Note from Tony Dean: You can take all the game birds and animals we hunt across the upper Midwest, and none, with the possible exception of ruffed grouse or red squirrel, match the flavor of the lowly cottontail.
And there’s no better way to enjoy the great flavor of cottontails than to pan fry them the way my wife, Dar, does it. This was a regular meal for us back in the 1960’s when we lived in Cedar Rapids, IA and hunted rabbits regularly.
Here’s how she does it:
INGREDIENTS & INSTRUCTIONS
One cup of flour, seasoned to taste with salt and black pepper and a full, heaping tablespoon of paprika. Place all of these ingredients in a paper bag, quarter the rabbit into serving size pieces and shake in the bag until coated with the seasoned flour. Discard the bag and flour.
Place a couple of tablespoons of olive oil into a hot saute’ pan, then quickly brown the rabbit on all sides.
When it is completely browned, reduce the heat and cook an additional 15 minutes or so per side. Dar says she times the cooking as though she were frying chicken.
Then, use store-bought packaged white gravy, follow the instructions, and serve the fried cottontail with mashed potatoes and gravy.
This meal is especially good when accompanied by a nice white wine.
After sampling rabbit, you will spend some time hunting them each winter. It’s a great way to start kids hunting and you’ll also enjoy one of the best tasting wild game animals out there.
