rabbit-dishes-msg – 7/1/18

Period rabbit and hare recipes. Cooking and serving rabbits and hares.
Coneys.

NOTE: See also these files: rabbits-msg, Rabbit-n-Wine-art, chicken-msg, sauces-msg, vinegar-msg, fur-msg.

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Date: Sun, 21 Sep 1997 14:28:41 SAST-2
From: "Ian van Tets" <ivantets at botzoo.uct.ac.za>
Subject: SC - Re: rabbir/hare

Good my Lords and Ladies
With respect to rabbit meat, we in Australia have a rampant 
population of feral 'English' rabbits (my preferred method of cooking 
is stuffed with mushrooms sauteed in butter, then covered with bacon, 
then roasted), and the flesh is always white.  I had an interesting 
time with this at one stage.  When we ate my husband's honours 
experiment (pigeons) we made a stew and stretched the pigeon meat 
with rabbit, thinking to mollify those who were uncertain about 
eating pigeons they had known...  Um.  Pigeon meat is stark black when 
cooked and rabbit very very white...

Cairistiona
*****************************************************
Dr. Ian van Tets
Dept. of Zoology
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 7701 RSA


Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 09:55:56 +1100 (EST)
From: Charles McCathieNevile <charlesn at sunrise.srl.rmit.edu.au>
Subject: Re: SC - rabbit recipes

Cold bruet of rabbits (from a photo copy. All I can say is the heading is
'ADAPTED RECIPES', and p 182/183 has this, Dyvers desyre and Viaund and
Mawmene ryall. So I don't know what the original looked like. And the
intro to this refers to MS L ???)

Anyway, the redaction I have used a few times, and enjoyed:

1/2 rabbits, cut up.
2 cups broth

cook rabbit in salted broth, drain and bone.

1/2 cup almond
1 cup water

make up almond milk simmer then strain to thicken (a lot)

1/2 cup seedless raisins or pitted dates
1/2 cup sweet wine

mix together

tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup sweet wine

mix

tsp mixed spice
1/4tsp cardamon, ginger
1/3 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar

mix

simmer all together, til thick, serve hot or cold.

Oh. That's a bit different from what I remember. But no matter. the
original apparently says this is also good for chicken...

charles ragnar


Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 09:48:46 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - rabbit recipes

Charles McCathieNevile wrote:
> Cold bruet of rabbits (from a photo copy. All I can say is the heading is
> 'ADAPTED RECIPES', and p 182/183 has this, Dyvers desyre and Viaund and
> Mawmene ryall. So I don't know what the original looked like. And the
> intro to this refers to MS L ???)

The bunny recipe you quoted is from _An Ordindance of Pottage: An
Edition of the Fifteenth Century Culinary Recipes in Yale University's
MS Beinecke 163_ by that Saint of the Society, Constance B. Hieatt. It's
a really good book and copies are occasionally avalible through Posion
Pen Press.

The original on page 71 (number 96)
Cold bruet of rabets.
Grynd reysons or datys; draw hem up with osey. Put therto creme of
almond & poudyr of canel, a grete dele, drawyn with swete wyn; poudyr
lumbard, poudur of greynez, & poudyr of gynger & a lytyll of venyger &
whyte sygure. Set hit on the fyre; when hit ys at boylyng, take hit of &
put hit in a boll. Have rabets boyled, & that in good broth, & salt;
take hem up. Unlace hem by the bake for the bonnys on both sydys; ley
hem in sewe. Serve hem forth; ley hem in dyschys & poure on the sew
therto. Serve hit forth, & yf thu wylt, thu may chop hem in pecys. & yf
thu have chikenys, reys the whynges & the thyes of hem, kepe hem; & chop
the body. & when hit ys in the sewe, serve hit forthe in the same manner
as Sewe ryall.

Crystal of the Westermark


Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 10:45:55 -0500
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - hassenpfeffer

Tyrca wrote:
> <<
>  What's a hassenpfeffer? 
>
>  Stefan li Rous >>
>
> Even better, it is a sort of rabbit stew with lots of pepper in it.
> It is really delicious.  and no, I don't have the recipe.
>
> Tyrca

iirc, my german nanny made if for us now and then, you pickle the bunny
parts in vinegar and spices for several days, remove and reserve the
pickle, dredge bunny bits in flour, brown well, and simmer for a while
in strained pickle [juice].
margali


Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 10:47:55 EST
From: Varju <Varju at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - hassenpfeffer

<< What's a hassenpfeffer? 

Literally "rabbit pepper".  My father still raves about it, despite the fact
that his family almost had to survive on it and potato soup after WWII.

Noemi


Date: Fri, 06 Feb 1998 00:26:47 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Re Hares in Papdele

> From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
> This looks like an interesting one to try, but I don't know if I can find
> hare.  Have you ever tried hare?  If so, does it taste like rabbit; or what
> would you recommend substituting for it?  I ask because I notice that in
> the period cookbook, there are separate and different recipes for hare and
> cony (rabbit).
>
> Elizabeth/Betty

I've eaten hare a couple of times, but never cooked it myself. Bearing
in mind the proviso that most of the "game" animals I have easy access
to are in fact farm animals (including venison, rabbits, etc.), the
extreme likelihood is that for a purpose like this hares and coneys are
pretty much interchangable. Now I'm sure there would be noticable
differences between wild samples of the two critters, since their habits
in the wild aren't the same. Another aspect to be considered is
presentation: hares are larger, and a roast loin of hare looks like
something. Maybe not too much, but it has considerably greater impact
than the same portion of a rabbit cooked similarly. As I say, in this
dish, with the meat picked off the bones, it's probably pretty much the
same.

With regard to the flavor, the closest comparison I can draw is to pork
tenderloin. Fairly white in color (some people claim it is more like
veal, but it has a finer, closer texture more like pork or chicken) and
with a rich, sweetish flavor. Doesn't taste a bit like veal, to me. And,
like pork tenderloin, it has a tendency to dry out if you're not
careful, in that it mostly lacks both substantial connective tissue and
fat, both of which contribute to the element of moisture.

I'll be using rabbits when I do this dish in May for EK Crown Tourney,
and simply call it Coneys in Papdele.

Adamantius


Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 15:07:36 +0200
From: Jessica Tiffin <melesine at ilink.nis.za>
Subject: Re: SC - A Barley recipe

Charles Ragnar wrote:
>There is one in British Museum Cookbook - Amyndoun Seaw which I
>frequently make as a barley dish:
>Barley, milk, saffron, parsnips, carrots, spices, fruit, stew it all up.
>(More or less)

I have another barley recipe which I found on the web - it claims to be from
the British Museum Cookbook and to be 7th century English, and entails
cooking up chicken pieces with leeks and barley and herbs.  It's actually
one of my favourite medieval dishes - has that slightly vinegary flavour.
Wonderful.  But I don't have the original British Museum Cookbook, and would
love to know the original source of the recipe - anyone?  Sounds
substantially pre any of the standard sources - the BM presumably has secret
stashes of ancient manuscripts.

Hare, Rabbit, Veal or Chicken Stew with Herbs & Barley

Serves 6

In 7th century England, herbs were one of the few flavourings available to
cooks and were used heavily...

   * 50g (2oz) butter
   * 1 -1.5kg (2-3 lb) (depending on the amount of bone) of hare or rabbit
   * joints, stewing veal or chicken joints
   * 450g (1lb) washed and trimmed leeks, thickly sliced
   * 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
   * 175 g (6 oz) pot barley
   * 900 mL (30 fl oz, 3 3/4 cups) water
   * 3 generous tablespoons red or white wine vinegar
   * 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper
   * 15 fresh, roughly chopped sage leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried sage

Melt the butter in a heavy pan and fry the meat with the leeks and garlic
till the vegetables are slightly softened and the meat lightly browned. Add
the barley, water, vinegar, bay leaves and seasoning. bring the pot to the
boil, cover it and simmer gently for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or till the meat is
really tender and ready to fall from the bone. Add the sage and continue to
cook for several minutes. Adjust the seasoning to taste and serve in
bowls-- the barley will serve as a vegetable.

I'd include the URL for the original site, but I can't remember where it
was.  Definitely not the Miscellany, but perhaps one of those links on the
Ren Food page.

Now I'm drooling slightly.  Oh, well.

Melisant


Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 19:11:15 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Will's- Recipe 1

Here is a recipe from Ancient Cookery (Arundel) which I used for cooking the
rabbits.. The copy that I worked from was taken from Duke Cariadoc's
"Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks), vol. 1

ORIGINAL RECIPE

Conynges in Turbature
(Ancient Cookery)

Take conynges and parboyle hom, and roste hom tyl thai ben negh ynogh, and
then take hom up and choppe hom in a pot; and do therto almonde mylk made with
gode brothe of beef; and do thereto clowes and ginger mynced, and pynes, and
raisynges of Corance, and sugur  or honey; and let hit boyle; and colour hit
with saunders or saffron; and in the settynge downe do therto a lytel vynegar,
and powder of canelle medelet togedur, and serve hit forthe.

My translation:

Take coneys and parboil them. And roast them until (almost done). And then
take them up and chop them in a pot. And do thereto almond milk made with good
"beef broth". And do thereto cloves and minced ginger, and "pine nuts",  and
Raisons of Corinth, and sugar or honey. And let it boil. And color it with
sandlewood or saffron. And in the setting down do thereto a little vinegar,
and "powdered cinnamon" mixed together, and serve it forth.

Coneys in Turbature
(copyright 1998 by L. J. Spencer, Jr.)

1 Rabbit, cleaned
2 cps Almond milk
1/4 tsp Cloves, ground
1 tsp Fresh gingerroot, peeled and minced finely
1 tblsp Pine nuts
2 tblsp Zante raisons (trade name- dried currants)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp Powdered red sandlewood (or 1 large pinch saffron, crumbled)
2 tblsps Cidar vinegar, to taste (red wine vinegar may be substituted)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon, ground

Sunmerse rabbit in boiling water fro 5 mins. Put the rabbit in a baking dish
or casserole and roast uncovered for 25-30 mins. at 350 degrees F. or until
golden brown. Remove from oven.

Cut into 4 pieces. Put pieces in a pan. Add almond milk, cloves, ginger, pine
nuts , raisons, sugar, and sandlewood. If needed, add water to barely cover or
more almond milk. Cook until tneder.

Mix vinegar and cinnamon together. Remove rabbits to a platter. Mix
vinegar/cinnamon mixture in sauce. Pour suace over rabbit and serve. Makes 4
servings.

Ras


Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 21:54:10 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Will's- thoughts 1

Take your rabbit and slay it took on a whole new meaning last Thursday as
Phlip pulled in my drive way with 27 living rabbits. Several hours later the
deed was done and the animals were skinned, cleaned and stored in my frig for
use the next day.

The actual slaughter went cleanly and was more humane than any I 've seen at
the slaughter house. This is not a recommendation for you to slaughter and
butcher your own animals. The skills involved are not something that your
average person possesses. The act of killing was very traumatic. OTH, at the
price ($3.00 a head) it was the most practical way of doing things. My
experience on the farm came into play for the most part and  Goddess was with
me for the rest.

Human casualties were 2 wounded. Phlip recieved 6 stitches to a cut on her arm
and I refused treatment for the one at the base of my thumb. The skins were
salted and rolled for later use.

The rabbits were one of the most popular dishes in the feast with no leftovers
being returned to the kitchen.

Ras


Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 23:15:27 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Fetal Rabbbit Experiment

Rather than let a perfect opportunity pass me by, I decided this evening to
find out if fetal rabbits are edible.I removed one of the  embryonic pouches
from the "string" of pouches leaving 3 intact.

(Amazingly, the entire structure of the string of embryos when held out in
front of you with two hands reminds you of a necklace with jewels hanging
down.)

For the actual cooking process I chose to "parboil" it. I based this decision
on the personal observation that most of the period recipies, with which I am
familiar, call for the parboiling of offal when some form of precooking is
indicated. Other possibilities would have been cutting up raw embryo into
small pieces or forcing it through a sieve. Neither of the last two seemed to
be viable alternatives to parboiling. One of the best reasons that I can think
of is appearance.  This dish, if it existed, would have been very expensive.
For every serving of cooked rabbit embryos , a total of at least 5 rabbits
would have been sacrificed-the doe and the 4 potential rabbits she was
carrying.. If I were doing that, I certainly would want something more than
mush on a plate for all my efforts. :-)

So I thawed out the embryonic pouch that I had cut from the frozen string. I
brought two inches of water in a small saucepan to a boil then reduced the
heat to a slow simmer. At this point , I put  the pouch into the water. I
allowed it to simmer for 20 mins.

I removed the pouch from the water with a slotted spoon and allowed it to cool
to room temperature. I sliced it in half. Apparently this embryo was not as
advanced as it could have been because I noticed no "white bits". :-) The
appearance was sort of crumbly textured, not surprisingly somewhat similar to
clotted blood although the color was noticably different. The flavor was
similar to liver. There were of course little nuances that make it impossible
to describe it's flavor as anything other than cooked embryo but to simplify
things, I think liver is a good compromise. :-)

My impression was that it was immenently edible. but then again, I do like
organ meats of all types, so I may be  naturally drawn to those types of
flavors. If I were to serve them, I would most likely choose any of the sauces
recommended for testicles.

At the very least we now know they are edible. Unfortunately this experiment
didn't prove they were eaten in the Middle Ages. However, I now know that if
the recipe is ever found or if they are ever served to me I won't hesitate to
eat them. :-)

Yours in Service to the Dream,
al-Sayyid A'aql ibn Ras al-Zib, AoA, OSyc


Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1998 23:24:31 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Bunny recipes? (long)

Mike and Pat Luco wrote:
> Anyone have a really 'knock down dead' recipe for rabbit?  as long as I don't > have to put it on a spit and roast outside its ok.  We had fresh bunny in 
> Firenza and I was thinking about it today, but have no idea what to do with 
> the furry beasts?  My supermarket usually has bunnies in the meat section 
> so... Also is osso bucco especially period?

Osso Bucco is something I haven't run across a period recipe for, but
that doesn't mean there isn't one. There are numerous recipes calling
for either the meat or the marrow from a knuckle of veal, or even both,
but as I say, no actual osso bucco that I'm aware of. Maybe someone else
has had more luck, although I think this question was asked once before
on the list, and got no results.

As for Rabbit, here's a rabbit recipe we used at the event we often
discuss in terms sometimes heated but never boring (well, maybe
sometimes!) the East Kingdom's Spring Crown Tourney, held back in May:

Connynges in Papdele

“26     Hares in papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the
broth and
wasshe the fleysshe; cast a3ain togydre. Take obleys o*er wafrouns in
defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powdour douce and lay
on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth.”
Curye on Inglysch, Book IV, “The Forme of Cury”, c. 1390 C.E.

What they did:
        Note that the recipe calls for hares. Hares are simmered in stock
(probably chicken, capon, or white beef stock) until the meat can be
easily removed from the bones. The stock is strained off the hares,
which are cleaned of all bone, gristle, and extraneous proteins like
albumen scum, which may or may not actually involve rinsing the meat, as
washing would suggest to the modern mind. The chunks of meat are added
back to the broth, and the stew is layered between sheets of cooked
pasta or wafers. The difference between obleys and wafers seems to have
been pretty minor: both are a thin pastry cooked between irons like a
thin waffle, and after they’ve sat in hare broth for a few minutes the
difference becomes even less important. Our hare lasagna is topped with
a mixture of powdered sweet spices like cinnamon and cloves.

What we’ll do differently:
        The primary difference is that we’ll be using coneys (rabbits), since
they‘re more readily available and sufficiently adventurous for most
SCAdians I know anyway. We’ll pretty much follow the recipe as stated
above, using chicken broth for our rabbits, and interpreting the phrase
“good broth” to include a generous amout of fresh herbs, like whole
thyme, savory or marjoram, and parsley stems. But, while the rabbit meat
is being removed from the bones, we’ll reduce the broth to a saucier,
syrupy consistency, and lay the meat between our loseyns, while the
recipe is rather unclear on just how the meat and pasta are arranged.
We’ll take a line from a recognizable lasgna dish as far as the
presentation is concerned. By the way, a nearly identical dish of
braised duck sforza on papardella was, until quite recently, a big
seller at Felidia’s in New York City

What you need to make eight small servings:
1 large rabbit, around three pounds, jointed
1 quart good chicken stock, low sodium if canned
dry white wine or water
optional: fresh herbs -- parsley, thyme, rosemary, etc. ; use 1/3 the
amount if dried
optional: packet of unflavored gelatin if       using canned stock
1/2 lb dry lasagna noodles (at least nine       strips)
salt to taste
1/4 tsp powdered cloves
1/4 tsp powdered cinnamon

In a 3-or-4-quart saucepan, bring the rabbit to a boil in the stock with
the optional herbs and enough wine or water to cover the rabbit pieces
well. Reduce the heat to a simmer, skim, and cook for about 2  1/2 to 3
hours, or until rabbit is tender. Let the rabbit cool in the broth for
half an hour or so.

Meanwhile, boil your lasagna noodles in lightly salted water for around
12 minutes or until tender. Remember this doesn’t get a subsequent
baking, so it won’t absorb the tomato sauce that isn’t there anyway, and
get softer. Boil it until it’s as tender as you want it to be. Drain and
reserve the noodles, with a little oil to keep them from sticking
together.

Lift the rabbit pieces from the broth. Strain the broth and reserve the
rabbit.

Reduce the broth, if necessary: moisten the gelatin, if using, with a
little lukewarm water, until it puffs up and becomes clear. Heat the
broth and dissolve the gelatin (which occurs naturally in real stock,
but is more or less absent from canned) in it. Bring the broth to a boil
and reduce it to around 2 1/2 cups, by which time it will have thickened
slightly: you’ll see the bubbles that normally occur on top of boiling
liquid suddenly collapse, and the liquid will have become slightly
syrupy.

While the sauce is cooking, remove the meat from the rabbit bones.
Scrape rib meat from the bones with a paring knife, but the rest should
come right off using the fingers. Watch our for gristle. Give the meat a
rough chop if you want to, and add it to the broth/sauce.

Lay out 1/3 of your noodles in a serving bowl, and spoon half of the
rabbit hash (or stew if you’ve left it in big chunks) onto it, spreading
it evenly. Cover with another layer of pasta, followed by the other half
of the rabbit. Top with the last of the pasta. Pour any remaining broth
over the top. Cut like a tac-tac-toe board, dust lightly with the cloves
and cinnamon, mixed, and serve.

HTH. This was probably the only dish we had absolutely no problems with,
and it was pronounced as tempting vegans to stray from their lifestyle.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 10:44:38 -0400
From: mermayde at juno.com (Christine A Seelye-King)
Subject: Re: SC - Bunny recipes?

>Anyone have a really 'knock down dead' recipe for rabbit?  as long as
>I don't have to put it on a spit and roast outside its ok.

The best recipie for rabbit I have ever done is out of a Welsh cookbook,
and is called "Hares in Ale".  We have done it with both rabbit and with
chicken leg quarters, and it is wonderful both ways.  Of course, I have
been unable to recover the book from the cook who borrowed it (a divorce,
move, and subsequent pleas to her ex-husband have been unsuccessful), but
I will try to give it to you from memory as best I can.

Hares in Ale - Served with Onion Stuffing

Clean Rabbit of skin, and separate it into portion-sized sections.
(When using chicken, we have cooked the leg quarters both whole and
separated into legs and thighs).
Dust with seasoned flour, and briefly sautee to brown, not to cook all
the way through.
Place the browned meat in a deep roasting pan (at least 3 inches), and
cover with beer.  (Use your own discretion as to brand.  Cheap American
is ok, as it will be picking up flavors from the meat. Don't use more
than necessary to cover the meat, as you want it to thicken.)  (I seem to
recall that the original recipie called for doing this step on the
stovetop, but it works very well in the oven, and is easier to do this
way for large quantities.)
Bake at 350 - 375 for 1 hour or so, or until the meat is very done, and
the liquid has started to take on a syrupy consistancy.  (The flour
coating from the pre-sautee will also thicken the sauce.)
Meanwhile, take several large white onions, and slice them into strips.
Sautee them with butter in a pan until they start to turn translucent.
Take a mixture of breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and saffron, and add it to
the onions. Add some of the sauce from the meat to moisten, and cook
until  the breadcrumbs have absorbed the liquid, and the mixture has
turned golden brown.   This is called a stuffing, but the breadcrumbs are
more of a coating for the onions, and it does not achieve the consistancy
we think of for a stuffing.  I think I would actually use the term
'dressing' instead, as it is a side dish anyway.
Serve together.  You cannot imagine the rich taste this dish has.  The
slow-cooking of the meat with the seasoned flour and the beer produces  a
rich, mellow, almost sweet flavor that is just wonderful.  Sorry I can't
provide the details of the recipie book, maybe I will have to go and
smack Sir Simon again and get him to look for that book.
Mmmmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it (the recipie, not the
smacking!)
        Good Luck,
        (Watch out, Bunnies!)
        Mistress Christianna MacGrain, OP, Meridies


Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 18:55:00 -0500 (CDT)
From: jeffrey stewart heilveil <heilveil at students.uiuc.edu>
Subject: SC - Hasenpfeffer, OOP

I would hate to be thought of as a spoon tease, and so here is the rabbit
recipe.  As I have been unable to obtain rabbit since I recieved the
recipe, I haven't tried it yet...

cut 1 rabbit into serving portions, and put in a jar.  Cover with a 1:1
vinegar water solution, add 1 lg onion (sliced), salt, pepper, cloves and a
bay leaf (no idea how much cloves).  Leave 2 days.  Remove meat and brown
in butter, turning often.  Add the pickle to the meat.  Let simmer 30
minutes, stir in 1 C thick sour cream, and serve.

Bogdan


Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 19:25:18 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Hasenpfeffer, OOP

> cut 1 rabbit into serving portions, and put in a jar.  Cover with a 1:1
> vinegar water solution, add 1lg onion (sliced), salt, pepper, cloves and a
> bay leaf (no idea how much cloves).  Leae 2 days.  Remove meat and brown
>
> Bogdan

Try four to six whole cloves.  The pickle is similar to Sauerbraten and that
is what is commonly called for in that recipe.

Bear


Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 19:49:31 -0500
From: vjarmstrong at aristotle.net (Valoise Armstrong)
Subject: Re: SC - Bunny recipes?

Bogdan wrote:
>> It's not period, but I have a hasenpfeffer recipe, if you want.

Actually Hasenpfeffer (or jugged hare) is late period. Sabina Welser
included it in her cookbook. Unfortunately, this recipe would seem to call
for a freshly slaughtered rabbit or hare, but if you know a hunter or a
rabbit breeder who could save the blood, it might be interesting to try.

Valoise

19   Jugged hare

        Take the hare, rinse the blood with wine and vinegar into a clean
vessel, then chop the hare in pieces. Cook the front part in the blood.
Take wine or water and stir it, until it is mixed with the blood, so that
the blood does not clump. Take rye bread that is finely grated, fry it in
fat and put it into the jugged hare. Season it well. You can also chop the
lungs and the liver into pieces and roast them with the rye bread and put
them into the jugged hare.


Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 12:18:12 EDT
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: Bunny Recipes

Here is a rabbit recipe that has been vetted by my family and friends, and by
the writer of a food column in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

SAUPIQUET FOR RABBIT
(Onion and Ginger Wine Sauce for Rabbit)

For making the Saupiquet to be put on the rabbit, depending on the quantity to
be made, take two onions, and slice them finely, and take good pork lard, melt
it, and sautée your onions; to prevent them from burning as they fry, put in a
little bouillon.  Then put in a lot of white wine to the amount of the
saupiquet you want to make for the rabbits.  And take your spices, good
ginger, grains of paradise, a little pepper, which should not predominate, and
saffron to give it color; and add vinegar to taste so carefully that it is
neither too sharp nor too little; and the same with salt.
(Chiquart's On Cookery)

(I have chosen to sauté the onions in butter rather than pork lard, and
substitute allspice for grains of paradise.)

Three or four pounds of rabbit, or chicken thigh quarters, cut into serving
pieces
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1/4 C beef stock or bouillon
1 C white wine
1 tsp powdered ginger
1/8 tsp pepper
Pinch of allspice and saffron
1/2 tsp wine vinegar, or to taste
1 T butter for sautéing
Salt to taste

1.  Preheat oven to 450°.

2.  Put rabbit or chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, put it in the oven,
reduce heat to 350°, and bake for one hour or until the meat is cooked
through.

3.  In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter and sauté sliced onions until
they are translucent.

4.  Stir in beef stock and spices, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes,
stirring occasionally.

5.  Stir in wine, return to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring
occasionally, for fifteen minutes.

6.  Remove from heat and stir in vinegar and salt.

7.  Arrange rabbit or chicken on a serving platter, and pour the sauce over
it.

Yields one and a quarter cups of sauce.
Serves four to six.

Rudd Rayfield


Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 12:06:01 -0600
From: "Diana Skaggs"<upsxdls at okway.okstate.edu>
Subject: SC - Cooking a dog-sized hare

> Mordonna wrote <snip? How about it, anybody out there with
> experience cooking these dog-sized hares??

     It's been several years, but I have cooked lots of jackrabbits.  My husband
     is an avid hunter, and when we were married 17 years ago, I told him that
     If he could kill and clean it, I could find some way to prepare it. (Me and
     my big mouth!)  The young hares can be cooked like bunnies/chickens.  If
     the hare is old (large in size and fur resists removal) pressure cook or
     stew and keep the broth but throw the meat away.  The last old hare my
     wonderful husband brought home the cooked meat was so tough it was like
     trying to eat hair, but the stock was heavenly.

     Leanna of Sparrowhaven


Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 21:01:31 -0500
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Recipe request for Ras

And it came to pass on 9 Feb 99,, that LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> Recipe plaese? original, OK. Translation, preferred.

Okay... from _Libro del Arte de Cozina_, 1599:

To Make Pastry of Domestic Rabbits

Take the rabbit and cut off the head, and the feet, take out the
entrails and wash it with many waters, and stuff it with a mixture
made of chopped lard, ham, and its liver cleaned of the bile, mint,
chopped marjoram, sour grapes, pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
nutmeg, and salt, raw egg yolks, and when it is full sew up the
opening, and the rabbit sprinkled with the said mixture, put it in a
pastry made in the manner of "nauezilla" with some little slices of
bacon underneath, having taken out the legs, put them upon the
rabbit with as many more little slices of fat pork, and sprinkle all
with the same spices, cover the pastry, and make it cook in the
oven, and serve it hot.

Brighid
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 11:08:57 +0100
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - OOP - Rabbit stew

Being inspired (erm, perhaps the wrong word) by our rabbit and possum
thread, I made a casserole for some friends for dinner last night. Everyone
agreed it was most delicious. Here's the recipe:

Rabbit & Chestnut Stew
Rabbit (enough for however many people you are feeding, I used 1 rather
skinny Chinese rabbit I had in the freezer and a small 200g pack of fresh
meat from the supermarket)
Spelt flour (or whatever you have, but I personally like the taste of spelt
or wholemeal)
Butter (the real stuff)
Lager (or ale or a light beer)
Can of chestnuts
Shallots
Thyme (mine was 'fresh going to slightly dried')
Freshly ground salt and black pepper

Debone and cut the rabbit into large mouthfuls. Lightly dust in flour and
fry in plenty of butter until golden brown. Place in casserole with some
thyme (I used aprx 1 tsp) and add a bottle or two of lager and put on a low
heat. In the meantime, skin the shallots, cut the larger ones in half and
sweat them until they start to turn translucent. Place in casserole and cook
on low for three quarters of an hour. Don't forget to stir every now and
then, and add more lager if necessary. Season to taste and add the
chestnuts. Cook for another quarter hour or so. Serve.

Cordialmente
Lucretzia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia   |  mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK


Date: Tue, 9 Nov 1999 14:17:36 -0500
From: Cindy <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: SC - Hares in papdele - another source

Hello!  I recall that Hares in papdele was a topic of debate sometime last
year, but I've lost the file.  I just ran across another recipe for it in
the  Liber Cure Cocorum that Adamantius sent me, so I figured I'd pass it
along before I forgot about it.

Adamantius posted this recipe last year:

Connynges in Papdele
"26     Hares in papdele. Take hares; perboile hem in gode broth. Cole the
broth and wasshe the fleysshe; cast a[3]ain togydre. Take obleys o[th]er
wafrouns in defaute of loseyns, and cowche in dysshes. Take powdour douce
and lay on; salt the broth and lay onoward & messe forth." Curye on
Inglysch, Book IV, "The Forme of Cury", c. 1390 C.E.

And here's the one in verse from LCC:

Harus in Perdoylyse.
Take harys and perboyle hom, I rede,
In goode brothe, kele hit for drede,
And hew [th]y flesshe and cast [th]erinne.
Take swongen eggus, no more ne myn,
And cast in [th]y sewe and sethe hit [th]enne.
Take obles and wafrons, as I [th]e kenne,
Close hom in dysshes fare and wele;
Salt [th]e sewe, so have [th]ou cele,
And lay hit above as gode men done,
And messe hit forthe, Syr, at [th]o none.

This recipe differs from the FOC version in that the broth in which the
hares were cooked is being thickened with beaten eggs.  Also, only salt is
added, not powder douce.

Cindy Renfrow
cindy at thousandeggs.com
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"


Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 11:45:45 -0500
From: "Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Coronation feast

Lucretzia asks:
>Any ideas how many a normal bunny would feed as a mid-course dish?  Phlip?<

It would obviously depend on how you served it, and the size of the animal,
but you can usually figure on a rabbit being the same size as a chicken, so
if you roasted or fried it, it would feed 4, made it into a pie, a table of
8, and if you put it into a stews, as many as you want ;-)

Rabbit is a nice meat to work with- it's a bit exotic for most folks, but
you can use it in any recipe you'd use chicken for. The same cautions apply,
though- a young rabbit can be cooked any way, an older rabbit, like an older
chicken, needs to be tenderized. The flavor things goes the same as well-
older rabbits and chickens have a more intense flavor, so they do take well
to stew types of things.

Also, if you don't have enough rabbit, you can cheat a bit- add boneless
dark meat or chicken to fill out the dish- we have specials here, where you
can buy chicken leg quarters for $0.29 a pound- been living on them, lately.

The rabbits I got for Ras' event were at perfect butchering weight- about 8
weeks old, and very tender, other than the few I picked up at a livestock
auction- do you remember how tough they were to skin, Ras? It's just a
thing, where as they mature, their connective tissues grow more tough and
dense, as with any other animal.

Phlip

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio


Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 14:04:38 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Coronation feast

Christina Nevin wrote:
> I might talk to some friends down
> south and see if I can get some rabbits (usually I can only get the
> expensive frozen Chinese imported bunnies in London - ridiculous!). Any
> ideas how many a normal bunny would feed as a mid-course dish?  Phlip?
 
Not Phlip, and don't play her on TV ;  ). Maybe 4-6 as part of a large
meal. If you joint or section them properly, 1 1/2 wabbits per table of
eight ought to do it pretty well. This assumes the wabbits are like the
ones we have here. Is anybody aware of any even remote industrial
standard, such as with, say, chickens? I'd guess a dressed rabbit around
here weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, with about half of that meat. One and a
half of those gives you just under two pounds of meat, which, with other
dishes and a nice sauce, ought to be plenty. Especially since not
everyone eats wabbit. Actually, Phlip, if you think I'm way off here
please jump in.

Adamantius, on the fly/no flies on me


Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2000 22:21:11 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Coronation feast

ktradford at cyberport.com writes:
<< it will be the rear legs and the breast  >>

There is little if any meat on the breast (e.g., chest of a rabbit. The meat 
is located on the back legs, and along the backbone as well as some on the 
front legs. When Phlip and I did the rabbits at a past Will's Revenge, we 
just put the entire rabbit (2 per table) an a platter and let them have at 
it. There was plenty for all.

Ras


Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 19:52:57 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Coronation feast--Rabbits for Feasts

Aelfwyn at aol.com wrote: 
> would stretch as part of a 3-4 course feast. And the pointer about age is a
> great one. I'll be sure to ask the lady for that info to help me plan on the
> choice of recipe.

FWIW, I vaguely recall there being some interesting material on how to
tell the age of a rabbit (or was that hares only?) in Le Menagier de Paris...
 
Adamantius


Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 14:45:17 -0500
From: grizly at mindspring.com
Subject: Re: SC - Rabbit tips?

Conys in Syrup (spelling butchered fer shur) can be found in Pleyn Delit (Forme of Curye originally, I think).  It is a cooked rabbit with a wine/spice/raisin sauce that it simmers briefly IIRC.  IT is a really simple, yet elegant recipe to serve.  Rabbit is smote to gobbets.

niccolo difrancesco


Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 19:29:21 EST
From: CBlackwill at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Rabbit tips?

Domestic Rabbit tastes exceptionally good if it is first floured, fried, and 
then braised in Barolo wine (or any high quality dark red wine if Barolo is 
out of era).  Plus, doing it this way makes it a one-pot-meal...perfect for 
camp cooking.  Throw in some Onions, raisins or currants, and a little bit of 
turnip (which has a great buttery flavor when cooked) and you have a 
fantastic dish.  Of course, this is the way I prefer to cook it, and is not 
from a primary source.  Anyone got anything close??

Balthazar of Blackmoor


Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 12:12:48 EST
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: rabbit tips

<< Domestic Rabbit tastes exceptionally good if it is first floured, fried, 
and then braised in Barolo wine (or any high quality dark red wine >>

Agreed on that. Red wine, not white as I have had some people argue. Seems to 
quell any bitterness in the meat. Black pepper seems to be good for it as 
well. 

Hauviette


Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2000 13:28:44 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: SC - Rabbit tips

> Agreed on that. Red wine, not white as I have had some people argue. 
> Seems to  quell any bitterness in the meat. Black pepper seems to be
> good for it as  well.  

> Hauviette

Or better yet, ale or beer.  Hares in Ale is a popular favorite of mine. 
Christianna


Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2001 16:03:24 +0100 
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Rabbit/Hare Broth Recipe    WAS Not eating cute furry animals

	Begga asked
	Does anyone have any "new" recipes for the above beast?

Not 'new' but nice nonetheless. The mundane friends who harrass me about my
Silly Clothes Association came over for dinner a couple of weeks ago, and I
usually get my revenge by feeding them some medieval recipe and then teasing
them back when they say they liked it (somehow I get the feeling they're
getting the best of me on both counts here, but never mind). Anyway, I fed
them the Hare/Rabbit Broth from Le Menagier this time (us NZers deeming it a
civic duty to rid the world of bunnies), which turned out quite delicious.
Here's the redaction:

Original - Translation Janet Hinson:
Hare Broth. 
First, cut the hare through the breast: and if it is freshly taken, that is
no more than one or two days since, do not wash it, but put it on the grill,
that is roast it over a good coal fire or on the spit; then have cooked
onions and fat in a pot, and add your onions to the fat and your hare in
pieces, and fry them over the fire, shaking the pot very frequently, or fry
them on the griddle. Then heat and toast bread and moisten in stock with
vinegar and wine: and have ginger, grain, clove, long pepper, nutmegs and
cinnamon ground beforehand, and let them be ground and mixed with verjuice
and vinegar or meat stock; gather them up, and set to one side. Then grind
up your bread, mixed with stock, and sieve the bread and not the spices, and
add stock, the onions and fat, spices and toasted bread, cook all together,
and the hare also; and be sure the broth is brown, sharpened with vinegar,
mixed with salt and spices.
Coney [Rabbit] Broth as above.

Lucrezia's Redaction:
1 wild rabbit (precut into 6)	2 onions, sliced
4 slices white bread, decrusted	Goosefat
100 ml good red wine vinegar	1 C decent red wine
2 TB verjuice			2 C non-UK beef consumme
Spices:
1 healthy pinch ginger		1/2 tsp grains of paradise 
1 healthy pinch cloves		1/2 tsp long pepper
1 healthy pinch nutmeg 		1/2 tsp cinnamon 
(yeah, you can guess my favorite spices, can't you?)

1.  Grill the rabbit until browned. 
2.  Cook 2 onions (I boiled mine, but I think roasting would be good too)
and then slice them. 
3.  Add the rabbit and onions to a pan with some fat and fry. 
4.  While this is happening, toast the 4 slices of bread and roughly break
it into pieces, adding the 1 cup of red wine and 100 ml vinegar and a little
stock/consumme to it and let soak. 
5.  Mix the ground up spices with the rest of the 2 cups of stock/consumme
and 2 TB verjuice and let soak.
6.  Grind up the wine-soaked bread and pass through a metal sieve.
7.  Add the spices & stock/consumme, the bread, the onions, fat and hare
together in a pan and cook for an hour and a half on a medium low heat. (If
you need more liquid - though you shouldn't - add the onion water)
8.  Ten minutes before serving, season with salt and add enough vinegar to
give the broth an edge.
9.  Enjoy!

Al Servizio Vostro, e del Sogno
Lucrezia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia   |  mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK


Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 20:13:56 +0200
From: tgl at mailer.uni-marburg.de
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ack! I've lost it also! (rabbit dish)

To roste a Hare
First wash it in faire water, then perboyle it and lay in
cold water againe, then larde it, and roste it in a
broch. Then to make sauce for it, take red Vinigar, Salt,
Pepper, Ginger Cloves, Mace, and put them together. Then
minse Apples, and Onions, and frie them with a litle
Sugar, and let them boyle wel together, then baste it
upon yor hare, and so serve it foorth.
(The good huswifes handmaide ... 1594)


Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 10:56:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Queen of Cats" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: SCA-Cooks maillist <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] bunnies

On Thu, 19 Jul 2001, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Margaret said:
> > I've just never done canning for war. My sweetie is trying to convince me
> > to can a batch of the rabbit saupiquet to bring. ;-)
>
> What is rabbit saupiquet? I thought at first you had said rabbit
> saurkraut! :-)
>
> Is this dish a period one?

Yep. This is the bunnies in sauce that I briefly mentioned back in
May as wanting a vegetable to go with it. It's similar to the hare in
broth recipe that's been posted, actually. I *think* we used Scully's
_Early French Cookery_ for the initial translation, certainly that's where
I got the name from, but at the moment I don't remember if we actually
redacted it or used somebody else's redaction. It's been a tense and
stressful couple of weeks, and my mind is fuzzy. And my notebook is at
home.

I served the test version with peas according to Platina, with cinnamon
and sugar, but being lazy and having only one pot at the event, just threw
the peas in with the bunny.

Basically, bunny in sauce made of onions, a sour liquid beginning with 'v'
that I think was wine vinegar, wine, bread crumbs, grains of paradise,
ginger, maybe cinnamon. Bunny is roasted then fried in lard with the
onions. The sauce is #14 (or is really similar to it) from Du Fait de
Cuisine:

14. To make sauce piquant to put on conies, according to the quantity of
it which one is making take onions and chop them fine, and take fair pork
lard and melt it and saut your onions, and so that they do not burn in
sauting put a little broth in; and then put in a great deal of white wine
according to the quantity of sauce piquant which you want to make for the
said conies; and take your spices, good ginger, grains of paradise, a
little pepper which is not at all too much, and saffron to give it
color; and season it with vinegar in such proportion that it is neither
too much poignant nor too little; with salt also.

We cooked it more like a stew, in one pot, for east of transport and
reheating. It freezes and reheats excellently. And the bunny was, well,
really really good. Similar to that profound yet subtle and quiet way that
dropping a very heavy cast-iron dutch oven on one's foot elicits a pause
and a very quiet "ow".

Margaret FitzWilliam


From: "Susan Laing" <gleep001 at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001 02:58:34 +0000
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Rabbits in Pastry - Oh my!!

Some of you may remember my endless round of Rabbits & Pastry questions of a
month or two ago - finally posting the information on it all....

This is the recipe from which was created many of the little beasties for
the first Baronial invest of St Florian's in Brisbane, Australia (sorry - no
pictures seem to have been taken)

Tips to remember if doing this recipe-
NB - personal alterations to the recipe below are marked with **

*Definately make up your pastry the day before (I didn't have access to the
ingredients etc until the day of the event and it really is better if the
pasty has time to relax before using).  We used this heavy pastry for all
decorating purposes (ears; heads; feet etc)

*we used bought sheet pastry to encase the bodies - took about 2 & 1/3rd
sheets to snugly tuck in about the rabbit (no heads attached)

*ensure the rabbit carcase is completely defrosted (these weren't quite) I
ended up using a sheet of baking paper under each and advised everyone NOT
to remove it (upon pain of death) as the carcase thaw was making the bottom
layer of pastry squidgy.  They went into the oven on this and it was removed
after baking

*Don't be afraid to use reasonable force when repositioning the rabbit's
fore & hind legs AND remember to use bamboo skewers to keep everything in
place (I found that after encasing; adding features & storing in the fridge
for over an hour prior to cooking, the skewer could be removed before
cooking if necessary to conserve space - no position change was noticed from
removal).  I also used poultry shearers to clip off the tail bone as it was
a sharp, boney bit that was causing the pastry to split (we were creating
false pastry tails anyway)

*taking the advise of others on the list, we (my two willing "Bunny
features" assistants & myself) made sure that all the ears were not of the
"Sticking up variety" - this avoided the burn factor in the oven and we had
a lot of fun creating various "ear styles" for each wabbit... (and giving
names such as "flopsy, mopsy etc"

*lastly - when your head cooks says "We'll be able to fit all of them into
the ovens at once" and you've only got two industrial ovens - neither of
which is very wide - laugh loudly & run away... :-p (they had forgotten to
take into account the height of each plus width so they ended up having to
stager the cooking run...)

From accounts of those that ate them (I was in the "no food please zone"
after cooking all afternoon) - they turned out lovely (steamed in the pastry
case with the spice mix & bacon wrap to flavour through the flesh) and I'll
be looking to make these again...

Mari

**I haven't got the Medieval Kitchen by Redon here with me at work, but can
post the original (In french I believe) and the full redacted recipe from
home is anyone asks :-)

***************
RABBIT BAKED IN PASTRY (Medieval Kitchen p 143)

1 Rabbit whole
300g salt pork **(we used bacon strips instead)
1 pinch of ground cloves
1 tspn ground ginger
1 tspn black pepper
1 tbspn salt
2 dried black beans (decoration, optional)

Pastry
7 cups flour
250g Butter
1 egg
approx 1 =BC cups water
20g kosher salt **(we used ordinary cooking salt)

1.Day before prepare pastry, wrap in plastic and refrigerate
2.Preheat oven to 190C
3.Grind salt pork, [Omit if using bacon strips]
4.Mix the spices and salt and set aside
5.Trim the rabbit and coax it into a crouching position
6.Roll the dough out into a rectangle and lay it on a sheet pan
7.Set the rabbit into a third of the dough (if head attached, set it raised
using bamboo spears) leaving the larger portion of the dough free to fold
over the rabbit
8.Spread the chopped salt pork all over the rabbit and sprinkle generously
with spice-salt mixture
9.Fold the dough over the rabbit, sealing it carefully with water; pressed
closely against the body
10.Make a crease in the dough where the mouth would be, make ears and a tail
of pastry and fasten to pie with water. Insert two dried black beans into
the dough for eyes
11.Bake for about 90 minutes during which time the rabbit will cook to
perfection. The pie is done when the pie is deep brown.
12.Bring to table whole and cut down the back then carve as you would a
roast rabbit.


Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 17:06:32 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] project

Hi. Please forgive the interruption, but there are some typos (and symbols
that were not represented) here that may prevent accurate translation. 
Here is a corrected version. The symbols are marked <>. The f's you see are
actually long s.

Hares in Papdele XXIIII
Take Hares p<er>boile hem in gode broth. cole the broth and waifshe the
fleyfsh. caft azeyn to gydre. take obleys o<ther> wafrous in ftede of
lozyens. and cowche in dyfshes. take powdo<ur> douce and lay on falt 
the broth and lay onoward a<n> meffe forth.

Cindy


Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 12:16:43 -0800
From: "Lorenz Wieland" <lorenz_wieland at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking times over an open fire
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> Ok, for a discussion (about 'instant stews' in fantasy) on another
> list, I'm wondering how long it would take to cook 2 rabbits, either
> roasted or cut up and cooked in boiling water, over an open fire.
> Anybody have a good guess? Also, how long would it take from the
> point you start the fire to the point you could start cooking?

There are too many variables to answer your questions definitively, but
here's some guidelines:

A 3lb rabbit sectioned normally will need about 1 hour to fully cook in
simmering liquid.  Figure 20 minutes more to braise a whole rabbit.  I
wouldn't recommend grill-roasting rabbit, as it tends to go dry very 
easily.

Very low heat spit-roasting or hot smoking might work, but braising is 
Much easier.

As for fire preparation, time varies by type of fuel used, how it is
arranged and started, and ambient temperature and humidity.  A home grill
quantity of mesquite charcoal lit in a chimney starter takes about 20
minutes to get to a cook cooking temperature.  A full-sized
Santa-Maria-style pit grill with split white oak logs takes 2.5 to 3 
Hours to get a good coal bed.  Your mileage *will* var.

-Lorenz


Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2003 17:06:32 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] project

Hi. Please forgive the interruption, but there are some typos (and symbols
that were not represented) here that may prevent accurate translation. 
Here is a corrected version. The symbols are marked <>. The f's you see are
actually long s.

Hares in Papdele XXIIII
Take Hares p<er>boile hem in gode broth. cole the broth and waifshe the
fleyfsh. caft azeyn to gydre. take obleys o<ther> wafrous in ftede of
lozyens. and cowche in dyfshes. take powdo<ur> douce and lay on falt 
the broth
and lay onoward a<n> meffe forth.

Cindy


Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 12:16:43 -0800
From: "Lorenz Wieland" <lorenz_wieland at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cooking times over an open fire
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
> Ok, for a discussion (about 'instant stews' in fantasy) on another
> list, I'm wondering how long it would take to cook 2 rabbits, either
> roasted or cut up and cooked in boiling water, over an open fire.
> Anybody have a good guess? Also, how long would it take from the
> point you start the fire to the point you could start cooking?

There are too many variables to answer your questions definitively, but
here's some guidelines:

A 3lb rabbit sectioned normally will need about 1 hour to fully cook in
simmering liquid.  Figure 20 minutes more to braise a whole rabbit.  I
wouldn't recommend grill-roasting rabbit, as it tends to go dry very 
easily.

Very low heat spit-roasting or hot smoking might work, but braising is 
Much easier.

As for fire preparation, time varies by type of fuel used, how it is
arranged and started, and ambient temperature and humidity.  A home grill
quantity of mesquite charcoal lit in a chimney starter takes about 20
minutes to get to a cook cooking temperature.  A full-sized
Santa-Maria-style pit grill with split white oak logs takes 2.5 to 3 
Hours to get a good coal bed.  Your mileage *will* var.

-Lorenz


Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
From: djheydt at kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Subject: Re: venison
Organization: Kithrup Enterprises, Ltd.
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2004 19:34:18 GMT

Robert Uhl  <ruhl at 4dv.net> wrote:
>"Tammy" <threeczzzs at atc-zzzpa.com> writes:
>> Rabbit, on the other hand I have not tried, but I have some in the
>> freezer, but don't know how to prepare it...any good suggestions.
>
>I understand that nearly any recipe for duck works for rabbit, and vice
>versa.

I cannot believe that; duck is very oily meat, whereas rabbut is
very dry.  I generally put rabbit into a stew or a pie (we used
to raise them, back in AS single-digits), but when I roasted them
I'd stuff them with a pork forcemeat and drape slices of bacon
over them.

Other rabbit recipes involve inserting thin slips of fat pork
into the flesh with a larding needle, but that always sounded too
much like work.

Now, if you were to add fat to the rabbit meat in any of the ways
described, and *then* cook as if it were duck, that might work.

Here's the rabbit pie I used to bring to tourneys:

Take one rabbit.  Cutting it up will make it easier to fit in the pot.
Cover with water, add some Italian herbs (oregano, sage, parsley,
thyme, you can buy it as a mixture).  Bring it to a boil, cover it,
and let it simmer till the meat is ready to fall off the bones.
Take the rabbit out of the pot, drain it (keeping the liquid
you're draining out of it), pick the meat off the bones, throw
the bones away.  Cut some onions into quarters and saute' them
till they're limp and golden, not crisp. Set aside.  Take some 
mushrooms, if they're big cut them in halves or quarters, if they're
little leave them whole.  Saute' them till they're brown but not
crisp.  Set aside.  Take about a pound of jack cheese and slice it
thin or grate it with a coarse grater.  

Meanwhile you have made enough piecrust for a top and a bottom
crust, either with one of the period recipes from _Traveling
Dysshes_ or as follows, but do NOT use the Betty Crocker style
recipe that's designed to be light and flaky and fall apart on
the fork.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup shortening (or butter or lard or whatever)
1/4 cup water, not iced, just any old water
1 tsp salt

Dump the flour into a bowl.  Cut in the shortening till it looks
like a bowlful of small pebbles.  Then dump in the water, and mix
it with your hands till it's a sticky ball.  Wash your hands,
take half, and roll out for the bottom crust.  If it tears
anywhere, just pinch a bit off the side and patch it.  Repeat for
top crust, and let them sit on waxed paper or pastry cloths till
you're ready for them.

Now make the gravy, either by making a roux of butter and flour and
slowly stirring the rabbit juice into it, or by mixing cornstarch with
a little cold water and stirring that into the (boiling) rabbit juice
till it gells.  (Or if you want to be a little more perioid, use
breadcrumbs.)  You want a gravy that is liquid when hot but will
be rather solid when cold, it's going to help hold the pie together.
Taste and add salt, pepper, whatever, till it tastes quite
savory, though not too savory.  It's going to lend salt and other
flavors to the whole pie filling.

Now put the bottom crust in the pie pan.  Layer in rabbit, onion,
mushroom, cheese, and repeat till you're out of filling.  Put the
top crust on and pinch the sides together so the top crust is
securely fastened to the bottom crust.  Open a hole in the middle
of the top crust.  Through this, cautiously pour in gravy.  It's
tricky, since you want the pie to be nearly full but not so full
it spills out while baking.  Since it probably will anyway, put
the pie on a baking sheet.  Bake it at 400 F till the crust is
brown--everything inside is cooked anyway.  You can serve this
hot, in which case you'll pass the rest of the gravy.  Or let it
cool, pack it up, and take it to the tournament or picnic or
office party or ....  When cold, it ought to have gelled solidly
enough (particularly with the gelatine from the rabbit bones in
the gravy) that you can cut out a chunk, pick it up, and walk
around munching it.  

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin                         Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West                               Albany, California
PRO DEO ET REGE                               djheydt at kithrup.com


Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 20:52:52 -0500
From: Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] - a slight rant on loic (was Sauerbraten)
To: mooncat at in-tch.com, Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Jan 31, 2005, at 8:33 PM, Sue Cleenger wrote:
> Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
>> Off the top of our collective heads, do we have period recipes for a
>> vinegar-jugged hare (a.k.a. hassenpfeffer) in those same German
>> sources? If we did , we might actually be coming close to the whole
>> "pickle, then cook" mentality.
>
> The closest bunny-type recipe that I can think of is "Coneys in
> Syrup," which has wine, vinegar, and sweetish spices, but that's a bit
> earlier than the 16th c.  And it's English, IIRC.  And the wine nd
> vinegar are part of the cooking process (no evidence of pickling that
> I could discern).
>
> --Maire

How about this one?

19 Jugged hare. Take the hare, rinse the blood with wine and vinegar
into a clean vessel, then chop the hare in pieces. Cook the front pat
in the blood. Take wine or water and stir it, until it is mixed with
the blood, so that the blood does not clump. Take rye bread that is
finely grated, fry it in fat and put it into the jugged hare. Season it
well. You can also chop the lungs and the lier into pieces and roast
them with the rye bread and put them into the jugged hare.
[Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin, V. Armstrong (trans.)]

- Doc


Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 19:29:54 -0800 (PST)
From: "Cat ." <tgrcat2001 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Hasenpfeffer in Rumpolt was Sauerbratenetc
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Master A, you asked for it, Rumpolt got it (well sort
of)

Rumpolt contains 20 rabbit recipes and as I was
reading through them for something that might fit the
bill I found  #11 (translating on the fly)  Mind you,
I did the transcription for Thomas, and I never
noticed the term go by.  Guess I had the wrong brain
switched on. ;-)
http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~glonng/rumphase.htm

# 11 Yellow (implying saffron) preserved (prepared)
rabbit.  Take blood from a rabbit/ and the whole
rabbit/ when you him have undressed (skinned and
gutted?)/ stick him on a spit/ and roast him till he
is done/ take the blood/ and a goo beef broth/ and
vinegar/
Cut therein onion/ bread/ and an apple or two/ let it
therewith simmer/ strain (stroke) the blood through a
hair cloth (fine sieve) / take small chopped onion/
that is well sweated in a butter/ or pork fat/ make it
(season it) with pepper/ cloves/ and crushed cinnamon/
put them into the rabbit blood/ let them come to a
boil therewith/ so it becomes lovely and good/  will
(like) you make it sour/ or sweet leave it.  Take
thereafter the roasted rabbit/ cut him to pieces/ and
put him in the blood/ serve with the sudt (cooking
liquid – not sure I would use the word sauce here)/ so
it is a good Hasenpfeffer (!!!!!! RUMPOLTS  term!!! )
You can such a roasted rabbit also cook in a scraping
(gescharb – small minced or scraped veggies or
fruits)/ be it almonds or apples/ be it at banquets or
weddings/ so the womenfolk like to eat it.

So Rumpolt actually calls it Hasenpfeffer, but it is
not marinated and braised, but roasted and then
simmered in a liquid of blood and broth and vinegar
with spices.

Several other rabbit recipes use the roast and
seasoned liquid with vinegar and pepper technique but
only #11 is called Hasenpfeffer

For #2 you wash the cubes of rabbit in water and
vinegar to remove the blood then simmer them in blood
thickened with bread, with apples and onions, bacon
fat, pepper and cloves,
or (one recipe 2 variations) with blood and water and
vinegar 'but it is better if you have cold beef broth'
and then the same general ingredients and seasonings
with the note  make it sour or sweet.

For #16 you take the back end of the rabbit roast it a
little, chunk it/ then simmer with broth onion,
vinegar, pepper, a little saffron and some juniper
berries.

In Service
Gwen Cat
PS, #20 is for a rabbit that is pregnant, what to do
to serve the unborn young ...


Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2006 10:12:01 -0500 (CDT)
From: Cat Dancer <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Pleasant Italian fish recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

>  So, I look for pleasant, easy recipes that lend themselves to  
> feasts -- does *anyone* do Med/Ren cooking for less than 50  
> anymore? :) -- have period ingredients & techniques that might  
> help or inspire someone.  Fancy & complex I'll save for arts  
> entries. :)

Actually, yes. The consort and I are extremely fond of the civey  
recipe in Taillevent:
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/prescotj/data/viandier/ 
viandier415.html#viandier19

It's tasty with chicken, but not nearly as tasty as with bunny, and it
freezes really well.

There's also a lovely fish recipe in the second of the Two Anglo-Norman
Culinary Collections, which of course is at home, but it involves grilling
the fish and then simmering in wine and spices. Really tasty. I'll  
have to post it tonight when I get home.

Margaret FitzWilliam of Kent
Nordskogen
Northshield


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 12:51:34 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] thieving bunny rabbits

> I'm not sure I have much on catching them in a period way, though.

Once they have been caught, maybe Rabbit knodel?

Von einem K?niglein
From a rabbit there are eleven dishes to make.

1. Roasted/ it could be cold or warm/ it is good in both manners.

2. Prepared in its own blood/ or in black 
(sauce?)/ it could be sweet or sour/ like this 
one can the Hare preserve in a pepper (sauce) and 
blood.

3.  Preserved in its own stock with parsley.

4.  Rabbit in a pie/ it could be cold or warm.

5. Put up in a yellow gescharb sauce/ be it with 
almonds or apples/ with onions chopped together 
and browned/ made up with Butter/ yellow and 
nicely sour/ with small black raisins/ and good 
beef stock/ that is not oversalted/ take browned 
flour into it/ and let them simmer together. And 
when the rabbit is roasted/ than cut it into the 
gescharb/ let it simmer together/ like this it 
becomes well tasting and good. And such a rabbit 
one can roast/ and in apple slices or in a almond 
gescharb sauce/ and let cook together/ or put up 
with onions nicely sweet/ like this it is good 
and well tasting.

6. Smoked or salted rabbit/ cold or warm/ is good 
in both manners/ also to cook under green herbs/ 
it could be spinach/ green or white cabbage.

7. Meatballs of rabbit white or yellow/ or 
steamed nicely brown in a pepper (sauce) or also 
in a gescharb sauce of apples or almonds/ sour or 
sweet/ it is good to eat.

8. Also yellow prepared/ with salted lemon/ or 
white with lemon/ or steamed/ when it is roasted/ 
that one slices and divides.

9. Also meatball pies/ they could be white or yellow in a covered Pie.

10.  You can also make a black (sauce?) from the 
rabbit/ let the blood simmer with lungs and 
liver/ mix with mild spice/ nicely sweet/ like 
this it is good and lovely to eat.

11. If you want to put up a live rabbit in a pie/ 
thus make a dough with white or black Flour that 
is strong and solid/ raise the Pie high enough 
that the rabbit can sit inside. And when you have 
raised the pie/ make it completely full of Bran/ 
then make the cover over it/ fire? in oven and 
bake/ take out and let become cold/ and when it 
is cold/ then cut a hole under the base/ throw 
the bran out/ thus becomes hollow. Make the hole 
large enough that you can push the rabbit inside. 
And when you will serve, push the rabbit inside/ 
set on a dish and let on a table carry. And you 
must talk with the F?rschneider/ that the pie is 
cut open on the table/ when it is cut open/ then 
it jumps out/ like this it is very courtly and 
delicate.

Of a Coney you can make all the dishes/ that you 
would prepare from a rabbit/ for they are not 
very different from each other.

Ranvaig


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2010 19:04:23 +0100
From: Ana Vald?s <agora158 at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] thieving bunny rabbits

I ate period rabbit in Mallorca a few weeks ago. Marvelous flavour, they
said it was an old Catalan recipe from the 1400-century.
Garlic, oil and the rabbit cooked in his blood.

Ana


Date: Sat, 21 May 2011 14:00:40 -0700
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Venison, not necessarily deer meat?

On 21/05/2011 7:21 AM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
<<< Although no one explicitly answered my question, most replies so far
have supported what i posted. So i am led to infer that in SCA-period
cookbooks, including those in English, any recipe for "venison" could
be made with boar (although most of us have access only to pig), meat
of other large game animals, and perhaps hare (or what is sold as
rabbit these days),  as well as whatever species of deer meat is
available. >>>

Antonia replied:
<<< I'm sorry, what? Hare and rabbit are two very different animals in
terms of eating. I'd be very surprised to find hare sold as rabbit. >>>

You misunderstood, i was not implying that hare is sold as rabbit, 
but that if we must purchase meat from a butcher rather than 
catching, dressing, and butchering it ourselves, then one may settle 
for rabbit if hare is not available, and vice versa.

Hares and rabbits are both in the same family - Leporidae, there 
being only one genus of hares, while there are 8 genera of rabbits. 
While there some significant differences, rabbits and hares share 
quite a number of similarities. Adding to the potential confusion, 
the jackrabbit common in the US is not a rabbit, but a hare, and the 
so-called Belgian hare is a rabbit. So, they can be easily confused 
by those who are not well attuned to their visual differences.

And according to what i have read, hares and rabbits can be cooked in 
the same ways. So those of us who are not hunters - which i suspect 
is the majority - and must rely on what we can purchase, we may 
substitute one for the other in recipes.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 17:59:45 +1200
From: Antonia di B C <dama.antonia at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Venison, not necessarily deer meat?

On 22/05/2011 9:00 AM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
<<< And according to what i have read, hares and rabbits can be cooked in 
the same ways. So those of us who are not hunters - which i suspect is 
the majority - and must rely on what we can purchase, we may 
substitute one for the other in recipes. >>>

Cooked in the same ways, yes, but they are poor substitutes for each 
other.  The flesh of the rabbit is light in colour and mild in taste, a 
bit like chicken.  The hare is dark and strong, a bit like venison.
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo


Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2011 18:52:39 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Venison, not necessarily deer meat?

I had written:
<<< And according to what i have read, hares and rabbits can be cooked in
the same ways. So those of us who are not hunters - which i suspect is
the majority - and must rely on what we can purchase, we may
substitute one for the other in recipes. >>>

Antonia wrote:
<<< Cooked in the same ways, yes, but they are poor substitutes for each
other. The flesh of the rabbit is light in colour and mild in taste, a
bit like chicken. The hare is dark and strong, a bit like venison. >>>

Well, despite Antonia's protests, some medieval recipes specify one and say the other can be prepared the same way. Here is one example:

From the 13th c. cookbook, Fad?lat al-Jiwan fi tayyibat al-ta 'am wa-l-alwan, by Ibn Razin al-Tujibi of Murcia in al-Andaluz

Since the cookbook has not been translated into English, i have started with the Spanish translation by Fernando de la Granja Santamaria

[216] Recipe for Narjisiyya (my translation)

Catch a hare, wash it, clean it, cut it limb from limb and put it in a glazed earthenware dish, pour in water, salt, oil, pepper, coriander seed, cumin and macerated almori; dye it with saffron and put it to cook over the fire. When cooked, add a spoonful of good vinegar and bring it to the oven. When golden and left dry take it out, leave it to cool and eat it.

If you want you can prepare this dish, the same way, with rabbit.
--- end translation ---

I know Suey translated this, but there were some places where I differ from her translation. The name of the dish, for example. Because "j" has a similar sound in Arabic and English, but a very different one in Spanish, "j" is problematic when translating from Arabic to Spanish to English. I have returned the "j" to the Arabic name of this dish.
-- 
Urtatim [that's err-tah-TEEM]
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:35:59 -0700 (GMT-07:00)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Substitution of nuts in qanura of rabbit

Adelisa wrote:
<<< I was looking at this recipe in the Anonymous Andalusian and am thinking of making it for an A&S competition:

Qanura of Rabbit in a Frying-Pan, which is Notable 
Cut the rabbit in small pieces and boil them in water and salt, then fry 
them in oil. Pound walnuts and garlic well. Dissolve them with vinegar and 
water, and pour them over the rabbit with water. Cook until it is ready and 
serve it. 

However, I cannot stand walnuts - they taste bitter to me, even in sweets 
like baklava - and am wondering if a cook would have substituted other nuts 
- almonds or pistachios or pine nuts, to their own taste. >>>

I recommend removing the skins from the walnuts. Based on my experiences with the recipes, I think this was often done, although not always specified.

Besides the method suggested by Ranvaig, you could also toast the walnuts VERY lightly, so they don't really change color or only very slightly. Then rub off the skins - try and get them to lift out of the wrinkles. Too much toasting will make them more bitter, so watch them carefully.

I cannot promise this will make them fully palatable to you, but they will be much less bitter.

Hazelnuts do not often appear in Andalusi savory dishes, if at all, so they would not be a suitable substitute. Almonds might be a reasonable substitute because they are so commonly used. But i think that the walnuts were chosen intentionally as contrast to the sweet flavor of rabbit meat.

Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)


From: Ted Eisenstein <alban at SOCKET.NET>
Subject: Re: [CALONTIR] Bunnies
Date: December 2, 2013 1:47:05 PM CST
To: CALONTIR at listserv.unl.edu

>I don't know if I'm remembering the same event as Alban. I believe it was during
>Chepe and Arwyn's reign.

You're not. The event I'm thinking of was a few years later than that, at (I believe) a Girl Scout camp north of Standing Stones; dunno who the Crowns were, but they certainly weren't Arwyn and Chepe.

...made memorable to me for, among other things, watching a no-longer-active
Marine go completely white when she realized that those two slabs o' meat
on the table, ready to be cooked, were skinned bunnies.

Alban, whose memory continues to retain weird facts


From the fb "SCA Cooks" group:


Tasha Derrett
8/22/17
wild rabbit - I'm cooking a repast next month and have a source of wild rabbit for it. So far I've tried the two recipes from Pleyn Delit ie.sweet and sour rabbit and rabbit in onion sauce. I'm not overly thrilled with the results of either. I need some tips and tricks to overcome the toughness of the meat - (is slow cooking it the best way?) and perhaps some different recipes. Any help will be appreciated.

Ivan Bliminse 
Soak the meat in brine in the refrigerator for a few days, then make sure you add supplemental fat when you cook it.

Andi Houston 
Rabbit's difficult because there's no skin to protect the muscle from direct heat. Try slowly frying in butter on low heat and then saucing.

Char Manders 
This is how we did it in culinary school

Edward Buck Shomo 
My best results with rabbit have been in a stew, or by quartering the rabbit, rubbing it in butter, then applying salt, pepper, sage, and rosemary, then roasting it on a spit over a very small (pencil-sized sticks) fire.

Jennifer Kline 
I poach it, vegetable stock, adding in aromatics the recipe calls for then I create the recipe after the meat is par done to finish it.

Donald Glidewell 
Try wrapping it in bacon and roast

Donna Howard 
Many of the recipes in Culinary Recipes of Medieval England call for cooking the rabbit in water or broth first. I have done that with great success. I made rabbit in a ginger sauce for our cooks meeting, and they ate it all!

Robert Helm 
I've seen a recipe of rabbit baked in milk of some sort

Ivan Bliminse 
I once used an entire bottle of Mead, 2 tbsp butter, 2 tbsp minced garlic, one boned rabbit cut into bite sized pieces, and a bit of salt. Browned the garlic in the butter, added the rabbit, cooked until browned, them added the mead. Reduced until the mead formed a thick sauce. Called it Drunken Rabbit. Tender, sweet, and complex.

Lora Franks 
My best results have been in a stew with added stock (beef or chicken stock) or when it is slow braised. Rabbit cooked in duck fat is amazing.

Duane Gould 
A lot have already said it (water/broth). Braising would help to take out the toughness, same with a "lesser/cheaper" class meat. Long and slow. I have done stir fry but only with the back/tenderloin area of the rabbit. Period? No but tasty

<the end>
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