We had a some leftover rabbit saddles in the freezer from our Rabbit Legs with Honey Balsamic Carrot Greens dinner the other night. So, we decided to stuff them and wrap them in bacon! I agonized for more time than I’d like to admit to on what to use as stuffing…before finally settling on long grain wild rice and diced scallion onions, I also considered carrot croquettes, roasted red peppers, quinoa, and mashed chestnuts. I will likely try some of those in the future, but I think I made the right decision for the first time cooking with this cut of rabbit. The rice held together nicely when I cut the medallions, and the green onion imparted a nice garden fresh flavour. And the bacon….well, bacon did what bacon does. It enveloped the stuffed rabbit and clung to itself, creating a nice pillow that crisped up in the oven.
We served this over homemade fennel sauerkraut and with fresh corn we’d picked up from a farm stand. However, it would go extremely well with Mashed Celery Root or Rösti and any roasted veggies. While we used the oven, I’d imagine that these would be great on the grill as well.
Fun fact: After cutting and plating this, I nearly named the dish, “Mr. McGregor’s Sushi” before thinking better of it.
Time: 50 Minutes
Ingredients:
- Rabbit Saddles (We used the meat from one rabbit to make two meals…cut the saddle in half at the spine…which if I’m being honest was more the result of poor butchering on my part)
- Bacon (3 strips per saddle half will do)
- Long Grain Wild Rice (about 1/8 of a cup will do for two rabbit saddles)
- Scallion Onions
- Salt and Pepper
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F, and line a broiling pan (with a grate so the bacon fat can drip) with foil.
- Make your rice…We boiled it in a 4:1 water to rice ratio.
- Dice your onions, and put them into a bowl with a little salt and pepper sprinkled on.
- When the rice is cooked, pour it into your onion bowl, and stir to combine.
- On a cutting board, lay out your bacon in the shape of an upside down “T” with the cross-bar piece closest to you.
- Place your rabbit saddle on the bacon, and add a thin layer of your rice mixture on top.
- Carefully (trying not to let any rice fall out), roll your bacon and rabbit away from you. When the top of the T is back on the cutting board, tightly fold it over your bacon and rabbit wrap, and then continue rolling away from you until you have a nice bacon and rabbit bundle.
- Place this on your broiling pan, and do the same with the rest of your rabbit saddles.
- Put the pan in the oven, and cook for about 30-35 minutes until the bacon is crispy. By this time, the rabbit will have cooked through since it’s so thin, and the rice put on it already started out warm.
- Remove from the oven when it’s done, and let it sit for a few minutes.
- Slice into medallions, plate, devour, and enjoy!
