I posted this on another forum where a member was talking about how he couldn't even chew the squirrel he cooked and was looking for tips....
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Biggest problem with squirrel is that you need several to make a meal but you seldom shoot a limit that are all about the same age. If you shoot 6 squirrels, you might have 2 or 3 nice young ones, an ancient boar of a male, a mature femal or two etc. Cook times varies a LOT. The easiest thing I've found to do is quarter them up and put all the parts in a pot with just enough water to cover and add a whole onion chunked, a stalk or two of celery chopped, and salt and pepper to taste. You can get fancier and add some parsley or a bay leaf or other herbs of your choice or you can keep it basic. After bringing to a boil, reduce to a simmer for about 45 minutes and start checking your pieces. The young ones will be getting tender so take them out and let the rest keep going. Check about every 20 minutes and only remove the pieces that are ready to start falling apart. When they are all done, you've got a choice.... You can debone and throw the meat back into the pot along with some carrots and taters, mushrooms or whatever you like and make a mighty fine soup. Oh, and noodles! Good old home made Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie noodles! Or... leave the meat on the bone and roll in some plain or seasoned flour or breading mix of your choice and fry them up in oil for a mighty tasty fried treat. My gran'ma used to just roll them in flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper and maybe a little onion powder and fry in about an inch of lard until crispy. Or, you could do both and debone some pieces and bread some and eat it both ways. I sometimes cook up rabbit and squirrel both together this way. The rabbit takes noticeably less cooking than most squirrels but both are equally good if cooked until tender.
You can also skip the soup and reduce your stock down about half, bread and fry your pieces then make gravy from the stock and pour it all together. I've added a bunch of grilled onions to this too and it's real good. Kinda like the southern fried steak with onions and brown gravy all baked in a pan only it's squirrel. Same dish can be made by breading with flour, frying with onions, then putting it all in a casserole dish with gravy made from the frying leavings. Bake a good long while until the parts are tender and enjoy!
Last option and one of my favorites is to make a meat pie. Debone all the pieces and tear down to the size chunks you want. Make or buy two pie crusts and put one in the pan. Get a bag of Frozen mixed vegetables from the store with peas, corn, carrots and lima beans and then make a batch of gravy from the cooking juices. Make double the gravy you think you need... or at least don't skimp on it. Dice up some potato kinda small like the carrot pieces in the mixed veggies and toss it all together until your ratios look okay then fill the pie crust and pour a good bit of gravy over it all or, add gravy to the mixing bowl and stir it all together before you put it in the pie crust. You want plenty of gravy but you don't want it swimming in it. You've probably eaten pot pies before, you know how much gravy they have. No need to measure, I cook casual. Taste the filling and add salt if needed. For sure, grind some fresh black pepper on it. Top with your top crust, crimp the edges and make a couple slits for steam to escape then bake at 350 till golden brown. When ready to eat, have the extra gravy on the table for those who want it. Now THAT'S a good meal!!!!
Topic: Squirrel recipie needed (Read 1371 times)
