Rabbit Paté/Terrine

I wanted to make rabbit for my birthday. It came from a lot of things; experimenting with different proteins, my mom sent me my Oma's meat grinder, could I make it through the whole rabbit?

To start off with, terminology is hard. I classically think of a paté as a forcemeat, and a terrine as cooked, shredded, molded meat held together with a gelatin binder. I want to call what I made a terrine, but I know that is technically wrong.

I got the rabbit at the farmer's market in Union Square. One of the farms there has rabbit and duck only on Fridays, so I was lucky to find it. They come quartered, whole, and whole with organs and head. While I was wary of the head, I wanted the organ meat so as to add some deeper flavor and fat to my dish, so that is what I got.

Caveat emptor. It was more than I expected. After watching several boning videos on youtube, I finally started. First was head removal, as I didn't want to be looked at anymore. I had boned out half a lamb in culinary school, and since all mammals are built the same, it wasn't far off the mark. The size was what made it more challenging. I got through all of it in about 40 minutes, ending up with 3 bowls; meat and organs i wanted, bones for stock, and waste, of which there was little (except the head).

Following some older textbook instructions, I let the flesh sit overnight to bleed out, which turned out to be a good idea. It went through Oma's grinder easily, and I mixed in some minced carrot, shallot, red bell pepper, pistachios, parsley, salt and pepper, and a couple splashes of cognac. I baked it in a loaf pan that I had lined with overlapping bacon, and laid two bay leaves on top to soak in.

It came out delicious. I served it with some delicata squash stuffed with apples, savory, and thyme and some rainbow carrots pan roasted with butter and black pepper. A lovely meal.