DO YOU EAT RABBIT?

Would you eat rabbit? If you do or if you might, you will be happy to find several recipes for this delicacy in my newest cookbook, Flavors of al-Andalus, The Culinary Legacy of Spain. I include five distinctive recipes for dishes with rabbit: a delicious paella-type rice; rabbit with pasta and fava beans; rabbit cooked with figs and Mudéjar spices; braised in a wine marinade, and with sierra herbs.  

I included recipes for rabbit because in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, it was a popular meat. Also, I wanted to provide some variation to the much more common chicken (there are also five chicken recipes). If you don’t eat rabbit (besides the pet bunny factor, rabbit is not a kosher meat), I state clearly that you can substitute chicken for rabbit in any of the recipes. And, vice versa. 

In America, the meat is appreciated by chefs and you are more likely to find rabbit on a restaurant menu than in your favorite supermarket. Limited availability may be the main reason rabbit is not more widely appreciated. 

 

Spain eats rabbit with no qualms. Rabbit is a main ingredient in authentic Valencia paella. It can be fried up with tons of garlic, al ajillo; braised in salmorejo, an herby, vinegary sauce; grilled over coals and served with pungent garlic alioli sauce. 

The name “Spain” may be related to its native rabbits. By 1000 BCE Phoenician traders were establishing trading posts on the coasts of Málaga and Cádiz. They called the land i-shphan-im, from which was derived "Hispania" (Roman) and "España". One of the meanings attributed to the Phoenician phrase is “land filled with rabbits.” 

Wild rabbits have been hunted and trapped since time immemorial, providing a welcome source of protein for rural people and a pleasant sport for the nobility (falconry was popular in Moorish times). The animals have been domesticated since Roman times. Farm-raised rabbit can be found year-round in supermarkets everywhere in Spain.  

Rabbit and hare belong to the Leporidae family; they are not rodents. Rabbit is a lean white meat with a mild flavor (hare has dark meat and is fairly gamey). Because it has little fat, rabbit has a tendency, similarly to chicken breasts, to be dry if overcooked. Sometimes in butchering, it is hacked into small pieces, creating nasty bone fragments. If possible, buy a whole rabbit and cut it up yourself. Rabbit is more likely to be raised on a small-scale, making it a more environmentally friendly meat than factory chicken. 

Rabbit with Mustard Sauce

Conejo en Salsa de Mostaza

Tender rabbit cooks in a creamy sauce with mustard.

 

This is a Spanish adaptation of a French recipe, lapin à la moutarde. It reminds me of the spicing used in medieval Spain, when mustard seed was more commonly used than it is in Spain today. The Greek yogurt makes a creamy substitute for crême fraiche.

In Spain a saucy dish such as this would probably be served with patatas fritas—fries. But this rabbit dish is equally good with pasta, polenta, pilaf, or couscous.

Serves 4.

1 rabbit (approx. 2 ½ pounds)

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

1 stalk celery, chopped

2 cloves garlic

4 ounces sliced mushrooms

¼ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ cup dry Sherry

1 cup chicken stock

Bay leaf, thyme and rosemary 

2 carrots, thickly sliced

6 small onions

½ cup Greek yogurt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

¼ cup Dijon mustard

Chopped parsley to serve

Cut the rabbit at the joints into 6-8 pieces. Keep the liver and kidneys too. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper and allow to come to room temperature.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil on medium in a heavy pan and brown the rabbit pieces on all sides. Remove them.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms until onions are softened, 5 minutes. Add the mustard seeds. Deglaze the pan with the Sherry and cook off the alcohol, 1 minute. Add the stock and herbs. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover the pan, and cook 20 minutes.

Remove cooked rabbit from pan while making sauce.

Turn the pieces of rabbit and add the carrots and onions. Cook until rabbit is very tender, 20 to 30 minutes more. 

Remove the rabbit pieces, carrots and onions from the pan. Discard the herbs. Stir the yogurt with the cornstarch until smooth. Mix into the mustard. Whisk into the juices remaining in the pan. Cook 2 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble. Return the rabbit pieces to the pan.

Serve the rabbit with carrot and onion and the sauce. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. 

Finish rabbit in creamy mustard sauce.

More recipes with rabbit:

Rabbit in Cazuela, Ronda Style 

Rabbit in Salmorejo Wine Marinade 

Rabbit Cooked in Medieval Style 

Rice in Cazuela with Rabbit

Rabbit, Sierra Style 

Sheet-Pan Rabbit al Ajillo 

Rabbit with Beans and Pasta (Gurullos) 

Rice in a Skillet with Rabbit 

Paella with Rabbit and Sausage

Rustic Valencia Paella with Rabbit and Chicken

You will find recipes for both rabbit and chicken in The Flavors of al-Andalus as well as for lamb and beef, but no pork. The recipes are from contemporary Spain, but they are based on the cooking of Moorish Spain. 
 

This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking. 

Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times.  (Hippocrene Books)    

 Order on IndiePubs (USA) 

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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.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

 

On the road again! Off to Ronda for lunch.

We drove to Ronda to meet some friends for lunch. It’s the first time I’ve been out of my own municipality since the beginning of the pandemic. Without thinking twice, I hugged the friend, shook hands with another. All of us vaccinated, hooray! 

We lunched at Restaurante Pedro Romero, right across from the Ronda bull ring. We sat at tables inside, with table cloths and proper napkins. Although QR symbols were posted for consulting the digital menu, we happily made our selections from real menus. We took off our masks when the bottle of wine was opened (Los Cipreses, a Garnacha rosado from Ronda bodega, Huerto de la Condesa). We ate very well and sat talking over coffee until late in the day. Life seems almost normal.

Ronda is an inland mountain town, once known for its smugglers and bandoleros  The road from the coast winds up through the steep hills of the newly proclaimed Parque Nacional Sierra de las Nieves, home to the Pinsapo fir tree, a remnant of the Pleistocene Age.

Rabo de toro at Pedro Romero restaurant.

Ronda is close enough to the sea to have fresh fish on the restaurant menu, but it’s especially known for its sierra cuisine—sturdy potages—some with wild greens such as tagarninas, thistles; small game such as partridge and rabbit; ibérico ham and fresh pork, and, in this town famous for its bullfighting (Antonio Ordoñez, et al.), rabo de toro, braised bull’s tail. 

We started with ajo blanco, Málaga’s emblematic white gazpacho made with almonds and garlic and here served with smoked sardines instead of the usual grapes; morcilla, blood sausage, a Ronda specialty, accompanied by roasted red peppers, and a carpaccio of thinly sliced beef. Best of all was a plate of magnificent sliced tomatoes of the heirloom Castellano variety. They were sweet and juicy. 

Here’s my rendition of the Cazuela de Conejo that I sampled in Ronda.

Pieces of rabbit are cooked in a sauce with wine. Spanish style, the rabbit is accompanied by fries and the first of the season's sliced tomatoes.

Aromatic rosemary, thyme, bay and cumin add flavor. I added a few small carrots for color (the rabbit cooked in less time than the carrots).

Rabbit is white meat, but the sauce is rich. Serve with a light, unoaked red or a crisp, cold rosado.

Rabbit in Cazuela

Cazuela de Conejo Estilo de Ronda

The rabbit’s liver thickens the sauce and deepens its flavor (chicken liver can be substituted). If you do not have liver or prefer not to use it, Use a slice of fried bread to thicken the sauce. Blend it with the fried garlic. Thin the sauce with additional water if it seems too thick. After cooking the rabbit, the sauce can be sieved or pureed in a blender, if desired. (I didn't; I like the texture of chopped onions, carrots and peppers in the sauce.)

In Ronda, the rabbit with its rich sauce is typically served with patatas fritas, fries, but rice goes nicely with it as well.

Cut rabbit in large pieces to avoid splintery bones.

1 rabbit, cut in serving pieces (2- 2 ½ pounds)

Salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

1 rabbit liver (2 ounces) or slice of bread

3 cloves garlic, peeled

Sprig of rosemary

1 cup chopped onion

¼ cup finely chopped green pepper

¼ cup diced carrot

2 medium tomatoes (1 cup grated pulp)

1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika, not smoked)

¼ teaspoon cumin

¼ teaspoon coarsely cracked black pepper

½ cup white wine

1 ½ cups water

1 bay leaf

Sprig of thyme

Sprinkle the rabbit with salt and pepper and allow it to come to room temperature.

Heat half of the oil in a cazuela or heavy pan. Cut the liver into 4 pieces and fry it with the garlic cloves, turning, until they are browned on all sides. (If using bread instead of liver, fry it until golden on both sides.) Skim out the liver and garlics and place them in a blender.

Brown rabbit in oil.

Add the pieces of rabbit to the cazuela with the sprig of rosemary. Fry them on moderate heat, turning, until rabbit is browned on both sides. Remove the pieces of rabbit. Discard the rosemary.

Add remaining oil to the pan. Sauté the onion, green pepper and carrot until softened and beginning to brown, 5 minutes. 

Grate tomatoes.

Meanwhile, grate the tomatoes and discard the skins. Stir the pimentón into the onion sofrito. Add the tomato pulp, cumin, cracked black pepper, ½ teaspoon salt and wine. Bring to a boil and simmer until the alcohol is cooked away.

Add 1 cup of water to the liver and garlic in the blender. Blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into the pan. Return the pieces of rabbit and their juices to the pan with the bay leaf and thyme. Add enough additional water to partially cover the rabbit.

Liquid partially covers the pieces of rabbit.

Bring to a boil, then lower heat so the liquid bubbles gently. Cook, uncovered, 15 minutes. Turn the pieces of rabbit in the sauce. Cook another 15 minutes or until the rabbit is tender when pierced with a fork. If sauce is very thick, add additional water.

Remove from heat and allow to set 5 minutes. Serve the rabbit and sauce in the cazuela or plate it. 

More rabbit recipes:

Rabbit with Figs and Mudejar Spices.

Rabbit in Wine Marinade (Salmorejo).

Sheet Pan Rabbit with Garlic (al Ajillo).

Rabbit, Sierra Style.

Rice and Rabbit in a Skillet.

Notes from another visit to Ronda here.

Restaurante Pedro Romero, where we lunched in Ronda.

Lunch in Ronda with old friend, Gerry Dawes (left) and new friend, Tom Perry.

Gerry Dawes leads individually-designed wine, food, culture and photography tours of Spain. He is working on a book about his travels on the food and wine beat:  Sunset in a Glass: Adventures of a Food and Wine Road Warrior in Spain. Some of his stories have been published here.

Tom Perry is a marketing consultant for the Spanish wine trade and a wine educator. He writes about wine, La Rioja and travels in Spain at Inside Rioja.

Gerry Dawes, getting the shot, Ronda overlook.

Thanks to my driver,  my son, Ben Searl, here saying hello to Orson Welles, whose ashes are buried in Ronda.

Toro bravo sculpture, outside the bull ring in Ronda.

RABBIT COOKED IN THE MEDIEVAL STYLE

A couple weeks ago I was cooking Chicken Marbella in which the chicken roasts with prunes. I commented then that chicken cooked with fruit is an unusual combination in Spanish cuisine--except for dishes in the medieval style. That inspired me to go searching through my recipe files for an example and I found this gorgeous way to cook rabbit in a sweet and sour sauce with figs and lots of spices. (The recipe appears in my book COOKING FROM THE HEART OF SPAIN—FOOD OF LA MANCHA, published by Wm. Morrow in 2006.)

Rabbit cooked, Mudéjar style, with figs and medieval spices.

Now that the Easter bunny season is behind us, it’s a good time to cook rabbit. Almost all rabbit is farm-raised and available year-round. It’s a lean, white meat with a delicate flavor.

This recipe comes from Toledo, a city in La Mancha (central Spain). Still enclosed by ancient walls and monumental gates, the old town of narrow, cobbled streets preserves much of its medieval character. Inhabited over the centuries by Romans (the ruins of a Roman circus, one of the largest of the Empire, lies just outside the walls); Visigoths (at least one church originally was Visigothic); Sephardic Jews (two synagogues remain in the old Jewish quarter); Arabs and Berbers (a 10th century mosque is preserved), and Christians, who built an astonishing cathedral and dozens of convents and monasteries, Toledo is at once monumental and intimate.

Toledo cathedral.

The Muslim Arabs (Moors) took Toledo in 712. When King Alfonso VI wrested control of the city in 1085, many of the Moors opted to stay under Christian dominion. Called Mudéjars—meaning “permitted to remain”—they had an enormous influence on architecture, building churches, synagogues and civic buildings in the graceful Mudéjar style, with its low towers, horseshoe arches, plaster, tile, and wood decorations.

The Toledo School of Translators flourished, bringing together Arab, Hebrew, and Latin scholars who translated Greek philosophy, Persian literature, Arabic medicine into Latin and Spanish.

The Mudéjar influence permeated the style of cooking as well, bringing exotic spices from eastern lands into Spanish cooking. This rabbit dish, perfumed with cinnamon, clove, aniseed and saffron, is a delicious example.

Seasonings used in medieval cooking. Clockwise from bottom left: thyme with flowers, mint, pine nuts, shelled and unshelled; almonds; green almonds; figs; nutmeg; ginger root, cinnamon sticks; bay leaves; rosemary, and parsley. On the tray in the center: top row from left: peppercorns, caraway seeds, cumin seeds and aniseeds. In the center, saffron. Bottom row, from left, coriander seeds, black mustard seeds and cloves.

Steep the whole spices and figs in the cooking liquid, then strain the liquid and add to the rabbit. Don’t overcook rabbit; as it is very lean, it easily becomes dry. If rabbit comes with the liver, sauté it and mash to a paste to thicken the sauce. If liver is not available, the sauce can be thickened with a little flour, if desired.

If rabbit is not an option, make this recipe with bone-in half chicken breasts. Serve the rabbit with rice or cous cous and minted carrots.

Rabbit with Figs and Mudéjar Spices
Conejo con Higos al Estilo Mudéjar

A subtle sweet and sour sauce complements delicate rabbit, here served with rice and minted carrots.

Serves 4.

1-2 tablespoons honey (preferably rosemary honey)
¼ cup Sherry vinegar
1-inch piece fresh ginger, cut in half
¼ teaspoon black peppercorns
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
1/8 teaspoon aniseeds
1-inch piece of cinnamon
3 cloves
2 cups water
12 dried figs, stems removed
Sprigs of mint, thyme and parsley
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
¼ cup hot water
¼ cup olive oil
1/3 cup blanched almonds
3 cloves garlic
1 rabbit, 2 ½ to 3 pounds, cut into 8 pieces
Rabbit liver, cut up (optional)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ cup white wine

Combine the honey, vinegar, ginger, peppercorns, coriander, mustard, aniseeds, cinnamon, and clove in a saucepan with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the sprigs of herbs and the figs. Cover and let them macerate at least 2 hours.

Crush the saffron in a mortar. Add ¼ cup of hot water and let it steep at least 15 minutes.

In a cazuela or large sauté pan heat the oil and fry the almonds and garlic until they are lightly golden. Skim them out and reserve.

Add the rabbit pieces and liver, if using, to the hot oil and sauté on medium heat until they are lightly browned on all sides. (Remove the liver pieces, if using.) Add the chopped onion and continue sautéing.

Put the fried almonds, garlic and liver, if using, in a blender with the wine and process to make a smooth paste.

With a slotted spoon, remove the figs from the spiced liquid and reserve them. (Don’t worry if some spices cling to the figs.) Strain the liquid and reserve it. Discard the spices and herbs. Add 1 ½ cups of the spice liquid to the rabbit with the saffron. Stir in the almond paste. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer 20 minutes. Add the figs to the rabbit and cook until rabbit is tender, another 15 to 20 minutes.

Rabbit--the other white meat. 

More rabbit recipes here:
Rabbit in Wine Marinade (Conejo al Salmorejo), http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2012/10/hunting-season-opens-at-supermarket.html

Rabbit, Sierra-Style (Conejo a la Serrana), http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/rabbit-other-white-meat.html

Rabbit with Beans and Pasta (Conejo con Gurullos) http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2010/07/thyme-on-my-hands.html http://mykitcheninspain.blogspot.com.es/2010/07/thyme-on-my-hands.html

HUNTING SEASON OPENS--AT THE SUPERMARKET

Rabbit cooks in a wine marinade.

Awakened at dawn by the pop of a shotgun on the hillside, I realized that hunting season has opened. The local take is small feathered and furred game, primarily partridge and rabbit.

I don’t hunt, but, as I enjoy eating game, I don’t disapprove of those who do. In fact, I’d gladly invite a hunter to dinner if he (they are mainly guys) would take out the wild boar that is digging up my garden. I’ve got just the marinade---.

While they’re not the same as wild, farm-raised rabbit and even partridge are much easier to come by and don’t require a gun. Inspired by a TV cooking program ("Cómetelo" on Canal Sur, with chef Enrique Sánchez), I bought rabbit to make conejo al salmorejo, rabbit cooked in a wine marinade. If you understand Spanish and would like to watch the show, it is here )

This is different from the salmorejo I wrote about here, which is a thick “gazpacho cream,” and here, which is a salad with oranges, onions and salt cod. They all have as a root, sal, or salt. Beyond that, they are completely different preparations.

This salmorejo, or marinade, is much like an adobo (that recipe is  here). Meant to tame the gaminess of wild rabbit or hare, it also serves to punch up the flavor of mild-flavored farm-raised rabbit.

Whole rabbit, cut into serving pieces.

Farm-raised rabbit, by the way, deserves to be called “the other white meat.” It’s lean and low in saturated fat.

Andalusian style, this dish would be served with patatas fritas, fries (Spanish fries, of course, fried in olive oil). But it is very nice with wide noodles or rice to soak up the tasty sauce.

Tender rabbit, braised in herb-inflected marinade.

 

Rabbit in Wine Marinade
Conejo al Salmorejo

Serves 3 or 4.

1 farm-raised rabbit, about 2 ¼ pounds
Salt and pepper
Sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
5 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon pimentón (paprika)
¾ cup white wine
¼ cup Sherry vinegar
1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup water
1 rabbit liver or chicken liver
1 tablespoon flour

Cut the rabbit into 6 serving pieces. Reserve the liver, if included. Sprinkle the rabbit pieces with salt and pepper. Place the pieces of rabbit in a bowl (glass, plastic or earthenware) with the thyme and bay leaves.

In a blender combine the garlic, oregano, cumin, pimentón, wine, vinegar, olive oil and ¼ cup of the water. Blend until smooth. Pour this marinade over the rabbit. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.

Drain the rabbit in a colander set over a bowl to catch the marinade. Discard the bay leaves and thyme.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a cazuela or deep skillet. Cut the liver into four pieces and brown them in the oil. Remove and set aside.

Sprinkle the rabbit with the flour. Add the rabbit to the cazuela and brown the pieces on all sides. Pour over the strained marinade. Cover and simmer until rabbit is very tender, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, blend the liver with the remaining ¼ cup water until smooth. Stir this into the rabbit and cook 5 minutes longer to thicken the sauce.

THYME ON MY HANDS

Wild thyme in bloom on a hillside.

Clumps of flowering thyme on the sun-baked hillside near my house give off a powerful scent. They attract me and the bees. I pick handfuls of the herb to use in the kitchen, to dry for future use. I think thyme is my most favorite herb, so redolent of Mediterranean landscape. I scatter it over simple roast chicken, pork and lamb, add it to soups and stews.

With thyme on my hands, I’m looking for other ways to cook with it. In spite of its availability, thyme is not widely used in the traditional Spanish kitchen. Parsley is absolutely the favorite herb in Spanish cooking. Oregano is widely used, especially in marinades such as adobo. While pots of basil are kept for perfuming the kitchen, the herb is never used in traditional dishes. Although, with TV chefs showing dishes from other countries, more venturesome housewives might experiment with basil.

Rosemary,  which also grows wild in the Mediterranean landscape, may be used to fuel a bread oven, but is rarely added to the cook pot. However, in Valencia, a sprig of rosemary is often added to paella when there is no wild rabbit or snails to provide the subtle herbal flavor.


Thyme is an essential flavoring ingredient in home-cured Spanish olives (the recipe is here). And, it almost always goes into dishes with rabbit, whether wild or farmed.


 Rabbit with Beans and Pasta
Conejo con Gurullos

This dish is typical of Almería in eastern Andalusia. The simple pasta is made by rolling thin cords of dough, then twisting off short, pea-sized bits. The pasta is cooked right in the broth with the rabbit. If you don’t want to make the pasta, substitute packaged orzo or Israeli cous cous (which is pasta shaped in round balls).

 Serves 4.

For the pasta:

Pasta to cook with rabbit.

1 cup flour, preferably hard wheat
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
5 tablespoons water
a few drops of yellow food coloring (optional)

Combine the flour and salt in a bowl or on a pastry board. Make a well in the center and add the oil, water and food coloring. Mix the flour into the liquid until combined. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Cover it and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Take small balls of dough and roll them 1/8-inch thick cords. Twist off ½ -inch pieces (or cut the cords into ½- inch lengths). Spread on a clean cloth to dry until ready to use. The pasta can be thoroughly dried and stored or used fresh.

For the beans and rabbit:

¼ pound white beans, such as cannellini beans, soaked overnight, or
      a  large can cooked beans
bay leaf, thyme sprig, slice onion, salt

6 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons pimentón (paprika)
½ cup white wine
1 rabbit, about 2 ½ pounds, cut into serving pieces
salt and pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 ounces chorizo, skin removed and chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cups water or bean liquid
sprigs of fresh thyme or ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
pasta (recipe above) or ½ pound packaged pasta

Rabbit cooks with beans.

Drain the soaked beans, add water to cover and cook them with the bay leaf, sprig of thyme, onion and salt until tender (30-90 minutes, depending on beans). Drain and reserve the liquid. (If using canned beans, drain them and reserve liquid.)

When the beans are cooked, heat the oil in a cazuela or flameproof casserole and fry the garlic. Remove garlic and crush it in a mortar. Blend in the pimentón, then the wine.

Sprinkle rabbit pieces with salt and pepper. Brown them in the oil. Add the onion and chorizo and fry for 3 minutes. Then add the tomato. Stir in the garlic-wine mixture, water or bean liquid, ½ teaspoon salt and thyme.

Cover and cook 30 minutes. Turn the pieces of rabbit and add the cooked (or canned) beans. Continue cooking until the meat is tender, about 20 minutes longer. Remove the sprigs of thyme.

Uncover the cazuela and turn up the heat so the liquid begins to bubble. Add the pasta and cook until it is tender, about 8 minutes for home-made pasta or 8 to10 minutes for packaged pasta. Allow the cazuela to rest for 5 minutes. Serve in wide soup bowls.

Thyme-scented rabbit, beans and pasta.

Notes on the above: Because I was in a hurry, I bought supermarket packaged rabbit. It is hacked up into small pieces, para paella. Awful, because the bone chips are seriously dangerous. Better to buy a whole rabbit and cut it up yourself or know a trusty butcher who will prepare it for you.