Anyone ever braised a cottontail?

Had one at Backstreet Cafe in Houston...one of the best rabbit dishes I've ever had. Guess they boiled it first.
Anyone has experience preparing it like that? Thoughts? Suggestions?

I will parboil almost any rabbit in salted water before I fry it or whatever. Unless they are very young, most wild rabbit can be a little tough.

Wild rabbit makes a great substitute for chicken in Coq au Vin. The rabbit is braised in wine with garlic and vegetables. It will take a tough old rabbit (or rooster like the name suggests) and turn it into an awesome feast.

Palehorse, Tell me more about the parboil process you use. How much salt and how long do you let the rabbit simmer?
Thanks,

It's nothing special. Enough salt to make the water about a salty as soup. Simmer the rabbit until it is just tender but not falling off the bone. If it's a younger rabbit, just a few minutes. If it's a big ole tough one, it may take an hour. Add more water as needed to keep the level up. After it's parboiled, then you can batter and fry till golden and it will be not tough at all. The leftover broth can be used as a stock for all kinds of soups and stews.

I understand, thanks. Will have to try this on the next rabbit hunt. We had a couple that were just so bloody tough. Parboil it is!

Palehorse have you ever done this to a jack rabbit?

No, I haven't. I'd give it a try though.

I just started going to a friends lease near Abilene and they have tons of jack rabbits so was thinking of popping a couple and trying that out. Those things are huge and tough from what I have read.

We don't have jack rabbits around here but we have big ole swamp rabbits. Some of those I've had to parboil for almost 2 hours before they were tender. They were still very good to eat though, just took awhile.

I wouldn't do adult jackrabbit...worms

I don't think I would even do a young jackrabbit ... ranchers used to request we kill everyone we saw, we skinned a few, even young ones, full of worms or what my dad used to call a "wolf" which looked like a grub worm, darker in color, under the skin. We quite trying after a couple dozen.

Those are botfly larva. All rabbits get them. Squirrels too. I've heard that it doesn't effect the meat but I'm not eating them like that. I read that those larva were a delicacy to Native Americans. They would just eat them raw as they skinned the rabbit. Not me.

You do need to be careful of tularemia. Wear gloves when cleaning and wash yourself and equipment well. Look for whitish streaks on the liver. If it looks bad, bury the carcass and the gloves you handled it with. Be sure to cook them well too.

Bon appetit!