Quick zesty marinated barbecued rabbit with summer salad recipe

Jamie Chandler:

We may well be conterminously poised between the end of the last driven season and the beginning of the new, but that in no way means that there isn’t a bag load of sporting days out there to carry the hardened field sports enthusiast through the summer. Couple this with al fresco dining, 100% naturally reared meat and a friend who’s an award winning chef at The Tally Ho in Broughton and voila, the perfect excuse for a get together and to bag a bunny or two.

Forgoing my trusty ‘bang stick’, I instead picked up my 12 ft lb BSA Scorpion SE air gun and headed off to see Nick and Tania, managers of Broughton Buffalo Farm. As the buffalo are reared on 100% naturally grown grass with no pesticides, it means that the rabbits that are digging in to their field borders are reared on the same lush, natural, chalk down grass. Nick and Tania were delighted with the barbecue invitation both for themselves and also their unwanted long-eared neighbours!

An amazing afternoon’s challenging stalking provided two excellent candidates for the pot and on return to the Tally Ho, Ryan had devised the perfect, simple, hassle free recipe.

Quick zesty marinated barbecued rabbit with summer salad

Feeds six

Ingredients

2 x rabbits, quartered

2 generous handfuls of fresh coriander

5 or 6 seeded red chillies

½ a clove of garlic or 2 tablespoons of minced garlic

Fresh ginger or ground ginger to suit personal taste

Lemon juice

Lime juice

Salt and Pepper

Method

Finely chop the chillies, coriander, garlic and fresh ginger, add all to a blitzer if you have one, finely chop once more if you don’t, it’s entirely up to you.

In ideally a metal or ceramic bowl, place the finely chopped coriander, chillies, garlic and ginger. Add a good squirt of both the lemon and lime juice. Mix together by hand. It may be an idea to use gloves – the mixture should be sludgy as opposed to runny.

Add the rabbit quarters to the mix and ensure all are well coated.

Cover and leave in the fridge over night.

To cook, Ryan says you have two options dependent on your location:

Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees C, 180 if fan assisted, place rabbit pieces on an oven tray, cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes so that they are pretty much done, transfer to the barbecue and over a medium hot area (not in the centre of the white hot coals) griddle for 5 minutes, turning once.

Alternatively with no easy access to an oven, grill on medium hot part of the barbecue for 20 minutes, turning regularly to avoid drying out or burning. Check that the meat is cooked through and if so, plate immediately. On the night we cooked this way and it was delicious.

Serve with a summer salad, cool glass of zesty white wine or lager such as Corona. Add a garnish of great friends, British summer weather and a possible umbrella. Relax and enjoy!

You can contact Jamie Chandler at Hampshire Sporting Shooter here.

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