Don't think I do anything much different than most folks, except normally I use a pressure cooker, though I've done this recipe in my cast iron dutch oven also. Kinda goes like this:
Cleaning the rabbit: I make sure every bit of fat is off the bunny, plus I use a filet knife to cut the membrane off the back. Put the rabbit in a big bowl and keep rinsing it until there's not a lot of blood; then stick it in the refigerator until I'm ready to cook it. Might check the bowl a couple of times more, an if there's a lot more blood floating around, I'll dump the water out and add new. By the time I cook it, I like the water that the pieces are soaking in to be pretty clear. Some folks add salt to the water to help "draw" out the blood and the shot; I usually don't bother.
Coating the Rabbit: Then I take a bag an throw in a couple of handfuls of flour, plus a handful or cornmeal and whatever spices I'm going to add. I make this kind of generic coating mix that I use on everything from chicken to rabbit to Deer(like my deer steaks chicken fried). Usually there's salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Cajun Spice, Sazon(a Mexican Spice mixture made by Goya) an anthing else that tickles my palate at the time. Then I throw the wet rabbit pieces in and shake them up good.
Cooking: Then I take a piece of bacon, if I have some, fry it for a while in either the pressure cooker or Dutch Oven pot, take it out and add a small piece of butter(just enough for flavor) and a little cooking oil; enough to coat the bottom of the pot. Add the rabbit pieces and brown slowly. While the rabbit's browning, I chop up a big onion, celery, a couple of medium carrots, mushrooms, the bacon piece if I used one, and a clove of garlic. If I have some sweet red pepper laying around, I add that too. In a small pot, I put two cups of water, add two beef boullion cubes, a couple of dashes of soy sauce, an about a tablespoon of ketchup. Let that heat until the boullion cubes dissolve, add the vegetable to it, then throw the whole mess over the browned rabbit.
In the case of the pressure cooker, I cook it for 40 minutes at 10 psi.
When I do it in the Dutch Oven(actually any big pot with a tight lid works), I bring the mixture(as they say) to boil, cover it tight an put the heat on low, so it simmers for around an hour. When the rabbit's good an tender, I take it out, add maybe another 3/4 cup of wayter and bring the gravy to a boil, an thicken it either with flour or corn starch. Pour the gravy over either rice or noodles, an serve with biscuits(I cheat an use Jiffy Mix) an what ever vegetable you like.
Variations: Sometimes I add a small can of whole tomatoes an canned or frozen green beans to the vegetables/boullion mix. If I use tomatoes, I leave out the ketchup. If I'm doing it in the Ductch oven, I'll add a couple of cubed potatoes during the last 15 minutes or so of cooking. Don't do that in the pressure cooker, they'll turn to mush, unless you want to go through the hassle of cooling the cooker down, adding the potatoes, and then bringing it back up to pressure for the last fifteen minutes. Sometimes, I make it with dumplings instead of biscuits. If I make dumplings I usally make grits on the side. Use your imagination, I guess.
