RABBIT N' DUMPLINS

This my friends, is a very old German Recipe brought up to modern times.  This recipe has been in my family for 100's of years, even before they emigrated to the US in the 1600's.  One of the biggest hits we have had in the restaurants over the past years and still a dish people ask me about everyday I am in town. 

Once you make this and sink your teeth into the succulent rabbit and hearty stew with the soft, moist dumplings you too will understand the popularity of it.  I hope you find as many happy times with this dish as we have!

There are several stages to this dish, but all of them are quite easy and do not consume a lot of time.

Ingredients:

• 1 Whole Rabbit
• 1.5 Gallon Water
• 3/4 Cup Chopped Onion
• 3/4 Cup Chopped Celery
• 2 Gunpowder Original Bay Leaves
• 3 Ounces Chicken Base
• 1 Tsp Gunpowder Original Garlic Powder
• 1 Tsp Gunpowder Original Onion Powder
• 1 Tbl Gunpowder Coastal Seafood Seasoning
• 1 Tbl Gunpowder Black Pepper
• 1 Tbl Gunpowder Original Parsley
• 1 Cup Flour
• 3/4 Cup Vegetable Oil

First thing we want to do is fill a medium stock pot with the Rabbit, Water, Vegetables, Base and Seasonings.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 hours, or until the Rabbit is fully cooked.  Remove from heat. Remove Rabbit from the stock, do not toss out the stock, this is the good stuff!  Once rabbit is removed, de-bone the rabbit and put the meat back into the stock.

Now we need to make a Blonde Roux.  This is where the Flour and Vegetable Oil come into play.  In a Cast Iron Skillet combine the flour and oil over medium heat stirring constantly.  Cook until a pale blonde color, the Roux should smell like fresh baked bread.  Once you got this down, now is the time to combine them together.

Bring the Rabbit and Stock back to a boil for 10 min.  Slowly add the Blonde Roux to the Rabbit and cook and additional 15 min.  Now, if you are preparing this for a later date you can cool it down and refrigerate it.  But if you are wanting some now let's make some drop dumplin's and get crackin!

Drop Dumplin's - If you have a time honored family recipe for drop dumplings please feel free to use them.  If you want to try ours you will not be disappointed!

Ingredients:

• Pinch of Gunpowder Original Cayenne Pepper
• Pinch of Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tbl Baking Powder
• 1 Cup Flour
• 1/2 Cup Buttermilk
• 2 Eggs, Whipped

Combine the Drop Dumpling Ingredients together and mix well.  Now comes the fun part!  Crank that oven up to about 400 degrees or so, take your Hot Rabbit Stew and ladle some into a Cast Iron Skillet.  Then grab yourself a spoon and drop some dumplins on the top of that stew.  Toss it right in the oven and pull it out when the dumplins are golden brown and fully cooked!

The Rabbit should be bubbling up on the sides of the cast iron skillet and the golden dumplins will be calling out sweet music from the heavens when you look at the finished dish.  I will tell ya what, you want to make a statement for dinner?  This is the one you want!