little bunny, big money

[kindkit]

My plan to boil a bunny on Christmas (okay, okay, to braise a rabbit for Christmas dinner) has been thwarted. There is apparently only one shop in town that sells rabbit, and it charges $11 a pound. That's about $30 or even more for a single rabbit. I couldn't afford that even if I was willing to pay as much for a damn rabbit as I would for a decent piece of beef.

So now I need to rethink Christmas dinner. I still want something simple, easy to cook, and not too expensive, but also special. Anybody got any ideas? I'm still very much leaning towards a stew or soup, because even though, say, a roast is simple, it requires lots of other dishes to go with it, whereas a hearty soup or stew is a meal in itself.

Comments

[karmageddon]

Craiglist? Bunny hobby site? I think people who own rabbits would have one around.

[kindkit]

*checks craigslist* Well, it seems I could buy someone's pet rabbit for $15, hutch included, but . . .

[karmageddon]

Lol

[karmageddon]

LOL

I have never butchered anything, even a fish.

[lilacsigil]

I've heard it's hard to get lamb in the US - is that true in your area? Goat is supposed to be great in slow-cooking stews.

[kindkit]

I think maybe it used to be hard to get lamb in the US, but every supermarket has it now. Except small towns, maybe.

I've cooked goat (in a curry) and tastes great, although the only cut I could find, a generic "stew meat" was pretty bony and gristly.

[oursin]

What???!!! I think one might pay about that in poncey UK butchers for a whole bunny that had led a free and natural life in the wild, and farmed would be cheaper.

Lamb is certainly a good suggestion - though I find with different butchery habits and different cut preferences it's hard to make recs for cuts. For a nice stew or braise I would go for neck of lamb or lamb shank, and cook very slowly.

[tree_and_leaf]

Duck legs can be wonderful.

[kindkit]

Food tends to be a bit expensive where I live, and especially anything "specialty" or "gourmet." My city is quite sharply divided between rich (such as film directors and actors who have second--or third or fourth--homes here) and poor, and any organic or local or specialty foods are marketed towards people with ridiculous amounts of money. I've given up going to the farmers' market because I can't afford to buy anything, which is a huge contrast to where I used to live, where the farmers' market had better produce that was sometimes cheaper than the supermarket and at worst, no more expensive.

I like lamb, but I have to cook it with strong spices because otherwise the taste of the lamb fat is a bit too much for me. I cook a lot of lamb curries.

[mllesatine]

Our dinner on Christmas eve will consist of potato salad (with mayo) and Gaulschken (a dish made of minced meat and raw rice that, formed into balls will be slowly simmered in sauerkraut). It's apparently tradition in our house to check as many German stereotypes as possible on one plate.

[kindkit]

Well, I think for holiday meals, a lot of people really cling to the food traditions of their childhood, which makes sense. Anyway, it sounds very tasty!

[skywaterblue]

Duck, but I worry that'll be too pricey based on the rabbit quote. Most American chain stores only carry it in whole duck form, but a good Whole Foods or local gourmet equivalent/good butcher should be able to get you breasts/legs to keep the cost down.

You also want to try here: http://www.localharvest.org/store/meats.jsp?srt=2&q=rabbit

The little game hens are cheap and fun, presentation wise. And unlike duck, they basically roast up like little chickens.

There's also squab, but might be harder to find (unless you have a local halal butcher.)

[kindkit]

I'm much more willing to pay $20-$25 for a duck than $30 for a rabbit, but I've had duck for several recent Christmases and would like a change, and also a whole duck involves a lot of work. And I would end up buying a whole one, because you can buy a whole one for the price of a couple of duck breasts.

I think I've pretty much decided to buy a good quality chicken and make waterzooi, which is a Dutch chicken stew with cream. I just really, really am not in the mood to cook anything complicated. The Christmas season is the busiest time of year at my job, and I'm tired.

[skywaterblue]

I feel this, so it sounds like a good plan to me.