In my experience, it's easier to cook one squirrel and have it come out great that it is to cook several and have them all come out great.
Reason being, the toughness varies SOOOOO much from squirrel to squirrel that cooking them together, it's impossible to have them all done to the same tenderness. I guess if you sorted them as you put them in the freezer it would help.
All the little baby ones would be "tender fryers"
Medium sized or small adults would be "boil and fry" candidates.
The hawgs and old geezers are "crock pot only"
Most of the time, I make squirrel by cutting into 5 pieces. two front legs, two back legs and one back. Then just cover with water and boil it with onion, salt, pepper and celery just like you'd make chicken soup. When they are done enough to almost pull the bones out, remove, drain and allow to cool enough to handle. They are actually pretty good just like this. I think they taste a lot like chicken hearts or gizzards. Next, whip up a batch of your favorite breading and bread the pieces and fry till crispy. UMmmmmm Mmmmmmmm! Ya can get fancy with gravy and stuff but don't need to.
Also, going back to the "cook them like you would chicken soup" angle, they make a very good soup or stew. For that, cook until they are falling apart. Let cool and debone all the meat. Set aside. Strain broth through a screen to remove the celery and onion and such so you have a nice clear broth. Bring broth back to a low boil and add chunked carrots and some mushrooms. A handfull of barley will make you think you went to heaven. Allow at least 30 minutes for the barley to cook fully unless you are using the "quick barley" which is the barley equivalent of minute rice. When carrots are about half done, add some potatos (they cook faster than carrots). Also add some fresh parsley and put the meat back in. Salt and pepper to taste.
You can also really bump it up by adding home made egg noodles but I've done it with the plain old grocery store bow tie noodles and it was good. For thicker soup, cook the noodles right in the broth. For soupier soup, cook the noodles seperately and add at the end.
You can also mess around with about any sort of veggie you like. Grean beans, corn, peas, tomatoes, frozen mixed veggies from the store. If it's good in soup, it'll work.
If you have a mix of young and old squirrels, this recipe works great as all you have to do is take the young ones out as soon as they are done and leave the older ones cook longer.
Dang, I'm gettin' hungry!!!
Topic: Squirell....it's what's for dinner. (Read 763 times)
