Smothered or stewed ... with the gravy served over white rice .
The long simmering in a smother or stew gets the old ones tender .
Gary
Smothered or stewed ... with the gravy served over white rice .
The long simmering in a smother or stew gets the old ones tender .
Gary
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
We haven't been doing tree rats here although my back yard forest of live oaks and cottonwoods is overrun with them. A cousin who planted paper-shell pecans does suppressed .22 squirrel patrol daily, and says he cleans and freezes them til he has enough for a batch. My Mom's side of the family still has a farm near Stockdale and the family recipe (about once a week or near the end of any family gathering) is squirrel and dumplings, just like chicken and dumplings. Cut, flour & brown pieces in bacon grease, then smother in chicken broth with celery/carrot/onion "redneck mirepoix", garlic, salt & pepper, gotta have thyme and any other stew-related herbs, then thicken with flour slurry. Serve with taters and biscuits/cornbread.
Re thyme - I was having fits trying to duplicate my Mom's chicken-fried steak, particularly her cream gravy - I happened to smell a container of thyme and it was "Eureka!". Coriander is a great add to gravies as well, and cardamom is magical for anything sausage-related. Celery seed is interesting too.
The pot pie sounds very similar and more small-family-friendly - we're just SWMBO and me. I've been making chicken, beef, turkey and pork pot pies; I may as well add squirrel, rabbit and deer now that the cool weather is here.
Pinger and Mary, try adding some celery to that stew. It adds that certain je ne se quoi.
Ed <><
Something not to over think: My Mom taught me to quarter them....Rub with Salt & Pepper and some onion powder.
Brown them off in a pot with some oil and then add Water or Chicken stock.... braze them for about 2 hrs covered ...Add some Gravy Master and make a brown gravy.Then Make some bisquick Dumpling mix, Drop on the Hot liquid and cover then Uncover for a bit ( Follow Bisquick Dumpling Recipe on the box )
Brown Gravy Squirrel with Dumplings ....Works great for cotten tails too!
Last edited by JWFilips; 12-12-2020 at 03:13 PM.
" Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation: for it is better to be alone than in bad company. " George Washington
Mama made squirrel and dumplings, we left the heads on and after cooking in the dumplings, we cracked the heads and ate the brains. We also ate the butchered hog brains after picking the 22 short lead out, mixed with eggs.
Brains are great! Ate them when I was young...Back then calves brains were sold in the markets! ( Won't see that anymore) Mom used to make them with eggs too!
I saw on a food show (Zimmern or Bourdain) that Squirrel brains we good eating & I believe that show took place in Tennessee! It was called "eating well off the land" if I remember correctly !
Dang, now I have to get a few squirrels to try try that
" Associate with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation: for it is better to be alone than in bad company. " George Washington
Well for myself, it depends on if you have ole tough as rawhide fox squirrels, or young grey squirrels. The big reds get the pressure cooker, young grays can be fried chicken style. I'd have to say my favorite is a pot pie recipe I picked up on Rimfire Central years ago.
Two cheep frozen pie crust, a can of mixed vegetables (not veg-all) and two cans cream of potato soup. Boil the squirrel, separate the meat from bones, add to the three cans, add seasonings of your liking (onion, garlic, shaker blends, etc). Mix it all together and place in the pie crust, cover with the second, brush with egg white, and bake at 325 until golden brown. Yummy!
I'll throw a squirrel dressing hint out there as well. Remove those glans under their front legs between their legs and ribs and you'll have less gamey tasting squirrels.
Quartered up and soaked in saltwater overnight. Big ziplock with seasoning to drop the egg coated pieces in an after coated well into a large cast iron skillet to fry up to taste served with rice or buttered noodles.
I agree with squirrel stew. A friend of mine who's family came here from Poland in the '50's mother made a squirrel stew that was perhaps the very best meat of any kind I have ever eaten. I wish I knew the recipe. It was made with other stuff from the wild like wild mushrooms. The "boys" used to go out with shotguns to a hilly area and "fill the trunk" with squirrels ...she would CLEAN them AND make the stew to get half of the batch. She would freeze it in about 3 to 4lb packages.
We haven`t done squirrel in a while.
My wife just pan fried it to a golden brown and tossed it in a small pressure cooker for while to tenderize it.
It was mighty good with taters and gravy.
I would use the same recipe as I would use for raccoon, opossum and prairie dawgs....I only shoot one of those on that list.
Take a kid to the range, you'll both be glad you did.
Since I didn't see anyone post it, and seems like a reasonable place for a first post-
My preferred method is pressure cooking them until the meat falls off the bone, then making a sloppy joe/BBQ sauce and mixing it all together. A close second is rotisseried in a small convection oven with a side of fresh mashed potatoes and greens.
Young greys are cooked like chicken with gravy. Old reds are made into pot pie.
3 grey squirrels cut up in quarters ....boil in chicken broth til tender(fall off the bone tender)......let them cool some ...pick the meat.....add store bought dumplings to the boiling stock and add the meat......some kinda good!!
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