Rabbit meat is remarkably tasty, healthy and low in calories. Unlike pork, which if you eat too much of you'll definitely pack on some extra pounds, rabbit meat is recommended even for young children and people suffering from obesity or diabetes. Here's what you should know if you'd like your rabbit to turn out tender without that characteristic dryness of the meat:
Buy only free range rabbits. Their meat is much more tender and it doesn't need to be soaked in marinade or salted water before cooking.
Wash the rabbit under running water before you process it in any way. It's not advisable to soak it too long in water.
Rabbit meat is quite dry, which is why it's good to rub it well with a mixture of butter, salt and paprika before stuffing it or baking it whole in the oven. You can even cover it with baking paper to prevent it from drying further.
The best way to cook a whole rabbit is to cover it with slices of bacon. The bacon will not only prevent the rabbit from drying out, it will infuse the rabbit meat with its flavor and make it very tender at the same time.
You also can't go wrong cooking the rabbit in a clay pot, instead of a regular oven dish. No matter if you stuff it or portion it, there's no type of meat that doesn't become tender after it's been slowly baked in a clay pot. You don't even need to seal the clay pot.
If you are unable to get a free range rabbit, it's good to soak it in a marinade (with salt, vinegar and spices of your choice besides water) ahead of time.
A popular and suitable marinade for the preparation of rabbit meat can be made from 8 1/3 cups water, 1 cup vinegar, 2 cups white wine, several grains of black pepper, 2 bay leaves, 1 carrot and 1 onion head.
Optionally you can add cloves. Boil all this for 15 min. and once it cools, soak the rabbit in this liquid, turning it over from time to time. Leave it for about 5-6 hours in the marinade.
A fricassee from rabbit, prepared analogously to chicken fricassee, turns out just as delicious. If an oven baked rabbit still seems too dry to you, next time you can try breading it. But keep in mind that that way it will turn out much higher in calories.
