Wild rabbit in grass
The 20th of February marks the end of the wildfowling season and with it, the close of the sporting calendar. It’s also the end of my beard (strangely much to the disappointment of my wife) as I’m clean-shaven for the summer, only furring up in the cold for wildfowling.
The 21st of the month however is the start of a new season, and on the farm in Epping and through this blog we have grand plans. My wife and I will be rearing our own birds for our shoot, and will be sharing what we learn with you along the way. I’ll also be blogging about trapping and pest control, and, as ever, the delicious preparation of game food from your hopefully well-stocked freezer (if not I’ll also have some helpful tips on where to find good game out of season). I’m also planning, in conjunction with The Essex Shooting School, to add some instructional videos of how to hone your shooting skills.
Busy times
Many of you will now know my wife has just accepted a new job as sub editor at Shooting Times & Country Magazine. This is a London-based position so we’re currently in the process of moving house. Add to this we’ve just run our largest pop-up restaurant to date at our wonderful friends Jim and Lucy’s house (and former smuggler’s pub) The Falcon in Wivenhoe, and you’ll understand that things have been a little hectic!
To keep us going we’ve been treating ourselves to this delicious Rabbit Carbonara.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 rabbit
4 rashers smoked bacon, chopped into lardons
2 cloves of garlic
400g or 14oz dried spaghetti
100g or 3 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese
4 free-range eggs
1/4 pint of double cream
Rapeseed oil
Method
1. Take the meat off the bones of the rabbit.
2. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, and in it begin to cook the pasta.
3. Heat up a large frying pan and add the bacon and diced up pieces of rabbit meat, with a little pepper to season. The fat from the bacon should be enough to cook the meat, but if not, add a little rapeseed oil.
4. When the pasta is cooked, drain off the water and add to the frying pan, along with a drizzle of olive oil, the double cream, the yokes of two of the eggs, and the whole of the other two eggs. Remove the pan from the heat and stir until the cream and eggs thicken.
5. Serve in large bowls with grated Parmesan on top.
theshotgunchef.wordpress.com 
Hi William and Abbi. Does this mean no more pop-ups? If so what a shame. However congratulations toAbbi on her bew job…and the best of luck. Jeanniex
Sent from Samsung Mobile
The Shotgun Chef wrote:
No we hope there will be many more pop-ups. We will be hosting them in other locations around Wivenhoe and Essex some at the farm in Thornwood and some in London with luck.
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