it was still snowing when the sun went down.
today we are experiencing a deluge, the likes of which haven't been seen since biblical times! but that's awesome as it's warm out and the rain is washing away most of the snow - woohoo! jam and i were sitting at the kitchen table the other morning and he said "brown. i just want to see brown". i said "whaaaaa" like my besty b says...i just can't say it as awesome as he does! then jam explained that he is sick of seeing so much white and for so long. we don't normally get snow until january, and then it stays and goes, stays and goes until about mid-march. but this year, we got snow in december and it has kind of stayed around. a lot. so this deluge is a good thing as we will finally see some brown.
now on to the best part of my post! our brother d snares wild rabbits. his wife has made us several rabbit meatpies and they were deeeelish. but then our brother asked us if we wanted some wild rabbits because he has a freezer full of them. can you believe asking us a question like that?!?!?!?!? i jumped all over him and hugged and kissed him, told him i would love him forever and give him all 3 of our cats if he would give us a wild rabbit. that he snared. this year!
he gave us four wild rabbits!!! i couldn't believe it! i haven't had proper braised rabbit or rabbit stew in a million years! we took those rabbits home and i defrosted 2 of them. our wild rabbits aren't huge but they make for a decent supper and a lunch the next day - unless you haven't had wild rabbit in a million years. then you stuff your face on it. like we did.
i now present the braised wild rabbit going into the roaster to roast in juices (homemade stock, not pictured) below:
for our first meal, i wanted a simple braised rabbit. i sauteed some onion, carrot and celery to provide flavour, braised the rabbit on all sides, put the veg and the rabbit in the roaster, filled the roaster about 1/3 of the way up the rabbit and roasted that baby for 3 and a half hours. when we took it out, the meat simply fell off the bones! i served it up with wild rice with mushroom and cranberries (from our own land. yes, Sue, from our own land!)
have a gander:
i would love to say that we used the fancy plates with fancy napkins and other fancy things - but we just dove in to the platter! and the platter looked like this in about 15 minutes:
it was probably the best tasting wild rabbit i have ever had in my life. except for the next rabbit that we made the next day. we were wild rabbit crazy! but since neither of us have had access to wild rabbit in so many years, we just had to have rabbit stew the next day!
i browned this rabbit on all sides and then put it in the crockpot for 4 hours with homemade broth. then i dumped all of the pieces of rabbit and stock into a big pot and added our own homegrown potatoes and carrots. we ate the whole thing!!!!
we still had 2 more wild rabbits in our freezer, when, at the VFD meeting last night, our brother d tells us he has 4 more wild rabbits for us. can you believe this? this is free food....and not only free, but really healthy and local! there is nothing that we could eat that could be more healthy for us!
here's a pic of the next 4 wild rabbits that our brother gave us.
have you ever seen cleaner, packaged meat? our brother isn't only an expert in snaring the wild rabbits, he is an expert in cleaning and preparing them.
what more can i say than that we are gonna stuff our faces with more wild rabbit this evening. probably tomorrow evening too. you can never have too much of a good thing!
for all of our prepper friends out there - ya, we know how lucky we are. pretty much all of our brothers and neighbours know how to hunt and fish - there will be plenty of food to be had around here if SHTF. we've got enough seeds to grow more food than you can shake a stick at, and the protein, be it fowl, fish, deer or wild rabbit, is plentiful! i'm telling you all to git yer butts up here!
now i am off to go cook another wild rabbit. yummeh!
(a big giant thanks to our brother d. a big giant thanks!)
Poor Rabbits....all they were doing was hopping around and "BANG" they end up in Kymbers freezer.. : (
ReplyDeleteOkay, well you can't turn down free food, don't think I ever tried Rabbit before. We have them up at the SC Estate, so may need to do a little hunting soon. Does look good....
Gurlie - i know. but the wild rabbits are plentiful around here because our island is large but not very populated by people. our brother d has respect for all of the animals that he hunts. as do we. we say grace every time we eat because we are thankful for nutrition. but when the meal comes from someone who actually went out and got the meal, and did it with consideration, cleaned it and prepped it and then shared it with us - well, that seems to me to be more natural than buying something at the store.
Deleterabbit is really delicious! some people say it tastes "gamey" but deer and moose is "gamey" in my mind and i love both of those. rabbit is kind of like if you crossed really tender lamb with chicken. it's delicious. you need to try some Gurlie. much love to you and yours always. xoxo
Did he shoot or trap them?
DeleteRussell - he snares them. apparently when they run through the snares they break their necks. it's almost like an instant kill. and then the bodies are clean of any bullets.
DeleteIf Jamby starts carrying an axe around and talking to imaginary friends then it maybe time to worry.
ReplyDeletePP, buddy - all work and no play makes jamby a dull boy! bahahahahahah! you frickin' nutter! love ya buddy!
DeleteAs a kid we ate wild rabbit all the time at my grandmothers..and squirrel and quail and pheasant. Not for a while now...until my son put some squirrel and rabbit in our freezer. I crockpot the squirrel, but there's nothing like fried rabbit...and rabbit stew is the best!!
ReplyDeleteLucky, LUCKY Kymber and Jam !!!!
Akannie - you were one lucky child growing up! our squirrels here are way too small to bother with, we'd be better off hunting dragonflies - bahahahah! but we have plenty of partridge and i cannot wait to start filling our freezer with those! i just looooooove rabbit stew!
DeleteAkannie - we are very fortunate indeed! and we know it. thanks for stopping by, my friend!
Rabbit, I'll pass. I think of Bugs Bunny. We have had warm weather here. Its 7.22 C right now very nice. As the snow and ice melts we are finding our sidewalk and drive are way bigger then we thought.
ReplyDeleteRob, buddy - it's a lifestyle thing, i think. some people think fresh-caught trout or bass or lobster is gross. we have access to all of those things and if you can fill your freezer with food that you caught/hunted - it makes a mean difference on a grocery bill. especially if you love wild food - which we do. which is why we moved here.
Deletei am glad that you are finally seeing some spring. and some of your driveway - bahahahahah!
We don't have snow but the cold and frost doesn't seem to want to end. Those rabbits look yumeh! One reason I don't raise any for meat is that our land is loaded with wild rabbit and it's one more thing I don't have to feed! . I have to fence in my gardens they are so abundant. When we run out of goats, chickens, turkey and fish we will have rabbit and deer! Love venison too! Enjoy those waskaly wabbits!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you both!
Mamma - sorry that it is still so frosty and cold but spring is just right around the corner - i just know it! plus i keep doing naked dances at night for spring to hurry up and come, before getting in the hottub - bahahahah! Mamma, we have decided since moving here that we won't raise any animals. simply because there is enough wild rabbit, moose, deer, geese, pheasant, etc. we have no problem giving up beef and pork in a year or two when we fill our freezer with with wild game and fish. we could happily live on wild game and fish and not miss the other stuff. we're like you - we love the wild stuff!
Deletemuch love to you and yours and a big kiss for Our Favourite Marine! xoxo
Yup; rabbit is good; it tastes just like groundhog!
ReplyDeleteMr. Smythe - rabbit is deeeeelishous! i've never had groundhog... we don't have any groundhogs here. we had them back in ottawa but never had a chance to get any.
DeleteRabbit is good for you, because you can't get fat off of it. I remember hearing that on one of Les Stroud's shows, though I can't remember exactly which one. I have never eaten any rabbit, but it looks very tasty.
ReplyDeleteHarry, buddy - wild rabbit is one of the leanest meats out there and full of nutrition. i have always loved wild rabbit because i was raised on it and missed it terribly for the 25yrs i was in the city. having wild rabbit on hand is just another reason why i love being back home.
DeleteIn college, I lived off of wild rabbit cooked in the crockpot served over homemade noodles and mashed potatoes. They helped me graduate with not a single penny owed to anyone.
ReplyDeleteEd - what with you figuring out how to invest your own retirement money and make money from it - i have NO PROBLEM believing that you fed yourself through school and came out not owing a penny! when you can feed yourself for close to free - it really cuts down on grocery costs! i'm super-impressed that you got wild rabbit and fed yourself! super impressed!
DeleteI laughed so hard when I read you ate it off the platter! I totally get that...my gang is the same way when we make something that hasnt been made in a while. How amazing. I think the stew looked so delicious!!
ReplyDeleteHope it warms up for you guys...brrr
hey Spicy - i know that you completely relate! i knew you would. normally when i put up food pics on the blog, i try and make it look fancy on the plate but for that meal - it was all - let's just eat it right off the platter - bahahahah! we used forks for the rice but used our fingers for the rabbit - the ONLY correct way to eat rabbit in my mind!
DeleteYou are blessed to live in such an abundant and beautiful area!
ReplyDeleteLaurel - thank you for stopping by! and yes we are truly blessed to be living here. i just checked out your blog...how have i not known about it before now?!?!?!? i have added you to our blogroll and will read up all of your backposts. again - thanks so much for stopping in!
ReplyDeleteI've done both fried and crock pot cooking rabbit but it is real tasty done on a rotisserie. It sort of like the best of both worlds of fairly tender meat but nice crunch to the outer layer. The best is taking the leftover rabbit from the rotisserie and then crock pot some rabbit stew.
ReplyDelete