Wild Food Larder

ild rabbit can be as versatile as the chicken and in today’s world one with a lot more flavor and in my opinion more value. Maybe i am fortunate enough to be able to acquire plenty of rabbits when i want some however, it is not impossible for all of us given a bit of thought and planning, and a little cunning.

i would like to share with you a dish that is just one way of utilising the saddle, heart,kidneys and liver. although it can be a little tricky to bone out the saddle, the return is divine and your guests will be very proud and  happy. In this first photo i have laid out very thin slices of my own pork prosciutto, flavoured with caraway seeds. you can use streaky bacon or parma ham.   These are laid out on a piece of cling film slightly overlapping.  Once this has been done it is time to take your saddle of rabbit and bone it out. this can be done from either the top or from underneath. Run your knife along the spine. Be sure to leave the flap of belly skin intact also.

To make the filling take the heart,liver,kidneys and a small piece of smoked bacon (i use my own). Whizz all of these in a magimix until a puree is achieved. In a pestle and mortar amash up a clove of garlic a few sprigs of rosemary and a tablespoon of toasted fennel seeds. Add this to the filling and season with salt ans pepper.Spoon the filling along the middle of the two loins.

Roll up like a cigar and twist the cling film to form a cigar or cylindrical shape.

I generally rest each cylinder in the fridge for a couple of hours before placing in pan of cold water and bringing up to a very low simmer. If it is possible to cook at 80 degrees then do that for an hour.

Remove the roll and chill very quickly. I wrap again in silver foil and squeeze out juices in the aim to make a tighter cylinder. Chill over night.

I said yesterday whilst talking in the chat room that i was going out later on in the day for a spot of Sea fishing to catch fish for Dinner. Although the weather was wet and windy, it was ideal conditions for Bass. they unlike some of us enjoy a bit of rough!
Third cast of the afternoon standing on Portishead slipway i wound down into a good fish. To my glee and excitement i watched as a large Sea bass came thrashing and rolling through the surf.
The Recipe
Tonight i shall cook the bass for two people. It would feed four but what the hell, im sure you’d feast on it too, esp as for all intents and purposes, is free food…….foraged, hunted, gathered, call it what you will.
As i live by the sea i began planning straight away. This is what i would do.
De-scale, gut and trim the fish of fins and tail and remove gills.
At this time of year wild fennel is abundant and as we all know is a fabulous herb for whole sea bass. Therefore i shall fill the cavity with a good handful along with a whole lemon, salt & pepper and a good few knobs of butter.
Te whole fish shall be roasted and served with a wild sea vegetable panache. to include young sea purslane, sea beet, rock samphire and golden orache.

For me this is as good as it gets. I could happily have this photo as wallpaper.
This is of course Italian style Pancetta, dry cured, rested then showered on the flesh side with coarsely ground black pepper and crushed fennel seeds before being rolled and tied tightly. Although ready to eat i like to leave in fridge for a couple more weeks before slicing.

In hedgerows across our country side through out the spring Garlic mustard will flourish..

Apart from the leaves and flowers being edible garlic mustard bites, just as happy in a cheese sandwich as it is in a spring salad of new potatoes, olive oil and grated horse radish.
On larger fully grown plants approaching this time of year just after flowering if you pull the plant from the ground it has a tap root not dissimilar to horse radish. Fully grown plants will have a substantial root about as thick as your index finger. the skin of this root is light brown. when peeled can be used just like horse radish, grated and mixed with a little creme fraiche, mustard powder and salt and pepper.
The taste is very quite hot and spicy just like the horse radish itself.
Useful i think as a spring time treat as Horseradish would not be harvested until the end of the growing year, normally October.

Mollie was very keen to get  hold off this little fellow as well as  can be seen in bottom left hand corner.

Once done i took her into my kitchen workshop and butchered the carcass into the following cuts.

The two shoulders were to be used to make potted venison (recipe to follow)

All the meat from rib cage,neck and loin trimmings were to be used to make a cured Boerwors (South African sausage). In total this amounted to 7 kilos.

The legs or haunches were seamed out into individual muscles, some were to be used for mini roasts, stir fry’s etc others went into two 2 kilo Game & pork Terrines for following Framers markets..

The two loins as pictured below have yet to be used and are sitting in fridge maturing.

The liver, kidneys and heart all went into the game terrine. although some of the liver i had for breakfast with a poached egg.The loin on the left has been trimmed of connective tissue ans sinew the one on the right has yet to be done. This gives the reader an idea of what little wastage there is.

What are the Uses of Loin?

Being the equivalent to fillet in beef venison loin has no fat and a very smooth and tight texture. Thus requiring little and quick cooking.  For example, pan frying or fast roasting. Loin should only be served pink and never over cooked. Those that enjoy meat well done would do best to avoid this cut and chew their own shoes.