Rabbit...Sweetbreads...and calves liver

I'm not gonna post any recipes for this unless anyone wants any in specific. This last week was an interesting one when we started out cooking rabbit. It was really easy to butcher and it looked and tasted just like chicken. Literally. It did have a very slight gamey after taste but over all it was delicious. We served that with a rabbit mustard sauce over fresh pasta. Then we moved on to sweetbreads! which is nothing like it sounds it's the thymus gland in the animal, generally taken from lamb or veal because in older animals they aren't very usable. Here's a picture of them raw.

Looks tasty right? We blanched them real quick to solidify them then peeled off a thin membrane to expose what looked like brains. Then pulled them into small pieces like cauliflower. We tempura battered them and fried them and chowed down...They weren't too bad....it tasted like, and had the consistency of a fried mushroom. Really trippy!  So that was my week, next week we have finals and we get to cook calves liver!! not super excited but i'll cook it and eat it for the experience.

They actually look pretty tasty once they're fried : )

Basic Tart/Quiche Crust

Here is a basic crust that I learned for making quiche and tarts. I tried this with quiche and I think it turned out great! it is super simple and really fast! try it out and let me know how it went. here's a pic of my quiche....Not to bad for my first time : ) but practice makes perfect.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 3 to 4 Tbs. cold water

Method:

In a bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Add the butter and shortening and, using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut them in until the mixture looks like coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle in the water, 1 Tbs. at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition and adding only enough of the water to form a rough dough, when it will squish together without really falling apart it's ready.

Using floured hands, pat the dough into a smooth, flattened disk. Use immediately, or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Makes enough dough for one 9-inch quiche or tart shell.