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Rabbit
and Rice Fiesta Recipe
 This
Spanish recipe for rabbit and rice is very similar to traditional
Valencian paella. Cooked slowly over a smoky outdoor barbeque
the rice takes on a real rustic flavour, combined with the
rabbit this really is a "campo" dish. This traditional
recipe has been a favourite for generations usually made
for fiesta time or when large families get together to enjoy
a meal. Rabbit is the main ingredient but such is the versatility
of this dish you can also involve cuts of liver, pork rib,
pancetta or chicken pieces.
You
will need:
2
rabbits, prepared and cut into small pieces
2 bulbs garlic, separated and the cloves peeled
1 ½ Kilos Bomba rice
3 litres water / chicken stock
2 red peppers (diced)
3 medium tomatoes (diced)
Salt
Cracked black peppercorns
Olive oil
Method
- Prepare
the vegetables by dicing into small pieces, dice or crush
the garlic and fry together in the paella pan using a
splash of good olive oil. Cook for 5 minutes on a high
heat until the onions become translucent.
-
Turn down the heat then, using a ladle add the rice counting
each ladleful as you go - one kilo of rice is roughly
7 ladles.
-
Stir the rice into the vegetables and continue to cook
until the rice begins to lose its colour.
-
Then add your stock, ladle in as with the rice, counting
as you go. You need two ladles of stock for every one
of rice. 14 ladles should be sufficient.
-
At this point the paella does not need to be stirred any
more. Lower the heat and add the cuttlefish/squid pieces,
spread evenly over the paella.
-
Push the cuttlefish pieces down into the rice so that
they are partially covered.
-
Arrange the prawns over the top of the paella.
-
At this stage cover the whole pan in tinfoil and leave
the paella to cook for 10 minutes. (This method also cooks
the prawns on top.)
- Remove
the foil and serve.
Paella
tip:
When
using prawns in your paella they can either be peeled
or left whole. An impressive paella always usually has
an artistic appearance dressed, in this case, with fresh
seafood. Not everyone likes peeling prawns so leave half
for presentation and pre peel the remaining half to mix
in with the other seafood.
Serves
12
Story
behind this recipe:
There
is nothing quite like watching the experts at work, ten
o'clock at night making a paella over the Spanish barbeque.
The flavours of a paella over hot smoky coals cannot be
compared to those cooked indoors, both are good but the
outdoor version always has the edge - a rustic flavour .
. .
We
are fortunate enough to be invited to a fiesta or two every
August where a big paella pan always has something interesting
bubbling within. This time the recipe was simply "Conejo
y arroz" (Rabbit and Rice) not strictly a paella but
very similar to the Valencian paella, in fact you could
find liver and pieces of pork rib among the fabulous bomba
rice - cooked to perfection. Apparently it was a "receta
de me Madre" a Catalan recipe that had been in the
family for a couple of generations and obviously still enjoyed
very much to this day.
Interestingly
the cocinera (chef) had an unusual way of cooking this rather
large dish (46 cm paella pan for twelve people). Normally
to cook meats, kebabs, etc on a barbeque you need "brasa"
(hot bed of coals) for this recipe and paellas though the
heat is ideally distributed evenly under the paella pan
using nothing but small sticks and pine cones. Careful attention
was paid to the fire just as much as to the dish and the
flames were tended to frequently, lots of fire but never
too hot - a secret of cooking Spanish paella outdoors.
When
the dish was ready it was quickly removed and covered with
newspaper to rest for a few minutes then with a table set
for twelve it was time to dig in!
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