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Roast Rabbit

A rabbit stuffed with a forcemeat of breadcrumbs, beef suet, spices, and lemon, then roasted with bacon and stewed in broth and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Roast Rabbit

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Make a forcemeat by mixing bread crumbs, minced beef suet, lemon peel, nutmeg, pepper, salt, and lemon thyme.

  2. Beat the eggs and combine with the forcemeat to form a paste.

Stuff and dress the rabbit

  1. Stuff the rabbit with the forcemeat.

  2. Sew the rabbit closed.

  3. Skewer the rabbit into shape.

  4. Rub the outside of the rabbit with butter.

  5. Dust the rabbit with flour.

  6. Attach thin slices of bacon to the rabbit using small skewers.

Stew and roast

  1. Stew the rabbit in broth with white wine, covered tightly.

  2. Baste the rabbit while roasting until cooked through.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Nutmeg + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during slow stewing and roasting.
Eggs
Bind the forcemeat into a cohesive paste that holds its shape when stuffed.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the forcemeat body and a tender texture.
Minced beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the forcemeat moist and rich during cooking.
Thin slices of bacon
Add fat that bastes the rabbit and contributes savory flavor and browning.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the cooking broth, helping flavor the meat.

The step that matters

Stew the rabbit covered tightly. Gentle, covered stewing keeps moisture in the lean meat so it becomes tender rather than dry. Cooking through fully matters because the stuffing in the cavity must also be done.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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