VT's Crock Pot Rabbit Stew

This hearty stew was cooked in a van using readily available salad bar items



*** Note -  Don't be put off by the list of ingredients.  Many of them are things a person will often carry with him/her while traveling.  You can also use dehydrated onions and garlic.  The veggies can be purchased ready-to-cook from a grocery store salad bar for a very low cost. ***

 

With Easter coming and all, I had bunnies on the mind.  Everywhere I went, the seasonal aisles were filled with adorable cotton tailed friends toting baskets of candy.  But there is also a dark side to my psyche...  When I see cute little fuzzy wild creatures, the caveman comes out! 

 

While shopping at Nelson's Meat Market in Cedar Rapids, I made a discovery that I knew would breathe some life into the van cooking efforts... They have the most wonderful farm raised, already cleaned rabbits! 

 

I have to reminisce for just a minute.  The last rabbit I ate was on Thanksgiving day, 1994.  I was heading for Elk Creek park (pronounced by some Iowans as "Elk Crick") to do some trout fishing.  A cute little bunny ran out in front of me and I mowed him down with my 1978 Pontiac Catalina.  Wow, that was a lonnnng time ago!  (That rabbit so SO good back then!)

 

 

 

A rabbit is just the right size for a little two quart crock pot stew.  Add a a biscuit or two and you'll have a couple of meals fit for a king!

 

Note - you can either cook and debone the rabbit beforehand which will reduce the prep and cooking times - or you can cook it with the bone-in.  I chose the bone-in method.  You get more flavor leaving the bones to cook down in the stew.  You'll have to carefully pick them out as you eat the end result.

 

So here is the recipe for VT's Crock Pot Rabbit Stew... I hope you enjoy it as much as Mr. Jesse and I.

 

 

VT's Crock Pot Rabbit Stew
 

1 rabbit (roughly 2 lbs)
8 mini yellow Dutch potatoes with skin on (or buy some small potatoes and cut them up)
10 small baby carrots *
10 cherry tomatoes *
10 "salad bar" strips of green bell pepper (about 1/3" x 2.5") *
1/2 cup chopped onions *
1/2 cup white mushrooms sliced in half *
1   cup beef broth
3/4 cup of red wine such as Cabernet Sauvignon (and a glass for the cook, too!)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
1 packet of brown gravy mix (the cheap stuff)
flour, corn starch or fine bread crumbs for thickening

 

* = items from the salad bar

 

 

 

Directions for cooking with a raw bunny....

 

Butcher and separate the pieces like you would a chicken.  Layer the pieces in the crockpot with the potatoes, carrots, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, onions, mushrooms, and garlic.  There is nothing magic about the proportions or types of veggies.  I got all of mine from the grocery store salad bar!

 

Add the Italian seasoning and bay leaves.  Then pour in the beef broth and red wine.  Cover and let simmer around six hours on low.  You can probably cut the time in half if the rabbit is precooked and deboned.  Discard the bay leaves when you finish cooking.

 

Pull everything out of the crock pot and then thicken the gravy with a brown gravy packet and add whatever other thickening is needed:  a bit of flour or corn starch paste or, if you don't mind the consistency, some fine bread crumbs.  (I used Italian seasoned bread crumbs, then beat the tar out of the mixture, and it became a wonderfully rich, smooth gravy)

 

There was enough salt in the gravy packet that I didn't have to add any extra.

 

The best part of this recipe is that you can do anything you want with it... It's almost impossible to mess up.  Have fun at the salad bar!

 

The most difficulty I had was sleeping as the crock pot simmered away, filling the van with the most delicious aromas.

 

Thanks for reading!  Have fun...

Bradford aka the "Van Trekker"