also Results: Accomplished!
I am proud to have worked with the Big Green Egg for over a decade as a creative contributor and serious EGGhead. I have been around EGGs since 1977 as my parents had one of the "originals" and I grew up right down the road from Ed Fisher's (founder) first retail store. I have also been involved with helping their marketing team publish Big Green Egg Lifestyle since 2010. So many delicious meals later,  we decided to try some new things and they asked me to prepare and create an entire wild game meal on the Big Green Egg by just "me." I am not a professional chef by any means, however, I love food and have been around professional chefs my entire life My husband, Dan, and I have four (4) EGGs at home and love everyone one of them. And yes, these are my babies! (2) Large EGGS, (1) Small EGG and my sweet little mini! 

I am all about creating realistic, easy-to-make, wholesome food that you can cook at home. Especially these days! After researching wild game, I decided to try rabbit - something totally new for me. I was curious how it would turn out. I can say in one word - AMAZING! 

Rabbit is often available at specialty markets, fresh or frozen, or can be ordered by your local butcher. If you can find fresh rabbit, have your butcher piece it out for you. I sourced my rabbit from Tim Worley, owner of a Bentley’s All Natural Butcher store in the small town of Winder, Georgia. All of their specialty meats and wild game are hormone free with no preservatives. Thanks, Tim and team!

Next, I had to figure out what to pair with this meal. With the help of James Stone. glass artist and former restaurant owner, we decided on bourbon in his kicking' hand-blown rocks glasses!  WOW!!
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Rabbit has a earthier and more intense flavor than chicken - a bit more similar to bone in chicken thighs. The texture is bit different, however, stewing on the EGG really intensifies the flavors for a delicious and nutritional savory winter meal. I really enjoyed making this dish and hope you will try it, too."
~ Nancy Suttles, Creative Director and Dedicated Home Cook

Background
A peasant dish that’s fit for a king, rabbit stew has long been a mainstay on menus across Europe – think ‘Stuffat tal-Fenek’, is considered Malta’s national dish, Coniglio alla cacciatora (hunter’s rabbit stew) in Italy, Estofado de conejo (rabbit stew) in Spain and Lapin à la cocotte (rabbit casserole) in France. Rabbit is also eaten in stews and tagines in Morocco and North Africa. Rabbit is becoming popular again and this warming stew is an old classic. Because rabbit meat tends to dry out during the cooking process, braising it slowly in liquid in this way guarantees the meat to be so tender it falls off the bone. Source: roadsandkingdoms.com


Ingredients
 Print

• 1 ounce of dried porcini mushrooms
• 1½ pounds mixed fresh mushrooms
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 whole rabbit, broken down into pieces 
• 3 large shallots, chopped
• 3 carrots, sliced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 10 small yellow or red potatoes, whole or sliced
• 1 cup sherry or white wine
• 1-2 cups water to soak mushrooms
• 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock – Nancy used “Better than Bouillon” 
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley

InstructionsEquipment
Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven 
Method
Set EGG for direct cooking without a convEGGtor at 500°F/260°C with the Dutch oven preheating in the EGG. Soak the dry porcini mushrooms in water and drain to remove any grit. Set aside.

Season the rabbit legs with salt and pepper. Put the 4 tablespoons of butter and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil into the Dutch oven. When the butter has melted and the oil is hot, add the rabbit legs (in batches if necessary – the meat should sear, not steam). Brown the legs on all sides then remove from the pan and set aside. (video shown above)

Add the convEGGtor for indirect cooking at 375°F/191°C with the Dutch oven back in the EGG.

Add the shallots, celery, porcini and wild mushrooms to the Dutch oven and cook until soft and beginning to caramelize. Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and add enough wine to deglaze the pan. Return the rabbit legs and add the rest of the wine, chicken or vegetable stock, potatoes, carrots and thyme making sure the pieces of rabbit are submerged. For more flavor add the back, ribs and belly loin portions to the stock. Cover the Dutch oven and cook for 60–70 minutes until the rabbit is tender. After 30 minutes, remove the lid to allow the liquid to reduce.

Before serving, remove the back and ribs. For the legs and belly loin, remove meat from the bones and shred. Serve the stew with hunks of freshly baked bread and quinoa salad.

Quinoa Salad Ingredients

• 3 cups quinoa, cooked according to the package directions
• 1 persimmon or blood orange, sliced thinly
• ¼ cup pomegranate arils (seeds)
• 1 bunch of fresh kale, striped from stem and cut into ribbons
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice, separated

Quinoa Salad InstructionsSet your EGG for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor at 325°F/163°C.

In a bowl, massage the kale and toss with 2 tsp lemon juice and let sit while the persimmons or blood oranges cook. This will reduce the coarseness of the kale.

Dry and toss the persimmons or blood oranges with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a roasting pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until slightly browned. Remove and set aside.

Place the kale on the roasting pan and cook for about 10 minutes, until soft and wilted.

Toss the quinoa with the wilted kale and garnish with pomegranate arils, persimmon or roasted orange slices. Add 2 tsp of lemon juice and serve.

Roasted Garlic Bread Ingredients

• 2-4 whole garlic bulbs to roast for the bread
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive for the garlic 
• 1 loaf of 5 grain bread

Roasted Garlic Bread Instructions

​Equipment
Aluminum foil
Method
Set your EGG for indirect cooking with the convEGGtor at 375°F/191°C.
Slice off the top of the garlic bulb (depending on the size of your bulb it should be around ¼ to ½ inch from the top) to expose the individual cloves. Discard any loose papery outer layers. Drizzle the exposed garlic cloves with olive oil. Wrap each bulb with aluminum foil and place on the cooking grid. Cook for 30-40 minutes. While the garlic is roasting, wrap the loaf of bread in aluminum foil and cook 10 minutes or until warm.
Once the garlic is soft, remove from the EGG and unwrap. Gently remove the individual roasted garlic cloves from the skins and spread over warmed bread.
Enjoy!

"There will never be another person as special as our beloved copy editor, Sarah V. Bell. She was diagnosed with cancer  in October and passed away peacefully on December 28, 2020 in Watkinsville, Georgia.. 

She has been with us from the beginning of this amazing journey in editing eleven editions of our special interest publications. She was mindful and often spent time with my late mother, reading to her as her eyesight failed, sharing a cup of tea and a few laughs along the way. She also became close to Maggie Mae and Sadie Sae, our two sister labs and would stay with them when we traveled. She was a caring and loving friend, animal-lover and  co-worker. Her wit, dedication, loyalty and passion will be forever missed. Thank you Sarah for being a part of our lives."
~ Nancy and Dan
Photo by Nancy Suttles in Watkinsville, Georgia. It was one of Sarah's favorites.

Excerpt from her obituary:
No one will ever forget Sarah’s great sense of humor, integrity, intelligence and wit, her dedication to teaching and civic life, her passion for music and literature, and deep devotion to her Christian faith. Every day of her life, Sarah transformed the energy of her clear convictions and love for God into making the world a better place, always with great warmth and heart.
Students from the University of North Georgia, the Prince Avenue Christian School, and homeschool groups recall Sarah as a rigorous English teacher who insisted on critical thinking, good grammar, and close reading of literature. But she was also “patient, kind and never dull – she even made Beowulf enjoyable!” one recalls. A dedicated student of the Bible, Sarah taught and inspired Sunday School classes for many years.
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Sarah’s friends and neighbors will always remember her random acts of kindness—helping a sick friend, driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store, or donating blood to the Red Cross. She also practiced organized acts of kindness.  For 25 years, Sarah owned and operated We Care Animal Haven, a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, and helped other animal rescue agencies connect lost pets with their owners.

A long-time resident of Watkinsville, Sarah enriched the life of Oconee County with her gifts of time and leadership. She served as President of the Oconee County Historical Society, chair of the Oconee County Republican Party, and citizen representative on committees for future land use planning and park restoration. Sarah inherited a love for plants from her father, and was an active member of the Watkinsville Garden Club.  Oconee Observations blogger Lee Becker remembers Sarah as a dedicated citizen activist who engaged wholeheartedly with civic and political life, but “above all,” he says, “she was caring.”

Sarah’s love for music always involved service. She grew up singing in Atlanta’s First Baptist Church choir and North Fulton High School’s national touring choir. She sang and played the piano for worship in numerous churches, and was a member of the 250-voice Jubalheirs.
Sarah’s musical legacy is perhaps most rich and indelible in the life of the Furman Singers, Furman University’s nationally recognized collegiate choir. Sarah’s leadership and love for Singers began her freshman year, and bears fruit today in the vibrant Furman Singers Alumni Association, of which she was a founding member, and in the successful campaign for an endowed faculty chair for music, which she helped spearhead. Retired Singers director and Emeritus Professor Bingham Vick declares Sarah “a true Singers icon. Her love for Furman Singers was without limit, her leadership and influence without peer.”  Singers on tour in 1976 will never forget that moment in the middle of Salzburg, Austria when Sarah suddenly twirled like Julie Andrews and burst into “the hills are alive!”

Sarah is survived by her sisters Glenda Bell Chastain of Dunwoody, GA (Richard Chastain) and Marie Bell Davis, of Woodstock, GA; by nephews Charles Chastain and Jacob Davis, and her niece-namesake Sarah Davis.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 3 p.m., First Baptist Church, Monroe, GA with safe COVID-19 protocols observed.  

To access the live stream of this service, visit HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FIRSTBAPTISTMONROE or HTTPS://WWW.FBCMONROE.COM/ for more information.  Donations in Sarah’s memory may be sent to Bibles for the World, WWW.BIBLESFORTHEWORLD.ORG, P.O. Box 49759, Colorado Springs, CO 80949.