk!
I'm glad someone besides me had all sorts of trouble cutting up a rabbit. I have only done it once, and will most likely never do it again. I totally empathize with your "yuk" factor. Thank you so much for sharing all of this with us...it is fun, it is entertaining, and it is full of good information. I especially love that you are being a normal human being about all of this, adding bits, leaving out bits and just rolling with all of it. Thank you very much.
I find myself yelling at you while watching you interpret, prep and cook. I also think you are hilarious for trying to follow the recipes to a T! Stay strong ! Lmao 🤣
I always follow recipes to a T. I don't know what's funny about that.
My husband is Greek--and one of their specialty dishes is "Stifado," which is a rabbit stew with lots of shallots. As an American, I was skeptical at first (or, to be honest, even horrified), but it really does taste great. Hats off to you for having the courage to prepare this dish!
I adore rabbit! It's so good. Glad you did this recipe!
Had winter in Malta one year. Was going past a shop and noticed 6 bunnies hopping around in a cage, so cute, but didn't think too much of it. The next day the same window had 6 dead, skinned and strung up bunnies in the window, for a moment I thought they looked like cats! Malta the land with no birds.
Fun fact! In a lot of places, they'll leave a foot on the rabbit because, once they're skinned, you can't really tell the difference between them and cats. And some more unscrupulous shops will murder the local stray/lost cats and pass them off as rabbit. Hence leaving the foot.
sure you do not know what you are talking about.
I love these videos!
I own pet rabbits so I wouldn't cook rabbit now but I have in the past (bought some pre-cut from a farmer's market). Rabbit is delicious, and I honestly like it better than chicken since it has no dark meat. However, I couldn't do it now because of my affinity for rabbits as house pets. I really want to try this recipe with chicken though!
As you regarded the carcass, asking, "What's in here?" all I could think was, "Let there be a carrot, please let there be a carrot!" 😊
Peter Rabbit😊
if you want to keep a liquid at a simmer in the oven i advise using the "lid partially on" method. Just leave a little crack instead of sealing it entirely. If your braising liquid ends up a little too thick for your liking you can always dilute it with water or stock.
My mom used to do rabbit baked with red wine and prunes, it's a traditional dish of northern France. Delicious!
I stayed to the end,, yay! It does look really tender as you’re eating it. Well done! I hope you saved the livers to sauté. Very delish with eggs. Cheers!
We at rabbit a LOT when I ws a kid. We were dirt poor and while dad worked, my older brother would hunt. At least four times a week, we ate a "critter" that my bro brought home.... most of the time a brace of rabbits. Later on, my dad started raising domestic rabbits for commercial sales. He did well enough that we didn't have to eat wild rabbit anymore.... just domestic (LOL). Even at the tender age of 7, I started helping cut up whatever was on the menu for dinner! Rabbits, racoons, turtles, and various fish. In other words, I have no "Ick Factor".
I have 2 pet rabbits, both fixed. I'm so glad I did. The more I learned about rabbit reproduction the more amazed I was at how... optimized they are for it. I could probably hunt and clean game. Not sure I have the stomach to raise something from birth for the table though.
"Okay little Thumper, it's your big day today... DONT LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT!" Lol.
My friend eats squirrels.
I never go to his house for dinner. 🤨🤨🤨
Meat is meat for some people. And when you have a family you go hunting - or fishing - when you have to
Raccoons 🤢
Really appreciarte how you dive head first into these recipes. Kind of amazing. Well done!!!
excellent. makes it seem like something to take a shot at. my grandma Jennie, used to discuss "hossenfeffer," as something not to fear. just another day in the kitchen. Nice
I always think of hossenfeffer when talking about a rabbit stew
I have bunnies, so I couldn’t do this recipe myself, but I’m glad it turned out for you!
Once the butchering was over, I thought I'd be okay, but the finished product looked so bloody because of the wine! 🐇 Oh, Thumper.
3rd class rabbit, first class meal
I just love how skeptical and nervous you are about cooking such “weird” stuff! Been binge watching like mad! Gonna dive into those books myself!
Never tried rabbit, not that I recall anyway. It certainly wasn’t a pretty dish, but there was little doubt how tasty it would be. Adventurous cooking, adventurous eating. Love it!
"Quarter the liver... what does that mean?" 🤣🤣🤣 Loving your videos!!
Every time you said bunny, I had Hawks voice (from twin peaks) in my head...'Is it about the bunny? No. It's not about the bunny'
Hilarious when all the organs just went plop, and your reaction exactly the same as mine 🤣 you're such an adorable legend, Jamie! Keep this channel going forever if you please! Also, good call on sidelining the liver, that shit is disgusting no matter the animal it came from 🤢
This looks great, and reminds me... Back when I was a newlywed, my country-bred husband asked if suburban-girl me had ever eaten rabbit, which I hadn't, so he went out and got one for me to cook (luckily it was not still cute and fluffy). I had no idea what to do with it, but I found my old (Betty Crocker I think) cookbook (now dissolved into dust) and found a recipe for game meat stewed in wine, tomato paste, and onion. It was amazing! Would eat rabbit again anytime (so long as we weren't introduced first.)
Raised rabbit for a couple years. In my honest opinion, using it as stew meat or shredded meat is the way to go.
I would make these rabbit tamales and they were so good!
I’m English when I was small and we had no money my dad used to get rabbits for 50p each which were wild we lived on rabbit. My mum was a brilliant cook. This recipe looks wonderful. Australians are pretty similar by the sounds of it to Americans. They really don’t celebrate rabbit that much but it is a wonderful thing. You can buy a rabbit here now about $40.🤭
Rabbits are delicious. My PaPa used to raise them. My Dad raised them, too, when I was a kid. We ate them once or twice a week. They are good marinated and fried.
I really admire you for introducing diversified protein sources to the masses
My friend grew rabbits and gave me a couple of frozen ones. I made Bugs Bunny Stew and it was a hit at a community lunch.
The first rabbit I prepared was frozen...taking it out of the box I was in tears...after in enjoying Lapin au Moutard...I got another one...no more tears...Lapin Au Champagne...yum
Came here from the 2022 ranking video as I hadn't see this on yet. The look on your face at 1:30 perfectly captures the quiet horror of food. So funny, so disturbing.
I definitely remember trying this recipe when I was younger with my mom. This book had me down memory lane
My Dads favorite for Fathers Day 2023🎉
When you stood that thing up and the guts came pouring out...GOLD! Horrifying though!
I'm realistic enough to know that there are a lot of people that enjoy eating rabbit and it is a plentiful source of protein, but my 6 pet rabbits objected to this recipe.
Yes, interestingly Survivorman says there is a thing called protein poisoning, that is eating too much meat without much fat, such as the rabbit he had just snared, so he advocated eating the innards, brain etc., where some fat is on the animal.
I occasionally eat wild rabbit because they are a pest here with no natural preditors, so we have to keep the population in check. But all these people saying they'd try the dish with chicken... My little feathered princesses are horrified at the thought.
In Belgium (which you probably know quite good) we also add the head of the rabbit (no ears) to improve the taste!! Of course, we cook it with dark beer.
No doubt people fight over that part!! :D
In Limburg (southern Netherlands) we make a simpler version of this for Christmas , the sauce is thickened at the end with what the French would call pain d'epice. Really good!
When I was a kid, my grandma and grandpa lived about 20-30 minutes away out in the country and I always loved eating rabbit stew, fried rabbit, baked rabbit etc. I miss this. Now that I live in the city you can't eat it. Sucks.
just for context I'm peruvian and yes, I've eaten guinea pig... regularly.
it's so funny and sad seeing you struggle with the rabbit while still whole and taking out the insides, and weird to realize this is quite normal for me.
Having that said I' dying to try that rabbit stew, looks decadent
Great content!!!!!
I'm an American and it's normal for me too, I get a chuckle when people have difficulties with butchering and handling the insides, but I was raised as a hunter, so that's probably why it's normal for me lol.
Lol good job getting over the mental block of eating "bunny rabbits". They are delicious. This recipe seems like a lot of work but I may try it sometime.
discovered your channel about 4 weeks ago and have been binge watching your videos, they make me smile and laugh very often, thanks for them, even though i am more of a baker than a cook (as an amateur), i enjoy every one of them, love your style, may be you could try lapin à la moutarde which is a classic in French cuisine. All the best and congrats on your courage in getting out of your comfort zone very often
Your pedagogy is impeccable.
I work for a full service meat counter. Ive never encounter a rabbit (though id like to), but you did a DAMN fine job at butchering that rabbit. 5 amateur stars commended good sir! I dont think i coukd have done that well first try!
Not sure if take requests, but when I was younger I used to work for a local pizza shop. The dough they made was the best I have ever tried, unfortunately I forgot the ingredients used to make the dough. I challenge or request is for you to kinda recreate the dough. The difference is they used potatoes to make the dough. Only thing I remember was boiling a pot of potatoes and then smashing them down, and would add LeSaffre Saf Instant Yeasts & Leaveners yeast. Hopefully you accept this request 🙏 Thank you for your time, and amazing video's 👏
Rabbit is also really good in white wine. Make it like Coc o vin, and use apples instead of grapes. Rabbit is a fast growing protein with a low C02 footprint, because they can live of greens and veggies we don't eat. My family did rabbits during WW2 - I'm sure a lot of the rabbits ended in the soldiers "Chicken stew"
Here is an honest review of the series from watching a couple videos. I don't mean to be hateful with this:
I watched a video in this series from about a year ago. I thought it was more recent so i didn't subscribe but i came back to try again. In these more recent videos, you seem to be reading the recipe in advance (not just skimming) which makes these more enjoyable. Definitely subscribed now and I can't wait to see what else you make. Sorry for the honesty. Keep up the good work!
Totally. I’ve changed my approach quite a bit since I first started this. Some of the earlier episodes I got into some trouble because I didn’t know what to expect in the recipe. I now read it over many times before starting. I still make mistakes and misread things, but I’m doing my best and always trying to become a better a cook
I love your style!! Try good old Julia's cream puff recipe. You too can have a dust bath.
Next time you come across rabbit, try it in a Dijon mustard sauce. Délicieux!
Jamie i love Rabbit Stew especially when the recipe dictates to add a full bottle of red wine, the prunes adds a different note to the receipt but next time add the liver, heart and what ever else comes with the rabbit. Obviously near the end ,thank you for making this very tasty stew. Ciao for now LDL
My man knows how to pick his red wine
Ive got meat rabbits (NZ/Rex) growing in my garage and man this is some high class treatment for those little lapin's.
I normally fry the rascals or do a much more traditional stew. Prunes and junipers and wine not included 😂
My dad makes the most delicious rabbit stew, growing up I ate it quite often
I laughed so hard when you held the rabbit as if it ready to run and pounce.
I had this in Nice, France with mushrooms added. Yum. I will also try this with Guiness beer instead of red wine. Or maybe usee a stronger dark ale with more alcohol. Definetely add the liver and maybe use Veal stock.
Looks amazing! I love rabbit
Sounds delish. I have Julia’s Coq au vin in the oven right now - the fragrance is awesome! I bet yours is delicious too.
The first time I had rabbit (a place called Tapas in Boston) I really thought they had mixed up the order. It looked and tasted just like a chicken leg and thigh. If you had told me it was chicken, I would not have thought twice.
Whenever Julia tells me to blanche bacon, I'm like, "Do what now?" Same with ham. But I guess it helps tone down the smokiness. Anytime someone tells me to tone it down, I automatically just get a lil perturbed. Tone down bacon. OK then. But I guess it's to keep it from overpowering the dish.
I saw a technique that had you almost cover it with water in the sauté pan and cook until the water is gone. Then just add the rest of the stuff you're sautéing. Anything to save dirtying another pan...def trying it. It makes more sense than putting the bacon in extra butter after you've removed the fat it was born with, haha.
I have had rabbit. It's quite good. The prunes were a surprise. I'm not against them. And yep, don't think I could do well in a blind taste test with chicken.
Also this is too much work for a stew of any kind but thank you for going through it for us so we don't have to. 😊😁
I make paella on a fire pit in my garden and I always put rabbit it. It's so good!
for a first time butcher, that was actually a really good job!!
I have at least three jack rabbits that use my yard for rest and recreation and yes they are cute a mine are very bold and saucy . I think they know I won't hurt them because when I go outside they don't even move from their preferred resting places unlessI get within about 8 feet! FYI Jamie I live in Calgary Alberta, I'm sure you remember where that is...
Juniper berries are amazing in bean soups.
Julia child: “I’m gonna make this man’s whole career!”
I don’t know if anybody said this yet but the red wine vinegar in the marinade is to remove the gaminess.
Remember to check prunes and dates for mold before use by cutting the top off and squeezing while inspecting that hole for a puff of spores. Sincerely a microbiologist who now hates eating everything.
I know this is one of your old videos but I just saw it for the first time and I have to comment about the Juniper berries. So these grow wild in California but not on the coast where I live for the most part, they grow about an hour drive east/inland, and I know the location of numerous trees on side roads off of a highway going between where I live and several cities like Sacramento in central California. I try to stop and pick some every time I drive on this road when they are in season, but if I don't end up being in the right place at the right time, I can also go to a local organic food grocery store that has small bins of all kinds of uncommon herbs and spices and little bags you can put them in and they are sold by weight. They have Juniper berries, likely collected by someone like me from our local trees, and they are like $16.99 USD a pound but five little berries will barely register on the store's scale when they weigh it so they will either charge a few cents for it or just give it to you for free. They even weigh an empty bag and the twistie they use to close the bag and subtract the weight of the bag and twistie to make sure you are only being charged for the weight of the spices themselves. Or if you want your spices in glass jars they sell ones with labels and have pens you can write what is in them on the labels. I am not sure how much you paid for your Juniper berries but I had to tell you this story when I saw you say they were expensive. If there is a store in your area like the one I am describing, find it, the one that is like 20 minutes from my house has every spice you have and have not heard of in these little bins with bags and jars you can fill yourself.
Wow! Thank you for sharing. It look beautifully delicious. If it didn't seem so difficult to prepare I would have tried to make it. 😅
Ok. What got me was this mad man adding another juniper berry.
Grew up in phx az. In the 60s mom cooked rabbit alot. It was bought in grocery store at meat counter just like chicken and steak. To us it was normal.
Rabbit is sooo good. It's healthy to separate a pet from a good item too. Like people have pet pigs but we eat them very often.
Loving the order up you added.
Juniper berries are actually a modified cone, they are in the cedar family.
I had rabbit in a fancy upscale nyc restaurant a few years ago and was blown away by the complexity of flavor! Id love to try this.
I had rabbit stew when I was like 4 or 5, my parents have told me I liked it. I think I probably would still.
I have no idea why rabbit isn't a more popular meat in the US, it's honestly not too dissimilar to chicken and loads less resource intensive to raise. I grew up eating it (wild, though, not farm raised) and its a great food source.
I'm never going to get thru this video because I keep replaying the first 2 and a half minutes! 😂