Rabbit Bone Broth

Rabbit Bone Broth

*This mineral rich broth is a great way to get more out of each rabbit.  This recipe works for all bones, and you can mix bones from different animals in the same batch to vary the flavor of your broth.

Save the bones when you cook or debone rabbit.  They store nicely in a gallon ziplock bag in the freezer.  You can keep adding to the bag as you have more bones.  This is a good use for spines and ribs.  When you have enough bones to loosely fill your crockpot, you're ready to make bone broth.

Fill your crockpot with rabbit bones.  You can crack or nick leg bones with a heavy knife, which helps the goodness in the marrow extract into your broth.

Add garlic and onions (optional)

Add seasonally appropriate tonic soup herbs (optional)

Fill crock with filtered or spring water

Add a splash of vinegar.  The acid helps to draw the minerals out of the bones.

Cook on low for 24 hours, or until the bones become soft or crumbly.  This is how you know you've pulled out most of the minerals.  Watch the water level, and add more as needed.

I have cooked bone broth for days.  The broth will darken, but that's fine.  You can also dip out a serving of broth whenever you'd like, and add more water to the crockpot.  

When the bones have given up their goodness to your broth, strain out the solids.  

This broth can be drunk, or used in the liquid of any other recipe, including rice, beans, soups and casseroles.  Extra broth can be frozen in ice cube trays, then popped out of the trays and stored in ziplocks or freezer safe containers.  Pop a frozen cube into your soups and sauces for a boost of minerals.  

Slow Cooked Rabbit and Liver

More crockpot goodness.  I kept this one simple.


1 rabbit
1/2 pound grassfed lamb liver, sliced
1/2 of a large sweet potato/yam
heaping spoonful of chopped garlic
freshly ground poultry seasonings
1 can coconut milk
1 can water


Cook low and slow.  When close to serving time, remove what you won't be eating for this meal into glass pyrex storage containers.  Cool, cover and refrigerate.  


1 red bell pepper


Chop, dice, slice, however you like them, add to the stew in the crockpot, and cook until the peppers are done.  


I really liked this dish.  I like liver though, and that is the predominant flavor.  I think next time, I may puree the liver, and use that to thicken the stew.  I will also omit the can of water.

Curried Rabbit Stew

This has been the week of Curried Rabbit Stew in the crockpot.  Life has been busy, my routines are gone, and most of what I own is in storage.  I love my crockpot!  It keeps warm, nutritious food in my belly, which is a blessing.


Measurements are approximate, feel free to tweak proportions and ingredients to suit your tastes.


1/2 of a rabbit
Curry powder - I get mine from a local Indian Market
about 1/2 cup brown rice, preferably already soaked
1/2 of a large yellow onion, chopped
1/2 of a medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
a spoonful of chopped garlic
1 can coconut milk
1 can water


Optional:
a spoonful of your favorite peanut butter stirred into your bowl when serving
Mushrooms, which I would have added if I had some on hand
Green Chilis, to kick up the heat


Put everything in the crockpot, starting with the rabbit and ending with the water.  Turn it on low, and leave it all day.  By dinnertime, you will have a hot meal, and the meat will be tender enough to be easily removed from the bone.  I pick out the little bones as I'm eating, but you could debone the rabbit before you put it in the crockpot.  The coconut milk adds the much needed healthy fats that rabbit meat lacks.

Why I eat the Easter Bunny

"You eat rabbits?  You can't eat those cute, fluffy bunnies!  It's mean!  You're a monster!"

I hear different versions of these statements when people find out I'm raising rabbits for meat.  Not everyone, but more people than I'd like.  You see, I am a practical and compassionate person.  I grew up knowing that food comes from animals.  My Dad hunted, we fished, and we had a big garden.  My Great Uncle Bob raised meat rabbits.  I know that everything dies for us to live, be it plant or animal.  I know that my food doesn't actually come from the grocery store.

Faced with that reality, considering plants to be as valuable as animals, and knowing that I need animal protein to be healthy, I was faced with a quandary.  How do I ensure that the food I eat has a good life, and a good death?  Factory farming is horrific, and not something I wish to support with my $$ vote.  I don't want GMOs in my food, either.  So for me, it comes down to either knowing my Farmer, or being my Farmer.  I didn't know anyone who raised rabbits, and they have always been part of my sustainability plan.  

Did I mention that they're cute, and a joy to interact with every day?  This makes boundaries very important.  My breeding stock have names, and everyone else is destined for freezer camp.  They get lots of terms of endearment, lots of love and affection.  Just no names.  I thank them sincerely for feeding me when the time comes to dispatch them.  I hate that chore, but it's the only way to ensure they have a good death.  Fearless, painless, and quick.  I owe them that.

For me, this is a lesson in learning to love what nourishes me. I'm not interested in faceless food.  I don't want to pretend that food comes from the grocery store, when it comes from living, breathing creatures.  For me, it feels cruel to spend my $, which I believe to be my most effective vote, in support of factory farming.  Nature created me as an omnivore, and so I'm doing the best I can to take care of myself and the planet.  I'll always strive to do better, and rabbits are a small step toward sustainability and walking lightly.

I hope to be able to raise all of my own food eventually.  Baby steps.  For now, I love raising rabbits, and am looking forward to planting an impossible garden this spring.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get some chickens, too.

   

We've made the move from Colorado's High Country to the fertile farmlands of Ohio!  Currently raising Satins, and eagerly awaiting the arrival of our new rare breed Americans!  A White Doe and a Blue Buck!  Watch for American breeding stock in the future!