RABBIT, RABBIT

 

Country-style rice cazuela with rabbit, mushrooms and asparagus.

I was definitely looking for something that wasn’t chicken. Or fish, for that matter. And, what should appear, but a package of cut-up rabbit in the meat section at the supermarket. Rabbit it is. Hopefully it will bring good luck for a new month, a new season.

Rabbit once was widely hunted in Spain, a nice addition to Sunday dinner or the paella pan. Nowadays it is farm-raised. Rabbit is a lean and tender meat, very tasty, not in the least gamey. I’m cooking the chunky pieces, not in paella, but in a cazuela de arroz, rice cooked in a cazuela, country style.

  

“Cazuela” refers to an earthenware cooking dish, usually wide and fairly shallow, as well as the food cooked in it. Experienced cooks use these clay vessels on a gas stove as well as in the oven. However, as more and more home cooks switch to induction cooking (me included), earthenware is used less and less. Use any wide sauté or braising pan or flat-bottomed wok for cazuela recipes.

This country-style cazuela is finished with a majado or picada, a mixture of fried garlic and almonds mashed up in a mortar (use your mini-food processor) with pieces of the rabbit liver (chicken liver can be substituted). If you do not have or prefer not to use the liver, use a slice of fried bread instead. 

Cultivated oyster mushrooms.

If seasonal wild mushrooms are available, use them in this country dish. Otherwise, ordinary mushrooms such as oyster mushrooms or other cultivated ones can be used. Use any vegetable, foraged or cultivated, in place of the asparagus. (Tip: if you want the asparagus to keep its bright green color, instead of cooking it with the rice as directed in the recipe, blanch it in boiling water and add to the rice at the end of the cooking time.)

Use Spanish short-grain rice, the same type as for paella, preferably the Bomba variety. Bomba rice is forgiving, cooking “al dente” without becoming mushy as other varieties can do if not carefully timed. The rice in this cazuela is cooked “meloso,” or juicy, not dry like paella. You will need triple the quantity of liquid to the volume of rice: for 1 ½ cups rice, use 4½ cups stock. Save a half-cup of the liquid to mix with the ground almonds. Don’t stir the rice while it cooks, as stirring develops the starch, making gummy rice.

I’ve used half a rabbit, about 1 ¼ pounds, cut into two- to three-inch pieces. You don’t eat rabbit? Try the recipe substituting cut-up chicken.

Rice is cooked meloso, somewhat juicy, rather than dry, like paella rice.

Country-style means you can eat the rabbit with your fingers! 

Country-Style Rice in Cazuela with Rabbit

Cazuela Campera de Arroz con Conejo

Half a rabbit, cut in chunky pieces.

Serves 4. 

1 ¼ pounds rabbit pieces

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Thyme, leaves and sprigs

4 tablespoons olive oil

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 rabbit or chicken liver

10 almonds

2 tablespoons parsley

5 peppercorns

¼ teaspoon saffron threads

4½ cups stock or water

1 cup chopped onion

4 ounces mushrooms, sliced

1 ½ cups sliced asparagus

¼ cup dry white wine

1 ½ cups short-grain rice

Lemon wedges to serve (optional)

Sprinkle the pieces of rabbit with salt, pepper and thyme leaves and allow them to come to room temperature.

Sofrito with meat, onions, garlic, mushrooms

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a cazuela/pan on medium heat. Fry two of the cloves of garlic, the liver cut in three pieces and the almonds until they are golden. Skim them out of the pan and place in a mortar or mini-processor. 

Crush the peppercorns and saffron in a mortar and add to the mini-processor with the other ingredients. Blend to make a paste. Blend in ½ cup of the stock or water. Reserve this mixture.

Add remaining 3 tablespoons of oil to the pan. Brown the pieces of rabbit on medium heat, 5 minutes. Add the chopped onion and continue sautéing 5 minutes. Chop the remaining 3 cloves of garlic and add to the pan. 

Add the mushrooms and asparagus and sauté 5 minutes. Add the wine and stir to loosen any browned bits in the pan. Let the alcohol cook off, 1 minute, then add 4 cups of the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil. Taste and add salt if needed. Add sprigs of thyme. Stir in the rice, distributing it evenly.

Add mashed almonds and liver when rice is nearly cooked.

Cook the rice on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Stir the rice again and lower the heat. Cook, without stirring the rice again, until the rice is nearly tender, 10 minutes. Shake the pan to keep the rice from sticking on the bottom, but do not stir.

Add the mixture of liver-almonds-saffron, distributing it with as little stirring as possible. Continue cooking 3 minutes. Allow the rice to set 5 minutes before serving. Serve with lemon wedges, if desired.

More rabbit recipes:

Rabbit, Ronda Style.

Rabbit in Wine Marinade.

Rabbit with Figs, Mudéjar Style.

Rabbit, Sierra Style.

Sheet Pan Rabbit with Garlic.

Rabbit with Beans and Pasta.

Rice in a Skillet with Rabbit.

Paella with Rabbit and Sausage.

Rustic Valencia Paella.

More versions of rice in cazuela:

Baked Rice with Seafood in Cazuela.

Rice Cazuela with Pork and Seafood.

Rice in Cazuela with Pork and Sausage.

HOW TO FRY AN EGG, THE SPANISH WAY

Diego Velázquez, An Old Woman Cooking Eggs, 1618, Oil on canvas, 39 ½ x 47 inches
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh
© Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland
 Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery, at The Frick Collection in New York City, through February 1. http://www.frick.org/

You don’t need a recipe to learn how to fry an egg—the painting by Velázquez tells it all. Start with very fresh campo ("country", eg, free-range) eggs. Heat olive oil in an earthenware cazuela (or small skillet). Use plenty of olive oil, to a depth of about 1 inch. Break an egg (or two) into the hot oil. Use a wooden spoon (or espumadera, skimmer) to ladle a little oil over the top of the egg.

Fry egg in cazuela

or in a skillet.

When whites are cooked, yolk still runny, skim the egg out. Immersed in oil, the egg cooks very quickly, so take it out before it looks done. It’s fine if the egg whites get a lacy brown edge—puntilla. The yolk should have a filmy white top, cooked by the hot oil spooned over it.

After removing the egg, you can add onion, garlic or peppers to the oil, if desired. Or, drain off the oil and fry some chorizo sausage to go with the egg.. Crush some dried sweet red pepper in a mortar—or just use a sprinkle of pimentón (paprika). Serve the fried egg with bread. Ya está. A comer. Not breakfast. Could be lunch. The perfect supper.

Fried egg, chorizo and fried peppers, a perfect supper.

Fried eggs also go with migas, fried breadcrumbs (migas recipe) and with pisto, a splendid dish of mixed vegetables (pisto recipe).

Migas, fried breadcrumbs, topped with fried egg.

Pisto--mixed vegetable stew--with fried egg.

Huevos Rotos
“Broken” Eggs (Fried Eggs and Potatoes)

Huevos rotos--fried eggs broken over fried potatoes--a classic tapa.

This simple combination of fried eggs and potatoes is a classic tapa, famous at Casa Lucio in Madrid. The potatoes can be sliced or cut in strips, as for fries. Fry the potatoes in abundant olive oil.

I measured out 1 cup of olive oil to fry the potatoes (in an 11-inch skillet). After frying the sliced potatoes, I put them in a strainer to drain off the oil (which can be used again). Then I measured the oil again. I had used less than 1/8 of a cup. So, the potatoes soak up very little oil.

Serves 2 (allowing 1 or 2 eggs per person) or 4 tapas.

3 medium potatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 cup olive oil
2 ounces thinly sliced serrano ham
2-4 eggs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel the potatoes, cut them in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise about ¼-inch thick. Pat the potatoes dry. Lightly crush the garlic cloves with the side of a knife, but do not peel them (skins keep them from burning).

Heat all of the oil in a medium skillet. Add the potatoes and garlic to the oil. Turn them in the oil to coat them. When potatoes just begin to brown, turn down the heat, and turn them again. Cook on medium heat until the potatoes are tender, stirring frequently, about 10 minutes. They do not need to brown or crisp.

Place a heat-proof strainer over a heat-proof bowl. Carefully pour the contents of the skillet into the strainer and allow all of the oil to drain off. Spread the potatoes on a serving dish. Sprinkle them with salt. (Potatoes can be kept warm in a low oven.)

Once the oil is drained off, add the slices of ham to the hot skillet. Give them a quick turn (30 seconds total) and remove. Place the ham around the potatoes on the platter.

Pour enough of the oil into a small (8-inch) skillet to come to a depth of ½ inch. Heat until shimmering. Break 1 egg into a saucer or cup and carefully pour it into the hot oil. Use a spoon or edge of a skimmer to spoon oil over the top of the egg. Use the skimmer to remove the egg when the white is set but yolk still runny. Place the fried egg on top of the potatoes.

Continue frying eggs, one by one, and place them on the potatoes. Use two spoons to break open the yolks, letting them run onto the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve immediately. 

Fried eggs, ham and potatoes.

Fried egg with pisto--a melange of eggplant, zucchini and pumpkin.

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