McCall’s meat market had a big fat juicy fresh rabbit in the case. (Smoke. McCall’s. Protein. A theme.) At 14 bucks a pound it was a mighty pricey, a far cry from the “pets or meat” variety in Roger & Me, but with weather turning spring-like in LA, I figured it was a solid Sunday project and a chance to practice a couple of underdeveloped culinary skills: bunny butchery and hay smoking.
With a small bag each of city-priced Timothy and Alfalfa hays (7 dollars a bag!) from Petco (complete with bunny picture on the package), my new Staub coccote, and my rabbit, I’m happy to say it clocked in at only around 2 hours start to finish (a one-hour thyme salt rub on the chicken; a 45 minute 375 degree roast on the chicken; a 10 minute hay smoke on the grill side burner; subtract the 30 minutes Frenching the tiny little rib racks. Not worth the time.). Crazy smokey results, tempered by preserved lemon and a peppery arugula salad. I’m not happy to say that the Staub, the hay, and the rabbit added up to about 300 bucks total. That’s the cost of modern peasant cooking.
