THE REFRIGERATOR MADE ME DO IT

It's a man thing. It must be. Have you ever noticed that men open the refrigerator door looking for something, and immediately declare that it's not there? Of course it's not there. If the item is not on the first shelf, halfway on the edge, almost falling off of it, it's definitely not there. This is our daily problem: when I ask my husband to hand me something from the refrigerator, it's almost never there, unless I give him the right coordinates, or I go get it myself. For this reason I must take inventory of the contents of our fridge every couple of days. It's just to make sure that there are no "hidden treasures" here or there, or that an item that I thought was consumed or in the freezer, is still lingering around. This inspection is very helpful: what I find in our refrigerator helps me determine what we are going to eat tonight.

FRAGRANT RICE

                                              

                                             

The easiest side dish you can make may come from what you have in your refrigerator. In my last raid of the refrigerator I came out with a box of brown rice from Chinese take out and a bunch of fresh herbs. As I told you last week, I had made a good amount of chicken Milanese to keep for the week, so my find will be the best side dish for it. It's very simple, all you need is some fresh herbs to reinvigorate the leftover rice you have. You'll need:

Brown rice, cooked

Fresh herbs: parsley, dill, cilantro

Scallions, about 3, white parts and some green 

1 carrot

1/2 tbsp canola oil

In the food processor, or the small chop chop, pulverize the carrot, then add the scallions and after a few pulses, the herbs. There is no rule for these: I used what I had, and actually what I like. You can do the same, and it's safe to assume that you have around some fresh parsley and dill that you used in a previous dish and still have some sprigs left. They become fragrant when you cook them and give a nice aroma to your dish. In a non stick pan cook the mix of herbs, scallions and carrot in the 1/2 tbsp oil until tender and fragrant. Add the cooked rice, stirring frequently to make sure that there are no lumps and that all the veggies are incorporated. When the rice is heated through, remove from heat and serve.

GARDEN PASTA

                                                    

We had some guests yesterday. I had a nice menu prepared, but something unexpected happened. The day started with a storm that brought us torrential rains flooding my kitchen and basement. Luckily I had some help for the cleanup, so it was done quickly and efficiently. But I had no time to cook for the guests. The only solution was to order some Italian food from the neighborhood restaurant. It came quickly, was good and plenty, and everybody was happy. Today, my husband declared that there was no need for me to cook anything and that we had enough leftovers for dinner. Yes we had a couple of pasta side dishes that nobody touched, but I was sure that, with all good intentions, my husband and mom, will eat a couple of penne and that's it. I told him that we are going to have pasta, but my way. I knew that I had all the necessary ingredients in my fridge to make a new dish out of the pasta that the restaurant sent as a side dish for the main course. You can choose what you like, and what you have in your fridge, and the ratio to the pasta that you have. You'll need:

2 cups broccoli florets

1 medium zucchini

1 carrot

1 whole turkey kielbasa

About 3 cups of cooked pasta with marinara sauce

1/2 tbsp canola oil

Bring two small pots of water to a boil. Salt the water. Peel the carrot and cut it the size of the pasta (I had penne, if you have spaghetti for example, you can cut it in bite size cubes). Cook the carrot in one of the pots. Cut the broccoli florets, if they are large, to a size closer to the pasta and cook in the other pot, covered, for 3 minutes. Slice the turkey kielbasa in 1/8 inch slices and cook them in a non stick pan in the !/2 tbsp oil. While the turkey slices are browning (about 3 minutes), slice the zucchini also the size of the pasta. Add the zucchini to the browned turkey slices and stir until tender. Drain the broccoli and carrot and add them to the pan. Stir to combine and to make sure that all liquids are absorbed. Add the pasta with its sauce. Mix and stir until completely reheated. You can serve it with some grated cheese on the side.

                                                 

WEEK NIGHT DINNER MADE EASY

When I cook for the week I have to make sure that the food does not seem "old" or reheated to my family, they would never eat it. I always end up eating the leftovers, if I cannot find a way to serve them in a new form, in a way that they seem to be just cooked today. This made me think of  many ways to cook for the whole week, especially when I am working. The only rule is that the food must seem freshly cooked. The best way to achieve this result is to prepare the meals, cook them, but stop just before the last step.

The easiest example is pasta: you can prepare the sauce and even cook the pasta in advance, refrigerate them, then assemble and finish cooking the dish when you need it. This is why I always keep some tomato and meat sauce in my fridge or freezer to be able to whip up a quick pasta dish when I need it. I mix the pasta with the sauce, add some ricotta cheese and grated mozzarella and/or Parmigiano, mix and put the dish in the oven until the cheeses melt and form a nice golden crust. Another safe bet is chicken Milanese: Sunday, you marinate the chicken cutlets, bread them and keep them refrigerated in layers separated by wax paper. I usually keep a meal worth of breaded chicken in the freezer, get them out in the morning before I go to work and fry them as soon as I get home. While they are frying, I make a salad or a pasta dish, or both. In minutes I have a home cooked meal that everybody saw me cooking from scratch!

Of course I noticed that this kind of chicken is one of the family favorites, it's one of the rare dishes that they can eat at any time, fresh or day old, even longer. So I always make extra.

                                   

CURRIED CHICKEN

                                                        

When you serve a lot of chicken, you have to be creative, you have to be always prepared to serve the chicken in so many different ways that your family will love and avoid the feeling that you are serving the same things over and over again. I also noticed that, because I cook with very little salt and fat, from time to time it's mice to have something out of the ordinary, maybe something spicy to shake things up a bit. When I do that, my mom finishes her plate, which is really rare. Today is one of those days: I needed something extra. I thought of going Indian. The spices and curry will be a good departure from the same old chicken dishes. I use little curry, and no hot pepper at all. You may use more and make it as hot as you like. You'll need:

5 Drumsticks and 4 to 5 thighs (I used skinless pieces and the thighs boneless)

2 tbsp onion/garlic frozen mixture

1 tsp Garam Masala (Indian spices)

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

2 tsp curry powder (more to taste)

A dash of cumin

1/3 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk

1 cup chicken stock

1 tbsp Canola oil

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 tbsp water

Salt and pepper to taste

Chopped parsley for garnish

Marinate the chicken pieces in the onion/garlic mixture with salt and pepper. In a non stick skillet large enough to hold the chicken pieces in almost one layer, start cooking the chicken in the tbsp oil. When the chicken is well browned, add all the spices and stir until fragrant, on medium heat. Add the stock, bring to boiling, cover and let simmer to reduce. If you are cooking this dish for later, you should stop now, let it cool and refrigerate for when you need it. Add the coconut milk to the pan, stir to combine. The liquid should be a bit thick. If not, add the corn starch dissolved in water and stir until the sauce is thickened. Transfer to the serving platter, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with white rice. I had some fried cauliflower,  so I added it to my plate.

                                          

SALADS, A NEW PERSPECTIVE

With the heat going on and on with no end, we keep eating salads also with no end in sight. I love salads, but when it becomes your main meal for days, weeks and months, I have to have some variety, just to keep myself from being bored. There are many ways to have variety in a salad, mainly by changing the ingredients and the dressing. But I love to have salad as a meal, so, I always think of new ways to incorporate new elements into my salads to make them healthy and delicious. Another way to change a salad is to have a new perspective on how you serve the salad. Try serving it on a platter instead of the regular bowl, think of new formats instead of just tossing everything together as usual. This is how I got to figure out these new shapes for salads, geometric shapes.

SALAD IN CIRCLES

                                                 

Remember the rotisserie chicken we had the other day? Well, I always have leftovers, so this is a good base to start a salad with. But we just had chicken the other day, so one thing is sure: we have to think of a new way to "cook" the leftovers. Also the idea here is to stretch the leftover chicken a little bit to make a meal that will feed 3 or 4 people, without them thinking that this is the same chicken they had the other day. They will never eat it, or if they do, they will not be very happy about it. Another main concern: if we are "recycling" last night's dinner, we have to add some freshness to it, so cut some fresh herbs and get ready. Remember this recipe is just to give you an idea of what you could do, you can change the ingredients according to what you like and what you have at hand, according to how much chicken you have, how many people you are feeding and the ratio of chicken to the other ingredients you like.  You'll need:

Leftover chicken pieces (I had two breasts, one missing the tenderloin, and some dark meat)

1 (15.25 oz) can of sweet corn

2 (14.50 oz) cans of sliced beets

2 cups of small pasta, cooked (elbows or small shells)

1/2 large carrot

1/2 red onion

4 stalks celery

1 heart of romaine lettuce

4 to 5 sprigs of fresh mint

1 tsp curry powder (more to taste)
1 cup raisins

2 tbsp mustard and 1 tsp mayo

Lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper, all to taste

In the small chop-chop, or the food processor, finely chop the red onion, then the carrot. Transfer each to small bowls. Finely chop the celery. In a large bowl combine the cooked pasta and the chicken pieces after you've cut them into bite size cubes. Add the raisins, some of the celery, the onion and the carrot according to taste and color (I like to have some specks of red, and green in the white mass of the chicken and pasta) and mix. Sprinkle the curry and some salt and pepper. Mix the mustard and mayo in a small bowl. Add some of this mixture to the chicken and toss to coat (start by adding one tbsp, then another if you need). Set aside. Drain the corn, add some chopped onion, carrot and celery to it. Finely chop the mint leaves and add some of them to the corn. Drizzle lemon juice and a drop of oil and mix to combine.

Drain the beets and chop the slices into small bits. Add the remainder of the chopped onion, celery and mint to them with a splash of lemon juice and a drop of oil. Mix. Adjust the seasoning in all three bowls. Chop the lettuce into fine strips and arrange them on a round platter. Spoon the chicken salad in the middle of the platter, making a mound. Spoon the beets around the chicken, then the corn, making sure that you leave a small strip of green all around the platter. Decorate the top with some mint leaves. It looks good in circles, and when it's all mixed up in your plate, it tastes even better.

SALAD IN ROWS

                                             

I noticed lately that my husband, whom I trained with great difficulty to eat salads, started to be very picky with his salads. He now prefers to eat the ingredients separately: he's willing to have a whole tomato or a cucumber or even a heart of lettuce, but not a bowl of mixed salad. He was not a fan of dressing to start with, so for him this became a good solution to my constant nagging about eating right. If you know me, you'll know that I don't give up easily, so I came up with a compromise: we'll have a salad, but not tossed, it will have all the ingredients in rows, so he can pick and choose what he likes. It turned out that this new format is very easy and helpful: it allows you to have variety in the salads you are serving, and the possibilities are endless: you can use crudites, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions etc, cooked veggies cauliflower, peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, canned vegetables or beans, different kinds of olives and cheeses, even pastas or cold cuts and meats, the sky is the limit. I have only one rule: every item should be prepared and seasoned separately, so that when you serve the salad you don't need to add anything to it. It's like having mini individual salads in rows on a bed of lettuce on a platter. This way you are sure that each mini salad is prepared with the best dressing that complements it and brings out its flavors. Also, seasoning every element separately will give it time to absorb the dressing before you serve it, unlike pouring some dressing over the whole thing or even leaving it on the side for each one to add to his plate. One final note: I made this salad once in a large glass bowl. It looked beautiful, but it was very hard to serve because you couldn't reach all the layers in one serving, and you couldn't choose. You had to dig in and get what you find on your way. On a platter, your choices  are there in front of you and you can reach them easily. For today's salad I opted for a variation on "yellow", I chose elements that have various degrees of the color, with specks of red, orange, and black. Sometimes I go for rainbow, with many different colors. You'll need:

1 (15.5 oz can) chick peas
3 strips bell pepper each red, yellow, orange, finely chopped
1 cup cubed mozzarella (the size of the chick peas)
chopped cilantro, about 1 tbsp
1 tsp cumin
Dash lime juice, drop of oil
6 small potatoes, boiled, peeled and cubed
3 scallions, finely chopped, white parts and some green
1 tsp cumin
Dash lime juice, drop of oil
Artichoke hearts in olive oil, drained
Grated Cheddar cheese
Black olives
2 hearts romaine lettuce

In a small bowl combine the drained chick peas with the following 5 ingredients, seasoning the whole thing with salt and pepper  to taste. Set aside. In another bowl, mix the potatoes with the scallions, cumin, lime juice and oil. Season and set aside. Chop the lettuce in small strips and arrange on a platter. Start at one end by arranging the store bought artichokes, then at the other end add the chick peas, making sure that you don't transfer too much liquid from the bowl to the platter, to keep the lettuce crisp. Arrange the potatoes in the middle, then add the Cheddar between them and the artichokes. Add the olives in any pattern you like.
TIP: this salad can be prepared ahead and kept refrigerated overnight.

ON SECOND THOUGHT...

My oven broke down on Saturday. I had prepared a beautiful lasagna for the week-end, and when the time came to put it in the oven, it didn't work. You should have seen the look on my husband's face when he got the news! I told him not to worry, I have a solution. Of course he didn't believe me until I served him the much awaited lasagna. My solution? Simply cut the lasagna dish in two, transfer one part to a microwavable dish and microwave on high for 4 minutes, then two minutes and another two minutes until it's done. Keep the other half refrigerated, or better yet, freeze it for another dinner. You're certainly not going to eat lasagna for two consecutive weeks. Actually, I used to do it in the old microwave oven that took the whole pan to save time. Saturday I did it for necessity.

This made me think of what to do until the oven is fixed, or we get a new one. My husband had asked for stuffed potatoes, and he got the same look when he thought about the impossibility of having them since the oven was not working. Don't worry, I assured him, I'll think of something. So here is what I did.

STUFFED POTATOES # 2

                                                      

You might remember this dish from a previous blog. This time I'm trying to make it without an oven, on the stove. So the main idea is to cook it in a sealed or covered pan, large enough to hopefully hold all the potatoes in one layer. I have a 7 Qt covered non stick pan that I think will do the job. The second problem is preventing the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the pan, when you cook them in the oven you don't have this problem, since the heat is all around the pan, but on the stove the heat source is on the bottom. So what kind of protective layer can I put on the bottom? The solution is simple: I first thought of putting a layer of the potato shavings, then I said "what if I add some veggies?" And I did. It came out perfect and so fragrant that mom asked from her room upstairs about what was cooking that smelled so good. You'll need:

10 to 12 potatoes large enough to cut in 2 or 3 pieces

About 2 cups of browned ground beef

1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste

1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

4 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/2 large carrot, finely chopped

1 tsp oil

Oil for frying

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel the potatoes and cut them in 2 or 3, depending on their size, crosswise. Put them in salted water to prevent them from changing color. With a vegetable peeler dig a hole in the smaller tip of each potato piece: you'll get small cones of potato, then continue shaving the hole to make it large enough to fill with meat. Just make sure that you don't go all the way to the bottom and pierce it. For the middle parts of potato: start by making the first hole, then another one near it and another one, then connect them to get a large one. Keep the potatoes in the salted water until you brown the ground meat. Just add some onion/garlic mixture to it, plus salt and pepper and let it cook in a non-stick skillet, turning often to prevent lumps, until it absorbs all its liquid and gets browned.

In the large pan, cook the onion, celery, carrot and potato shavings in the tsp of oil until soft. Of course don't forget to add some salt and pepper. Set aside. Drain the potatoes, and start frying them, and the small cones that you got from carving them, in oil until light golden. When you remove them from the oil, make sure that they don't have any oil in their cavity, and put them on paper towels upside down to drain any possible oil left in their cavity. When they are cool enough to handle,  stuff them with ground meat and arrange them in the pan, over the veggies. Add the larger cones of potato around the stuffed ones to fill in the gaps. If you did like I did, I browned a large quantity of beef, so I transferred the meat that I didn't use to a container and refrigerated it for later. In the same pan cook the tomato paste adding 3 to 4 cans of water to it, stirring until it's all dissolved and bring to boiling. You may add a pinch of garlic powder and some salt and pepper, but remember that all the other elements are already salted. 

                                                  

With a ladle add the tomato sauce to the potatoes so that the stuffing doesn't fall out, and just up to the edge of the potato. I had them in one and half rows. Cover the pan, bring it to boiling, then reduce heat to the minimum until the potatoes are fork tender and the sauce reduced and thickened. The only down side of this method is that I had to serve it in the pan, I was afraid to transfer the potatoes to a serving dish for fear of breaking them.  But when I did, I was careful and they came out OK, so I guess it's safe to transfer the cooked potatoes, carefully, to a serving dish and then add the sauce with the veggies on top.

                                      

SUNDAY DINNER MADE EASY

There is something magical about a chicken cooking, turning and turning in a rotisserie. My husband used to sit mesmerized in front of the TV ad with meat and chicken cooking in the rotisserie, until we got one. As you may have guessed, the first two or three month we only ate roasted meats, then we cooled off. But it is still a favorite. I still get a twinkle in his eyes when I announce that today we are having something cooked in the rotisserie. For me it's still a favorite because cooking in the rotisserie, like the slow cooker, gives me all the freedom to do other things around the house. All it takes is for me to marinate whatever I'm cooking for 30 minutes, put it in the rotisserie, turn it on and go on with my life. Since it's Sunday, I am cooking for the whole week, or at least I am preparing a couple of meals to cover two or three days of the week. So, I'll prepare the chicken, cook something quick for today and see what else I can do for the week ahead. I decided to make a quick pasta dish to use the beautiful mushrooms I got the other day from the market. My meal and my blog today are the easiest and shortest ever. You don't need a recipe for that!

ROTISSERIE CHICKEN

                                                    

Next to buying the chicken from the store around the corner, this is the easiest way to cook a chicken (and it's tastier too!!). I know I sound like I am making an ad for the rotisserie, but it is really true. Get a nice whole chicken, clean and trim the fat from the chicken cavity, rinse it under cold running water and pat it dry. Sprinkle the cavity with salt and pepper (I use Adobo seasoning) and a splash of lime juice if you want. Rub the chicken with some more seasoning and let it marinate for 30 minutes. Put the chicken in the rotisserie and set it according to the instructions. I usually give it 15 extra minutes, just the time for the machine to reach the proper heat. When the time is up, let the chicken stand for 5 minutes or so before you remove it. Transfer to a platter and serve.

FARFALLE WITH MUSHROOM SAUCE

                                             

While the chicken is doing its thing in the rotisserie, bring some water to a boil in a large pot. In the mean time, clean the mushrooms with a moist paper towel, and remove the stems, then slice them. For this dish I had some regular white mushrooms, they were huge, firm and beautiful. I also had some dried mushrooms. I put 2 cups in a bowl, added boiling water to cover and let them re-hydrate. You can use any kind of mushrooms you like, fresh or dried. Remember my pasta rule: a handful for each person plus one extra. So I added the pasta to the boiling salted water. In a large non stick pan add 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture. On medium high heat, cook the onion mixture until translucent then add the fresh mushrooms. Don't add any salt yet, we don't want them to sweat and render their liquid, I need to brown the mushroom slices. When they are wilted down and browned you can add some salt and pepper. Drain the re-hydrated mushrooms, if you are using them and add them to the pan. Stir for 3 minutes then add the liquid from the mushrooms. Make sure that you didn't add the whole bowl, because usually dried mushrooms leave some particles (like sand) on the bottom, and we don't want to add that to the sauce. If you have some sauce left from a previously roasted meat, add it to the sauce and let it simmer until it thickens. You may add a tbsp of flour to make it thicken quicker.

If you want to cheat a bit because you don't have any leftover brown sauce, you can use one or two tbsp of powdered gravy or some granules or a cube of beef stock. Serve over the pasta.

Toss and add some grated cheese if you want.

                                          

TOO LAZY TO COOK? NO PROBLEM...

It's normal to feel lazy every now and then and not be willing to slave over dinner in the kitchen. For these days I have the best solutions: easy meals that almost don't need any cooking. You can prepare them with whatever you have at hand, use elements that you have cooked in advance, leftovers, ingredients from the pantry and to give them a fresh spin and flavor some fresh herbs from your garden. I got the idea for the first dish when mom asked to have stuffed vegetables. I was really feeling lazy, so, trying to get out of it I asked if she could settle for the stuffing, which would be easier, without all the work preparing and stuffing the veggies. She was not convinced, but said OK anyway, trying to be cooperative. She knew that it was going to be OK, since I always cook some stuffing separately when I make any stuffed vegetables. But she's in for a nice surprise.

TURKEY AND VEGETABLES RICE

                                            

I usually buy and cook ground turkey and keep it frozen for whenever I need it. So, I defrosted a bag of cooked ground turkey and got ready to work. Usually the stuffing for vegetables is made of ground meat, rice, parsley, dill, onions and tomatoes. Then you have the vegetables that you are going to stuff. So, what if I make the same thing, put the outside veggies inside and use some fresh herbs from the garden? I think it will work. But I didn't have any parsley or dill, and my husband said, no tomatoes. OK. Still we'll make it work with substitutions. And it actually did. The best part is that I used the ground turkey that I had cooked and frozen, some Chinese rice, vegetables from the fridge and fresh herbs for additional zing. You'll need:

1 lb cooked ground turkey

1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (or brown if you prefer)

1/2 green bell pepper and 1/2 large carrot

1 small onion or 1/2 medium

3 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped

3 to 4 sprigs of mint, leaves finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 cup chicken stock (you may not use it all)

1 tbsp oil

I cook the ground turkey with my usual onion/garlic mixture, add salt and pepper, stirring frequently until browned and all its liquid absorbed. Finely chop the onion and let it cook until translucent  in a non stick skillet with the tbsp of oil. Pulverize the carrot in a food processor and add it to the onion. Finely chop the bell pepper and add it to the skillet. Add some liquid, a tbsp at a time, to the skillet until the veggies are tender. Add the ground turkey, the rosemary and the cumin and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, then add the rice and some liquid (not too much, just enough to wet it). Stir, making sure that there are no lumps of rice or turkey. Add the mint leaves, mix and remove from heat. Serve. You may serve it on a leaf of butter lettuce. Bell peppers and lettuce are all veggies that we can stuff.

PASTA WITH TURKEY SAUCE

This may be the easiest dish you can ever make. It's as easy as boiling pasta. How easy is that? On my lazy days, this is my go to dish: I use the ground meat I keep in the freezer (today it's turkey), add it to any sauce I have at hand, today it's a leftover sauce from chicken ragout I made a couple of days before (recipe May, 2011), that I also froze, and use it to top any pasta I like, in this case elbows. (The sauce had carrots and celery in it). I was so lazy that I didn't even go out to the yard to cut some fresh basil leaves to sprinkle over my dish. Still it worked out perfectly, I opted for a sprinkle of Parmigiano on top. Delicious and easy.

                                                                                             

                                                   

MY GRANDMA'S DINNER

I don't know what exactly came over me on Sunday, but I woke up determined to have an old fashion dinner, a dinner like my grandma used to make. Can I really do that? Cook a whole meal the old, traditional way, without any tweaking? I think I can. I had a rabbit defrosting in the refrigerator, so I decided to make a whole meal around it, a classic, traditional rabbit with molokheya and rice, just like the one we used to have growing up. I usually cook my rabbit the Italian way, or my way, but this time I decided to give in to my nostalgic feelings and cook exactly like my grandma. I have to tell you that I announced this decision at 1 o'clock after having a late breakfast and reading the Sunday papers, so everybody tried to convince me that I should make something else, "you don't have enough time", my mom said. So I said, "we'll see, if things get difficult, I'll whip up something else for today and continue with the rabbit tomorrow". Well, it turned out I was right: it's not that difficult and it doesn't take the time people want you to think it does. Maybe this was a trick from our mothers and grandmothers to convince us that they were doing a very difficult job? Or maybe they simply didn't want us to ask for it so often; or, and this is my theory, grandma didn't have the tools that we have today and this is why it took so long for her to prepare this meal.

For the molokheya, I couldn't resist, I had to make it my way, the easy way (November,8,2011 blog).

Rice, you know by now how to cook it; just make sure that you use the rabbit stock instead of water.

                                                

CLASSIC RABBIT RECIPE

To have this meal, you have to start with the rabbit. You should cook it first, and then cook the rice and the molokheya, because the rabbit stock will be the base of the other two dishes. You may have read in previous blogs that I cook the rabbit in a very simplified way, and never go through the whole process like grandma. But today is different, simply because I wanted to know if it really makes a difference. To be sure I asked my friend Batta, who usually follows all old instructions to the letter, and I consider her the keeper of traditional recipes. She confirmed what I remembered being the old recipe. So here we go. You'll need:

1 whole rabbit cut into six pieces 

2 to 3 mastic crystals (found at Middle Eastern grocery stores)

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 small onion

1 tbsp oil

1 tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

Rinse the rabbit pieces and pat dry. Put the rabbit pieces in a large bowl, sprinkle them with the flour, cardamom, salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Transfer the rabbit to a pot, preferable large enough to have the pieces in one layer. Add the mastic crystals and the oil and start cooking on medium high heat. Turn the pieces once and cook them until their flesh becomes white, don't overcook them or brown them. Add water to the pot and bring to a boil. Remove the white foam that might appear on the surface of the boiling pot whit a large spoon, once or twice. Add the onion, reduce the heat and continue cooking keeping the lid ajar on the pot. When the onion is almost cooked and tender, you may start taking some of the stock to make the molokheya and the rice. Continue cooking the rabbit, adding more water to compensate for the stock you used in the other dishes, and until the rabbit is fork tender. Remove the rabbit pieces and let them stand until ready to serve. Melt the butter in a non stick skillet, add the rabbit pieces and cover. Cook undisturbed for 3 or 4 minutes on one side, then turn the pieces on the other side and cover. When the rabbit pieces are golden brown, transfer to a serving dish and repeat with the remaining pieces. Serve with rice and molokheya.