This was our first-ever rabbit cook and Mary followed the recipe in the Cash and Carter Family cookbook on page 121. We bought a 1.84 lb. dressed whole rabbit (largest one in the case) at South Alabama Custom Meats. It was $4.99 per lb. Cut the four legs at the joint and split the carcass along the backbone. Chopped the halves into sections that were of similar thickness.
Mary liberally seasoned the pieces with 6POGS about noon. Put them into a 1-gallon ziplock and poured in buttermilk to marinate for the afternoon.
About an hour before cooking took them out of the fridge and rinsed them off. Let the meat drain for a bit then seasoned with sage, granulated garlic, salt, and pepper.
In a medium-sized bowl combined milk, 2 large eggs, and Crystal’s hot sauce. Lightly dusted the meat with all-purpose flour before frying.
Using a #10 cast iron skillet, heated bacon grease and a blend of oils (Crisco blend). Added enough to the skillet to pan fry–not deep fry–the meat. Fried until done and placed on a baking rack to let the grease drip off.
Removed excess grease from the skillet and made gravy the way my Mom taught me. Brown the flour, add a few splashes of Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Add enough milk….slowly…..until it thickens. Keep adding milk till it is just right.
Our first fried rabbit. It was great! Not sure if we liked the rabbit or the gravy better. Had not made gravy in a while. It brought back a lot of great cooking memories from my Mom’s kitchen.
Ingredients – from the original recipe – sometimes changed in amounts to meet our taste.
1 frozen rabbit, cut into pieces
~1/2 cup buttermilk
6POGS – OUR BLEND
Pinch of salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
Dash(es) of Crystal hot sauce
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage (not nearly enough)
salt, pepper, garlic salt (used granulated garlic) to taste
3 cups vegetable oil, for deep frying – used bacon grease and Crisco blend – pan fried not deep fried
Gravy
5 Tablespoons reserved oil from frying rabbit
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 cup milk
Salt, pepper to taste
