Saddle of Rabbit in Applewood—Smoked Bacon with Caramelized Fennel, and Fennel Oil

I love using rabbit, which we get from co-ops in Oregon. It tastes neither like chicken nor like wild hare. It’s moist and incredibly tender. It’s like fish in that it’s a good vehicle for tastes. Here it carries the bacon and fennel flavors beautifully.

Serve rabbit no more than five to ten minutes after cooking it, as it has a tendency to become mealy if it rests too long.

For this recipe, we do not use the legs. D’Artagnan sells what they call a “super” saddle, the saddle