Finally someone with decent vision shoots a rabbit! Nope it wasn’t me, I was busy making an appointment for my optometrist. Drew kindly handed me the rabbit knowing that I had a few recipes to play with for the upcoming cook book. The least I could do was invite him and his Cath over for a meal. Now what to do with that rabbit.
In my quest to convince people of the benefits of eating wild rabbit here in Australia I’ve been sneakily making dish’s that would normally have chicken in them, with the not so hidden agenda of easing dinner guests into the joys of rabbit munching (that sounded way better in my head).
It’s also cold and often wet this time of year in the central highlands, thus baked meals are often required to keep our miserable winter spirits high. A Cannelloni with Rabbit and Kale came to mind as a possible solution for Ballarat winter blues. To be honest I’ve never cooked cannelloni before, it’s always been one of Kim’s dish’s. The main ingredients were there in my head with a few tweaks in mind. For flavor I grated a nutmeg, fresh garden lemon thyme and parsley (curly not flat…..I’m so anti- establishment). I used our passata as the liquid base, but gave it a secret little zing which amazingly Drew picked up on, and which I completely forgot that I had added.
If you talk about cooking style, I’m like a crazed rabid squirrel, going from this branch to that….minus the frothing at the mouth. At the end, when it’s done, sweat beading on my forehead and I’m lighting a post cooking cigarette, I often have not idea what I’ve just done, but it somehow worked (nothing to do with the vino intake whilst cooking). I cook using a bit of this and a glug of that and often forget what I put into the dish, thankfully I now have a scribe.
There is a great deal of work that needs to go into this meal to the most important thing is to keep your fluids up! We did this with Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and a Merlot or two.
End result. Smiles all round. Into the book she goes. I might have to cook it a few more times just to be sure…….damn!
this makes me really excited for your book. what are some of your favorite australian wines (you caught my attention with the cab sav/sauvignon blanc)?
Where do I begin?
In Victoria we have some stunning Pinot Noir which I devour this time of year, especially with the slow cooked red meat meals.
But even in the cold climate I’m a sucker for a ‘Sav-blonk’ either from the Yarra Valley or the Margaret River Region. I used to like the New Zealand whites like Wahu and Oyster Bay but they seem to be getting blander and rather loosing their once exciting personality. I still drink them though so I’m talking a bit of rubbish really.
You can get a really good quality OZ or NZ wine here for $15 and sometimes cheaper buy the dozen. We have a glut of good wine in Australia with so many amazing regions, namely The Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, Margaret River, Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley, Coonawarra… the list just goes for miles. I tend to choose wine by region, not just brand or grape. But we get everything here, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Griggio, Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay.
We also have a heap of local wine regions within the 100 km radius, with stunning boutique wines with flavor so robust they knock your socks off, especially after a full day wine tasting and gorging on local produce.
I totally didn’t answer your question did I?
This looks so good! I have only cooked rabbit a few times (during my year cooking with Jamie Oliver – I cooked every recipe in Jamie’s COOK WTH JAMIE in one year and blogged about it) and had one absolute disaster and one success story. I think I may need to try again and this time be prepared with liquid support (though that kind if support might have led to the original disaster…). BTW, Yalumba Cab Sauv is my red of choice.