Fish and rabbits

[rwb0481]

Do you all have any good recipes for Bluegill or other panfish? Perhaps bass? I'm going on a hunting/fishing/camping trip in 2 weeks and have caught tons of Bluegill, but never cooked one.

We will be doing some rabbit hunting as well and I've made rabbit stew a few times, but if you have any tasty rabbit recipes please post those as well. Thanks!

[rusty_tlc]

Do you all have any good recipes for Bluegill or other panfish? Perhaps bass? I'm going on a hunting/fishing/camping trip in 2 weeks and have caught tons of Bluegill, but never cooked one.

We will be doing some rabbit hunting as well and I've made rabbit stew a few times, but if you have any tasty rabbit recipes please post those as well. Thanks!
Mom use to cook rabbit pretty often. She would just use it in place of chicken.

I wish I could buy domestic rabbit, it would be a nice protein that is low in saturated fat. I get sick of chicken breast and fish.

[spressomon]

Do you all have any good recipes for Bluegill or other panfish? Perhaps bass? I'm going on a hunting/fishing/camping trip in 2 weeks and have caught tons of Bluegill, but never cooked one.

We will be doing some rabbit hunting as well and I've made rabbit stew a few times, but if you have any tasty rabbit recipes please post those as well. Thanks!


My Mom used to mix flour and cornmeal...maybe 1/2n1/2...water moistened fish...dip in the seasoned flour/cornmeal mix and pan fry. Squirt of lemon and you're off!

[spressomon]

Mom use to cook rabbit pretty often. She would just use it in place of chicken.

I wish I could buy domestic rabbit, it would be a nice protein that is low in saturated fat. I get sick of chicken breast and fish.


I like rabbit too. For whatever reason alot of the Italian restaurants in the Bay area feature rabbit...but not around here.

[Haggis]

I like rabbit best sauteed just like you would chicken. Salt and Pepper mixed in a ziplock with some flour; throw your rabbit bits in shake and then cook in olive oil until done. Simple but delicous.

Or you could pre-make this marinade:
1 Quart apple cider
3 tbsp of cider vinegar
1 tbsp of dijon mustard
1 tbsp of tarragon
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp coarse black pepper
1 tsp rosemary
1/4 cup chopped leeks
2 tps salt

Cook the apple cider down to reduce it to around half of what you started with then add the rest when it's cooled. Marinade the rabbit, chilled, for around 6 hrs. Then sautee in covered skillet or if at home bake at 375* for 45 to 55 minutes. Remember to baste as the rabbit cooks. I like to put apple slices and sweet onions in the pan as it is cooking. I normally serve with wild rice or garlic parsley potatoes.

[rwb0481]

Thanks for the recipes! I'll be there for 4 days so I'll get a chance to try them all.

[flywgn]

Hi Wesley, I just noticed this thread.

We seldom fry fish, but when we do it's: flour, egg, seasoned bread crumbs then into HOT oil. The oil is important to us. A local butcher saves beef fat for us and I take the time to 'melt' what we need for the dinner. Beef fat does not impart any extraneous flavors to anything you fry in it.

Beef fat is the traditional French oil for "des frites", and since we use it so seldom we don't think it will shorten our lives by much. If it does, then the short part is most enjoyable.

The heat of the oil is important. I use a tried-and-true method of heating the oil just until you notice a "smoking"—not burning, however—and toss a strike-anywhere match into the oil. When the match ignites, the oil is at the proper temp.

The hot oil ensures fast cooking and prevents the fish from absorbing too much oil.

We are also fortunate to have rabbit available to us in a couple of local markets, and I grill it most frequently. Again, just like any meat, aging enhances the flavors and the tenderness. If I take a wild cottontail (I never shoot hares or jacks.), then I hang it for a few days before cooking. If the weather prevents a pleasant evening of grilling outside, then we sauté its hind quarters and reserve the rest for a stew.

I also like Haggis' suggestion. I've printed that one out since we have a couple of lapins sauvages in the freezer.

It's my opinion that overcooking any game toughens it. I know there are other views on this subject, but I'll stick to our proven methods.

Bon appétit.

Allen R

[DesertRose]

Used to catch bluegill as a kid but never cooked them . . . you could probably treat them like sole perhaps -- almost everything taste good pan-braised in a sauce of butter, olive oil, and garlic!

I've cooked wild AZ rabbit (cottontail) in a hunter's paella. Paella is classic 'peasant food' so it is infinitely adaptable (many recipe books and websites go overboard making paella into a boutique food, with duck confit and fancy ingredients that are hard to find).

Take a basic paella recipe and replace the seafood with rabbit, quail, sausage. Lots of garlic and paprika, and eat with good red table wine. This recipe I adapted from a NYT article. You don't have to have all the ancillary ingredients like peppers but they do add something nice. You can make it in a Dutch oven at the fire - it won't be quite the same as a paella pan but still tastes great! (The recipe below is adapted for one-pot cooking, without the paella pan)

1 large link of spicy sausage or chorizo
1 rabbit, cut up
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 cups water
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
2 quails, quartered
1 medium onion, minced
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and minced
1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded and minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig each fresh thyme and rosemary or dash of dried
2 teaspoons sweet paprika, preferably Spanish (if you like paprika, add 1T)
4 ripe plum tomatoes, minced - or half a can of diced
3 cups short-grain rice, like arborio

1. Season rabbit with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven. Cook sausage, remove to plate. Add rabbit and quail and brown. Stir in half a cup of sherry or dry white wine, deglaze pan (loosen up the browned bits for their flavor), then add 5 cups water, bay leaf, and if you have them some onion and carrots (to enhance stock). cover and simmer over coals or flame 30 minutes or so, until meat is cooked. Remove meat from the stock and allow to cool. Discard onion, bay leaf and carrots if used.

2. Add saffron to stock, bring to a simmer, then pour the stock into another pot.

3. Heat more oil in the pot. Add onion, green and red pepper, garlic, and herb sprigs to pan. Cook very slowly, stirring from time to time, until lightly browned.

4. While vegetables are cooking, remove meat from bones in large chunks, and cut up sausage.

5. Add paprika and tomatoes to pot and cook until most liquid in pan has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add rice and saute briefly. Add stock to pot, stir and simmer 10 minutes. Tuck pieces of rabbit, quail and sausage into rice. Cover and bake 15 minutes. Remove, cover loosely with foil and set aside 10 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

[flywgn]

Roseann, your paella recipe looked so good we're using it tonight with our pheasant leftovers.

(Excuse me, Wes, for butting in to your thread. :chowtime: )

Allen R

[Haggis]

You know, I cook one mean paella, but have never thought of using game for the meat. Usually just seafood and sausage. Thanks for the idea Roseann, ii's an inspiring one. Hmmm.. I have a couple of squirrels, a grouse and some itailian sausage in the freezer.....ridgerunner paella is on tomorrows menu!

[rusty_tlc]

I got to reminiscing about moms rabbit and didn't mention how we cooked blue gill. My brother and I use to have Dad drop us off from the boat out on Lake Mead for a week or so to camp. We ate a lot of blue gill on those trips. Other than gutting and scaling them we never cleaned them. We cooked them skin, head and all in bacon drippings. They just crisp up and you can eat them like smelt.

[frgtwn]

Most of my experience is fried. (Southern Cooking. . .) I got into a mess of really little bluegills once, and the game came to be- drop the little hook and piece of worm in the water and NOT catch one. That did not happen often.

So, I took a bucketful home and fried then crisp, crisp. Ate 'em bones and all. Yummy. Even the tail can be crunchy good if cooked well.

Rabbits: I have not eaten wild rabbit liver, but domestic rabbit liver is amazing. Just check for color before cooking- the liver must be one color throughout, any blotchiness means it should be thrown out. (This blotchiness does not affect the rest of the meat.) Liver is best cooked enough, but not too much. It can easily be cut with a fork; the tenderness and texture, not to mention the flavor will surprise you, even if you are not too fond of liver.

Does anyone have experience/suggestions for wild rabbit liver?

[4307]

I posted this on TTORA. I wanted to know how other members cook rabbit.
I ended up roasting, it was amazing.... :chef:

http://www.tacomaterritory.com/forum/showthread.php?t=113611&highlight=rabbit

[DesertRose]

Rabbits: I have not eaten wild rabbit liver, but domestic rabbit liver is amazing. Just check for color before cooking- the liver must be one color throughout, any blotchiness means it should be thrown out. (This blotchiness does not affect the rest of the meat.) Liver is best cooked enough, but not too much. It can easily be cut with a fork; the tenderness and texture, not to mention the flavor will surprise you, even if you are not too fond of liver.

Does anyone have experience/suggestions for wild rabbit liver?

No direct experience with wild liver (in cooking) except we always check carefully for signs of tularemia -- white spots. If any signs of any organs being discolored, spotty, discard the animal and disinfect everything. Tularemia can be passed to humans.

[DesertRose]

You know, I cook one mean paella, but have never thought of using game for the meat. Usually just seafood and sausage. Thanks for the idea Roseann, ii's an inspiring one.

I love 'peasant' food - that's my name for it at least - the age-old way of extending the table by taking smaller amounts of meat and making it go a long way, with grains and legumes and sauce.

I get a huge kick out of the way 'modern' chefs take these old recipes and then make them 'nouveau' and then everybody gets freaked out about making simple and adaptable foods like paella, cassoulet, risotto, tamales - and HAGGIS (which I really like).

Like you really need duck confit to make paella . . . :smilies27


Hmmm.. I have a couple of squirrels, a grouse and some itailian sausage in the freezer.....ridgerunner paella is on tomorrows menu!

Report?

[Haggis]

Report?

Yes mam! My ridgerunner paella turn out real well, the squirrel meat with it's nutty flavor played well with the grouse, but I think the itailian sausage was abit much, it tended to over power the game. It think some mild kielbsa would have been better. I tossed in some red, yellow and green peppers, sweet onions, garlic, minced tomatoes, spice mix (salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, tarragon) and then the meat. I browned the game in a pan with olive oil and garlic before putting it in the paella and I used brown rice. As usual when cooking in this style I made enough for three meals, it's amazing how fast a paella will expand as you add stuff to it. That's O.K. though, it's even better on the second day.

[jcbrandon]

This is one of my favorite rabbit dishes, although I cannot remember the last time I made it. It's from "A Taste of the West" published by the Coors brewing company in 1982.

1/4 cup all-pupose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1-1/2 to 2-pound rabbit, cut up
2 slices of bacon
8 to 12 whole boiling onions
1 cup of beer
1 large bay leaf, crumbled
1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/2 cup light cream
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
2 tablespoons snipped parsley

Combine flour, nutmeg and a dash of pepper; coat rabbit with mixture. In 10-inch skillet, cook bacon until crisp; drain reserving drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside.

Brown rabit in reserved drippings about five minutes a side. Add onions, beer, bay leaf, bouillon, thyme, and crumbled bacon. Cover and simmer 50 to 60 minutes or till meat is tender.

Remove meat, onions, and bacon to platter; keep warm. Strain pan juices; add water, if necessary to measure 1/2 cup liquid.

Pour juices into a small saucepan. Beat cream with egg yolks, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper; stir into pan juices. Cook and stir until thickened but do not boil.

Pour sauce over meat, sprinkle with parsley.

[DesertRose]

Yes mam! My ridgerunner paella turn out real well, the squirrel meat with it's nutty flavor played well with the grouse, but I think the itailian sausage was abit much, it tended to over power the game. It think some mild kielbsa would have been better. I tossed in some red, yellow and green peppers, sweet onions, garlic, minced tomatoes, spice mix (salt, pepper, rosemary, basil, tarragon) and then the meat. I browned the game in a pan with olive oil and garlic before putting it in the paella and I used brown rice. As usual when cooking in this style I made enough for three meals, it's amazing how fast a paella will expand as you add stuff to it. That's O.K. though, it's even better on the second day.

Fantastic!

And J - that's a fabulous recipe I'll have to try. Thanks!

(By the way, everyone, J's a pretty accomplished cook as well as overlander - he produced some impressive entries into the Happy Hour Trophy!)

[jcbrandon]

Roseanne, thanks for the kind words. Folks at the trophy were very appreciative of everything on offer. And all the entries were outstanding. As an old camping pal used to say, "Hunger is the best gravy."

The paella mention got my attention. Up on the northern overland route, we expedition trophy folk dined on tailgate jambalaya, in a sort of "Stone Soup" fashion. Jambalaya is, in my mind, the American version of paella. Only real difference is the seasonings used.

And if you don't recognize the "Stone Soup" reference, you are probably too young to remember Captain Kangaroo.

cheers,

[rwb0481]

Thanks everyone! Sounds like all of those will be great. I'm leaving Thursday morning and coming back Monday. Every day in between will be filled with some sort of hunting or fishing or both. ALL of these recipes have been printed and will be taken on the trip! I'll be sure and post some pictures of the trip and the outcome of my cooking, which may or may not be suitable for this forum, lol!

[rwb0481]

The trip went well and the hunting was successful. We had plenty of rabbits and squirrels to try a few different recipes. We ended up making rabbit stew, squirrel gumbo and the paella recipe from Roseanne with rabbit and squirrel. GOOD STUFF! Thanks again for the recipes!

[Hilldweller]

We used to carry some simple Wishbone Italian Dressing in the pack for times when we'd catch a bass, trout, or unlucky rabbit. Quick marinade in the dressing and a slow saute. Yum.
I'll have to remember to pack some again; thanks for all the recipes and motivation.

[Tucson T4R]

Used to catch bluegill as a kid but never cooked them . . . you could probably treat them like sole perhaps -- almost everything taste good pan-braised in a sauce of butter, olive oil, and garlic!

I've cooked wild AZ rabbit (cottontail) in a hunter's paella. Paella is classic 'peasant food' so it is infinitely adaptable (many recipe books and websites go overboard making paella into a boutique food, with duck confit and fancy ingredients that are hard to find).

Take a basic paella recipe and replace the seafood with rabbit, quail, sausage. Lots of garlic and paprika, and eat with good red table wine. This recipe I adapted from a NYT article. You don't have to have all the ancillary ingredients like peppers but they do add something nice. You can make it in a Dutch oven at the fire - it won't be quite the same as a paella pan but still tastes great! (The recipe below is adapted for one-pot cooking, without the paella pan)

1 large link of spicy sausage or chorizo
1 rabbit, cut up
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
5 cups water
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
2 quails, quartered
1 medium onion, minced
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and minced
1 small green bell pepper, cored, seeded and minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 sprig each fresh thyme and rosemary or dash of dried
2 teaspoons sweet paprika, preferably Spanish (if you like paprika, add 1T)
4 ripe plum tomatoes, minced - or half a can of diced
3 cups short-grain rice, like arborio

1. Season rabbit with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven. Cook sausage, remove to plate. Add rabbit and quail and brown. Stir in half a cup of sherry or dry white wine, deglaze pan (loosen up the browned bits for their flavor), then add 5 cups water, bay leaf, and if you have them some onion and carrots (to enhance stock). cover and simmer over coals or flame 30 minutes or so, until meat is cooked. Remove meat from the stock and allow to cool. Discard onion, bay leaf and carrots if used.

2. Add saffron to stock, bring to a simmer, then pour the stock into another pot.

3. Heat more oil in the pot. Add onion, green and red pepper, garlic, and herb sprigs to pan. Cook very slowly, stirring from time to time, until lightly browned.

4. While vegetables are cooking, remove meat from bones in large chunks, and cut up sausage.

5. Add paprika and tomatoes to pot and cook until most liquid in pan has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add rice and saute briefly. Add stock to pot, stir and simmer 10 minutes. Tuck pieces of rabbit, quail and sausage into rice. Cover and bake 15 minutes. Remove, cover loosely with foil and set aside 10 minutes.

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Roseanne,

Thanks for this recipe! I tried it last weekend and it turned out great. The following day, I added additional sausage and peppers which probably shifted it away from true Paella but it sure was tastey. :sombrero:

[WhereTheHellIsJames?]

Okay, so I’m nice and late to the conversation here, but I thought I’d share my recipe for Beer Braised Rabbit.

Ingredients:

3 Tbl Oil
2 Whole Rabbits, skined and cut into individual pieces
½ C + 3 Tbl Flour
Salt & Pepper
½ Lb Ground Andoullie (or other pork sausage)
2 C Thinly sliced onions
1 & ½ Lbs thinly sliced white mushrooms
2 Tbl chopped Garlic
1 Tbl Fresh Thyme
2 Bay leaves
2 C “Amber” beer (Full Sail works well)
4 C Brown chicken stock
2 Tbl Butter
1 Tbl Finely chopped parsley

In a large oven-proof pan with lid, heat the oil. Season the rabbit and ½ cup of the flour with salt & pepper. Dredge the rabbit pieces in the seasoned flour, coating each side completely. Lay the rabbit in the oil and brown for 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Remove the rabbit from the pan, and set it aside. Add the sausage to the pan and brown for 2 or three minutes. Add the onions. Sauté for a couple of minutes and season it with a bit of S & P if you like. Add the mushrooms and the garlic. Sauté for another 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, thyme, and the rabbit to the sausage and veggie mixture. Now add the beer and the chicken stock to the mix, bring it to a simmer, and cover it. Cook it on a low simmer like this for about 30 minutes or so, periodically skimming off the fat, until the rabbit is very tender. Remove the rabbit pieces from the pan again, and set them aside. Blend the remaining flour and butter together into smooth paste, then whisk the paste into the veggie & sausage medley. Bring the medley to a simmer again, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Add the rabbit back to the mix and simmer it for a good 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley, season with S&P to taste, and enjoy a laborious (but quite delicious) meal.

It'll feed 3 or 4 really hungry folks, or up to six folks with some other side dishes.

:chowtime:

[rwb0481]

Okay, so I’m nice and late to the conversation here, but I thought I’d share my recipe for Beer Braised Rabbit.:chowtime:

Sounds good! I'm gonna have to go hunt some more rabbits this weekend now.