I Love Seattle Because...

I can go to Melrose Market to pick up my Oxbow Farm CSA at Marigold and Mint, wave at a familiar face at Sitka and Spruce, and then buy half of a freshly butchered rabbit from Rain Shadow Meats, on a whim, all with two little boys in tow. Yes, I do have to bribe them with a little fruit leather to sit and wait for me to pick out our vegetables, and I have to keep reminding them, that this will only take one more second, but I love Melrose Market.

The second reason I love Seattle is that the next day, the kids and I went to the farmers' market to browse, and I came home with a pound of "just-caught it-yesterday" rockfish. The guys there are always happy to see us, and have made a smoked salmon lover out of Tyler.

So, here's my rabbit. And, in case you were wondering, this was the price; almost 1.5 pounds.I was intimidated by that little creature. The guy at the butcher was very casual about how to prepare it, and my boys wouldn't allow me to ask too many questions. Something about "just like chicken...throw it right on the grill...this part is a little tough..." And, since he said it should hold in the fridge for up to 10 days, I didn't rush home to cook it. In fact, I didn't cook it until Sunday.

I braised it on the stove with carrots, onions, celery, garlic cloves and one bay leaf, in chicken stock, for 30 minutes. I was afraid to dry it out. The broth and vegetables were very yummy. The legs were a bit tough to take off the bone, but once off, they weren't chewy. I probably couldn't taken the loin out after 30 minutes and let the legs cook for another 15. I'm not sure. After I removed the rabbit pieces, I tossed in a few picholine olives and let the broth reduce by about half. It ended up being pretty salty, so I added about 2 tablespoons of champagne vinegar. I sauteed zucchini and yellow squash separately, and added those into the vegetables, along with some leftover green beans.

As for my rockfish, David grilled up the fillets last night and we had tacos. YUM!