I have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Mississippi Delta (blues and all) and A Southerly Course (Clarkson Potter, Spring 2011) by Martha Hall Foose showed me clearly that it is my loss.
Since receiving the book, I am eager to dive into Martha's universe.
In the meantime I decided to get back to the Year of the Rabbit theme with Martha Hall Foose Southerly Rabbit Terrine recipe, slingshot included.
Rabbit Terrine, Dogwood Forks and Rufus Hussy
Rufus Hussy was perhaps the greatest slingshot shooter who ever lived. Known far and wide as the Beanshooter Man, Mr. Hussy was brought up using his slingshot skills to put dinner on the table for his eleven brothers and sisters. He could spot the perfect fork in a dogwood tree for making a beanshooter and numbered the ones he made; the last one was number 15,864.
As Rufus could attest, rabbits are easy game for a practiced shooter. This year my father made a beanshooter for my son, Joe, out of a forked piece of dogwood and a tourniquet from the hospital where he works. It was wrapped up under the Christmas tree with a one-pound bag of dried beans. If Joe practices enough with those beans, he might bag a rabbit with a marble by next Christmas. I know what I’ll make.
Serves 4
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 young rabbits, dressed and cut into 6 to 8 pieces, rib cages discarded
¼ cup olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, finely chopped 1 small carrot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
3 tablespoons golden raisins
¼ cup honey
½ cup cup wine vinegar
1 cup chicken broth
Heat the oven to 325°F.
Put the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Season the rabbit with salt and pepper, then lightly coat it with the seasoned flour.
Heat the oil in a large ovenproof or cast-iron skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the rabbit in batches and brown it on all sides, about 15 minutes per batch. Transfer the rabbit to a plate and set aside. Reduce the heat under the skillet to medium.
Add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the capers and raisins and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes. Add the rabbit back to the pan.
In a small bowl, combine the honey and vinegar. When the honey has dissolved, pour the mixture over the rabbit. Add the broth and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and bake for 1½ hours or until the meat is very tender and falling off the bone. Remove the rabbit from the pan, and when cool enough to handle, diligently remove the bones. Transfer the meat and all the vegetables in the skillet to a large loaf pan. Cool and chill overnight.
I serve this straight out of the loaf pan with sourdough bread.
A rabbit’s foot carried in the pocket was a lucky charm in the early twentieth century; examples mounted in silver made in America but sold in England were advertised as ”the left hind foot of a rabbit killed in a country churchyard at midnight, during the dark of the moon, on Friday the 13th of the month, by a cross-eyed, left-handed, red-headed bow-legged Negro riding a white horse—this we do not guarantee.”
One hundred marbles for a dollar is a pretty cheap price for ammo—or good luck.
(* Recipe reprinted by permission of the publisher, Clarkson Potter, photograph by Chris Granger)