So almost two weeks ago the Easter Bunny visited the McCanless residence He was delicious. No, he didn’t taste like chicken. He tasted like Easter Bunny marinated in Defcon 3, breaded, then deep fried.  Why choose Defcon 3 as the marinade?  Well a couple of reasons  First, I wanted the whole family to be able to enjoy this holiday icon.  Second, because it is my understanding that the Defcon compound has been infiltrated by one of these carrot munching rodents.  I really am just trying to help John and Maggie figure out what the need to do to secure the integrity of the compound and bring the focus back to the job at hand (world domination).

Ingredients

1 medium Easter Bunny (about 3 lbs)

1 bottle Defcon 3

Breading:

1 1/2 C garlic herbed bread crumbs

1 Tbl lemon zest

1 Tbl fresh chopped parsley

1 tsp Zane and Zack’s Applewood smoked sea salt  

2 Tbl finely shredded parmesan

Rabbit gravy:

reserved bones and carcass from Easter Bunny

1 onion quartered

 4 cloves of garlic crushed

2 tsp poultry seasoning

corn starch

Render rabbit flesh from bone with a fillet knive (reserve bones for stock).  Cut meat into strips.  Place rabbit strips in a medium size plastic bowl coat liberally with Defcon 3.  Make sure to apply plenty of sauce and stir around or alternate sauce and layers of meat.  Cover tightly and place in refrigerator over night.  In a 9 x 13 casserole dish mix the breads crumbs, lemon zest, parsley, smoked sea salt, and parmesan.  Dredge the marinated rabbit in the bread crumb mixture.  Arrange the breaded strips on a cookie sheet lined with non stick foil or a silpat.  Place breaded strips in the freezer for at least 2 hours (until frozen).   In a medium stock pot add the reserved bones and carcass the onion, garlic and enough water to cover  the stock fixins.  Simmer for 8-10 hours.   Strain out bones and onion and garlic, add poultry seasoning, and reduce to approx 2 C of liquid.  Add corn starch to thicken to desired consistency.  When gravy and any other fixins are ready deep fry rabbit strips at 375 for a minute or two make sure not to over cook, (when they are golden brown they are done).

I know it seams like a lot of work , but this was a fantastic meal.  My 4 year old was chowing it down.  We served our Easter Bunny with corn, mashed potatoes with rabbit gravy, garlic bread, a nice salad, and I enjoyed a Black Butte Porter with my meal!   Please let me know if you enjoy this recipe!