I have to be perfectly honest in that I do prefer rabbit braised as opposed to roasted. Cooked in such a way with a little bit of mutton and onion, I think it is incomparable - but I would agree to place roasting rabbit as my second favourite preparation method.
There are two basic fashions in which we can roast a rabbit. We can essentially cook it whole in a similar fashion as we would roast a piece of beef for example, or we can roast it in a casserole dish with some stock and compatible vegetables. I will therefore look at suggested recipes for cooking rabbit in both of these fashions.
To roast a rabbit whole, the first step is to pre-heat our oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, 190 Celsius or Gas Mark 5.
Place the rabbit, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting tray.
Cover the back of the rabbit with four to six slices of streaky bacon. This will serve the dual purpose of protecting the flesh of the rabbit during cooking and the fats from the bacon will keep the rabbit meat moist.
The cooking time for rabbit is similar to chicken, so figure on twenty minutes per pound plus twenty extra minutes. If we so desire, we may wish to add the vegetables which are to accompany our rabbit to the tray under the rack about forty-five minutes prior to the end of the cooking time. This will roast them in the juices of the rabbit and the bacon and impart extra delicious flavour. Par boiled potatoes and carrots are particularly delicious cooked in this fashion.
At the end of the allotted cooking time, remove the rabbit from the oven, check that it is done and chop it up or carve it and serve.
If we are contemplating casseroling our rabbit, the first thing we will have to do is brown the pieces to seal in all the juices. To a very hot frying-pan, add one tablespoon of sunflower oil and bring it up to a medium to high heat. Add the pieces of rabbit and virtually stir fry them to seal each piece all over.
Transfer the rabbit pieces to a large casseroling dish and add some chopped onion, chopped carrot, half a teaspoon of fresh or a generous pinch of dried thyme and a pint of fresh chicken stock. Stir thoroughly but carefully and put in to an oven pre-heated as in the above method for forty-five minutes.
After this time, again check that the rabbit is done and serve.
Whichever of the above methods most appeals to you, I very much hope that you will try it out and enjoy this sadly under-rated meat to the very full.