Boozy Bacon Stewed Rabbit

The first time I cooked rabbit, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. So I did what anyone else would do, and I got on Pinterest and tried to find something that looked good. It was valentine's day, so it couldn’t just be good it also had to be fancy. I was surprised by the lack of recipes available for a protein source that has been eaten for over 20,000 years, and it took me way too long to find something. Then I discovered Boozy Bacon Stewed Rabbit (recipe here) and had to make it. Anything with booze and bacon has to be a winner right?

The directions called for two rabbits, but I only had one large rabbit and figured that would have to be good enough. I started by cutting it into eight pieces. I used the instruction found in Butchering by Adam Danforth to cut it up, which is hands down the best book on processing animals. Someone told me that soaking the meat in buttermilk would help tenderize it and get rid of any gamey flavor it may have, so I put it in ziplock baggies with the milk overnight. The next day I followed the directions exactly, using thick-sliced bacon from a pig we recently butchered. I paired it with my go-to french bread recipe that I had made earlier in the day.

This recipe was incredible and far exceeded our expectations. The prunes and sugar made it sweet but not sickeningly so. It was like nothing I had ever tasted before, and that’s why this was probably a terrible idea for trying a rabbit for the first time. It was hard to distinguish between the meat and everything else in the pot, but since I have taken the time to type all this so far I will try my best to describe it. It tastes like chicken, but the texture is a little chewier. I bet if I substituted any chicken with it no one would notice.