I love rabbit. A family and economic dish in France, I began to miss it in Germany, where it is much less common. In Morocco, it is even rarer.
There are a few recipes for rabbit in Blackfoot cuisine, and I imagine that the nomads used to hunt hares, but obviously it's not a popular meat.
In Ouarzazate you could hardly find any, only one merchant had a few, in cages, next to the chickens. I introduced rabbit with cream and mustardto my in-laws, who never ate it again, I think.
In Casablanca, my favourite poultry shop, Marché Central, has it regularly, but it is still, proportionally, a much more expensive meat than in France, and the rabbits are generally small.
How to cook rabbit? With tact and patience
A lean meat, almost fat-free
It is white meat, of course, and lean. The fat of the rabbit is not diffused in the flesh, but clings to the inside of the skeleton in small balls, which are very easy to remove, if you wish.
Slow cooking, at medium or low temperature
My recipe cooks the rabbit for 50 minutes, which is a minimum. The longer the rabbit cooks, the more naturally the meat will fall apart and become tender. This is important with Moroccan rabbits, which can have "muscle".
Moisture
In this recipe, the broth that cooks the rice afterwards prevents the rabbit meat from drying out, but in other cooking methods, you will need to baste very regularly.
Rabbit and saffron rice, a simple recipe that requires a little time
Preparing the saffron the day before allows you to take full advantage of its taste and colour. It will impregnate the rice as much as the rabbit.
The rest is simple, just a little chopping of the onions and garlic, and some patience. You should start preparing the dish about an hour and a half before serving, it keeps very well in the low warmth of the oven
Rabbit in rice and saffron
Ingredients
- 1 Rabbit
- 4 tablespoon Olive oil
- 2 Onion
- 0,5 gr Saffron
- 2 cloves Garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 twig Rosemary
- 1 pinch Sweet pepper
- 1 pinch Ginger
- 250 gr Rice
- 1 Lemon
Instructions
- The day before, prepare your saffron by diluting it in cold water. Filter before use.
- Cut the rabbit into ten pieces and reserve the liver.
- Heat the olive oil in a cast iron pan.
- Once hot, brown the rabbit pieces on all sides.
- When the meat is well coloured, remove the rabbit pieces and leave them to stand on a plate.
- While you are browning the rabbit, peel the onions and chop them very finely.
- Peel the garlic cloves and squeeze them.
- Peel the garlic cloves and squeeze them.
- Brown the onions and garlic in the pan.
- Put the rabbit back in the pan, add the sprig of rosemary, season with salt and pepper, and pour in the boiling water. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, rinse the rice thoroughly, at least four times, until the water runs clear.
- After 20 minutes, remove the rabbit from the pot, put the rice in its place, add the saffron, chilli and ginger.
- Mix well and put the rabbit pieces back.
- Allow another half hour of cooking time. At the end of the cooking time, all the broth should be absorbed by the rice grains.
- Add the liver a few minutes before the end.
- Serve very hot, simply drizzled with lemon juice.
Notes
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