rECIPE: Rabbit Confit
Rabbit confit! This is a classic technique that I first learned to make in a culinary program. It takes patience and some more niche ingredients, but when made with care and love it is so, so worth it.
Not everyone is comfortable eating game meat and many more are even less comfortable with raising their own animals for food. If you know anything about my story, you know that my husband and I purchased a rural home with the hopes of becoming sustainable. Part of that dream involves getting off the grocery store meats and raising our own animals for food. I realize this is not something everyone is capable of doing so this post is not me on a soapbox of “you should be doing this” but just a breakdown of what we are doing here on our land.
Now, why Rabbits? Rabbits are generally a sustainable meat source that have a low environmental impact. They breed often, can have large litters, and their poop can be used immediately in the garden without fear of burning your plants. Now for those of you asking, “How can you do that to such cute animals?!!” Well, let me tell you that it’s not easy. But, I am a meat eater, and in the world that we live in now it is too easy to disconnect from the source of your food. When you’ve grown up (like I did in L.A.) getting all your meat from the meat aisle at the grocery store, it becomes easy to see meat as that thing that comes wrapped in plastic at the store. But with every neatly packaged piece of meat you buy at the store, there is always an associated life and death involved. In order to feel better about my meat choices, I felt it was absolutely necessary to put myself at the helm of that food cycle, raising my rabbits from birth to death. I know how my rabbits lived, happily and outside of hutches. I know what my rabbits ate, hay and vegetable scraps from the restaurants where I work. I know how my rabbits died, quickly and painlessly with a bullet. I also know how my rabbits were processed, by my hand with no chemicals, additives, and with care and love for the sacrifice of life. Now again, this isn’t a soapbox or me wagging my finger at you, this is just me explaining myself and how I choose to live. I’m still nowhere near being completely sustainable, but every step counts!
Now on to what you came here for, my Rabbit Confit Recipe.
Rabbit Confit:
Prep: 30 Min | Cook: 3 Hours | Servings: 4-6
Ingredients:
Whole Rabbits, cleaned and cut into 8 pieces.
1 shallot, peeled
10 cloves garlic, peeled
6 Bay leaves (dried)
8 cloves
20 Peppercorns
8 Star Anise pods
¼ cup gin
3 tsp ground cardamom
10 sprigs Thyme
4 sprigs Rosemary
1 tsp ground yellow mustard
3 Cups Olive OIl
3 Cups Lard or Rendered Fat (I used a blend of vegetable lard and rendered Turkey Fat from Thanksgiving)
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 300 degrees.
In a Dutch Oven place all ingredients. Oil should cover the Rabbit completely but if not, add additional oil until the Rabbit is completely submerged. If you need help keeping the Rabbit submerged, use some Parchment paper (fitted to the size of the pot) to put over the Rabbit and put under the lid.
On the stove, bring the pot to a simmer. Cover with a lid and place in the oven. Cook for 1-3 hours, checking hourly. Depending on how hot your oven runs, how lean your rabbit is, etc the time could vary. If you’re unsure on any of these terms, I would check the Rabbit more regularly to ensure it is never cooking above a simmer.
You know the Rabbit is done with a fork test. If the meat is soft enough to pull apart with a fork, it is done.
Once the Rabbit is done, serve immediately or completely and serve.
I’m not here to explain the science and safety of using the fat you cooked the Rabbit in to preserve but if you have the time, look that up! If you are making this ahead, store the Rabbit in the fat it was cooked and slowly reheat it to melt the fat and reheat the meat without overcooking it.
This recipe and technique was adapted from Leite’s Culinaria .
