# Squirrel Recipes Cookbook



## grillitvt

Here is a cookbook for you to review

WoodyBobs Famous Squirrel Recipes Cookbook at www.WoodyBobs.com

Mmm...squirrel


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## gunnar

lol, I almost don't care if it is spam.........................................just the idea is fantastic.


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## chrislehrer

I'd review it happily, but the problem is that I have to make two recipes. And I'm not going out there with a squirrel gun for the purpose. Besides, I seem to remember that teams from the FDA or somebody were trying to convince Appalachians to stop hunting squirrels, because you can get some kind of Kuru (Kreutzfeld-Jakobs, cf. Mad Cow Disease) from them.

Love to try it, but I'll pass on the review.


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## kyheirloomer

Chris, the only thing that came under fire, re: the feds and Appalachian classics, was their attempt to stop people from eating squirrel head stew.

As is usually the case, there is a very slight risk of contracting the disease involved. But you know the gubmint; they have to eradicate any threat at all, whether realistic or not.

To the best of my knowledge (and you're talking about somebody who prefers squirrel to venison), there is no other particular health threat involved with eating squirrels. If you're concerned, you just don't eat the brains. But a simple fricasse is a bit of heaven in a plate.


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## chrislehrer

OK, that's useful knowledge. I think you ought to review this cookbook, though -- I'm not going out there with a squirrel gun, Kuru or no Kuru.


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## prairiechef

Snare them. Why punch holes in them?


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## chrislehrer

Uh huh. KYHeirloomer is into it, runs the review section -- I leave it to him to review this book. AFTER he does so, IF it's good, THEN I'll maybe consider whacking some squirrels and cooking them. I'm not doing it until I have good reason to think that the results are worth the pain. Birds, bugs, fish, sea-bugs (e.g. lobsters), yes, I'll kill 'em. Mammals, I confess I'm squeamish -- but you make me hungry enough, and I'm sure I could get interested in Long Pig.


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## prairiechef

Grew up eating caribou, moose, deer... from hoof to plate. Carcasses aging in the shed and a freezer full of brown butcher's paper packages. Caribou heart, beaver tail, muskrat... it's all good.


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## kyheirloomer

First off, Chris, any Cheftalk member is welcome to post a review. So the original poster, assuming he's here to do more than merely promote his own blog, can review the book for us. 



Of all game, squirrels seem to be the most controversial. Friend Wife, for instance, thinks of them as rats that live in trees, and won't go near them. She'll happily eat as much rabbit you put in front of her, though. In addition to all the big game of North America she's eaten some off-beat foreign stuff, like water buffalo and nilgai. She's faced the mud, mosquitoes, and water snakes to gig frogs at night, and crawled across the prairie to harvest pronghorn. More to the point, she's eaten beaver, muskrat, ****, and possom. Conch and aligator and even rattlesnake has appeared on her plate. But when it comes to squirrel she's just not home. 



Me, I love 'em. They're fun to hunt, and great on the table.



While the book might or might not be worthy of a review, here's a few from my own files to start the salivating.


[h1]*Squirrel Fricassee*[/h1]


2 squirrels cut in serving pieces

1 ½ tsp salt

Pepper to taste

½ cup flour

½ cup shortening (I prefer lard)

½ cup water

1 ½ cups milk

1 tsp grated onion.



Combine salt, pepper & flour. Dredge squirrels to coat well. Fry slowly in shortening until a rich brown on all sides. Add ¼ cup water, cover tightly, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes, adding remaining water as needed.



Remove squirrels to a hot platter and keep warm. Blend left over flour with pan juices. Add milk gradually and cook until gravy boils and thickens, stirring constantly. Add grated onion. Pour over squirrel pieces. 


[h1]*Squirrel Jambalya*[/h1]


2 squirrels, cut into serving pieces

Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper to taste

3 tbls cooking oil

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 med onion, chopped

1 sweet green pepper, seeded and chopped

4 tomatoes, quartered

2 cups raw long-grain rice

1 ½ cups chicken or game stock

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp powdered dry thyme

About 8 drops hot sauce



Sprinkle squirrel pieces with salt, black and cayenne peppers. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven and add the celery, onion, green pepper and tomatoes. Fry vegetablews until soft. Add the meat to the pot, pushing the veggies to the side, and brown the meat, adding more oil if needed. Cover the pot and cool the squirrels on a very low heat for about 30 minutes, checking that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. When meat is tender, add the rice, stock, and balance of the seasonings. Continue cooking slowly another 30 minutes or until rice is fully cooked. 


[h1]*Squirrel & Noodles*[/h1]


2 squirrels cut in serving pieces

1 clove garlic

1 onion, chopped

Salt & pepper to taste

1 ½ cups light stock

1 pint sour cream

Butter

1 tsp caraway seed, tosted

½ cup red wine

3 tbls paprika



Rub squirrel pieces with garlic and brown in 2 tablespoons butter. Push pieces to side and add the onion. Saute until soft. Sprinkle squirrel and onion with salt & pepper to taste. Add stock and wine and simmer covered, until tender, about 1 ½ hours.



Remove meat from pan. Blend sour cream into pan juices. Add caraway seed. Stir in paprika, a bit at a time. Return meat to pan and simmer until piping hot, but don't let boil. Serve over broad noodles.



Don't forget, too, that the famed Brunswick Stew is made with squirrels.



These should get you started. I'm sure others, such as OldPro, can add a few.


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## chrislehrer

Perhaps. But beaver _meat_ tastes horrible. _eeeew_ -- and that's from a guy who's got a thread going (with only one respondent!!!!) about how to cook poultry brains and tongues and feet.


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## chrislehrer

KYHeirloomer said:


> ....
> Of all game, squirrels seem to be the most controversial. Friend Wife, for instance, thinks of them as rats that live in trees, and won't go near them.


Lost me there. I don't know about you, but I have no more or less problem with rats than with squirrels. What's wrong with rats? Depends what they eat, of course -- I don't want sewer/trash rats. But rats fattened for a week or two on corn and bread and good things, what's wrong with that? My problem is _killing_ the suckers. Birds are nothing to me -- louse-ridden overrated horrors. Mammals, that's different.

Let me put it this way. For me, the idea of lowering a bird-feeder into just-barely-jumpable range for very active and athletic cats is totally reasonable. Not right on the ground or anything, but to me, hanging a feeder where a really serious hunter can't nab some prey is evil: trees are okay with me, and bird-baths, because cats can eat there.

Then there's all this "squirrel-proofing." Why? If the guys are clever enough to do "Mission Impossible" shinnying down rails and lines and flipping end-over-end to catch-hold-just-in-time and eat the seed, what's wrong with that? Just because birds happen to have wings, why privilege the dumb buggers? Gimme a slingshot or gun or something, and we'll see about what this and that songbird's tongues and livers and so on taste like.

For me, the mammals are the cool ones here. Cows, well, nice enough, but too much yum. WAAAY too much yum with good hogs. Sheep are dead dumb from start to finish, and while I'd probably cry killing a lamb I'd do it. But why would I want to pot something that's basically cool, tough, fast, and not-especially-edible? Now if you can really, really promise me those squirrels are delicious, well, maybe I'll consider it. Otherwise, bless their fuzzy tails, I'll just jog the bird-feeder so they get more nuts, and then take some shots at the odd bird.

"To Kill a Mockingbird"? I dunno. What's it taste like?


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## kyheirloomer

That's ok, Chris. Just means more venison, rabbit, squirrels, etc. for me.

To paraphrase somebody's signature line, if God didn't want us to eat game animals, why did he make them out of meat?


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## justpj

Lets face it they ARE rats in trees but darn tasty ones when prepared correctly LOL


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## tylerm713

Thought I would give this thread a bump because it's rather amusing. Anyone who is squeamish about squirrel won't like one of our local critters: nutria. They're fun to hunt, and great to eat, but they are essentially a giant swamp rat. Ragondin fricasse is a delightful dish, particularly when it's cold out.


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## kyheirloomer

I always thought nutria tasted pretty much like muskrat.


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## tylerm713

Yeah, they are very much alike. It's hard for me to make a really good
comparison because I've only had muskrat once. It was a bit gamier and tasted a bit more like duck. Nutria reminds me of rabbit with a little heavier texture. Both are great, especially for rats.


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## kees5

>Friend Wife, for instance, thinks of them as rats that live in trees<

In fact, a squirrel in Khmu language named "proowk" was translated for us as "tree rat' by the young Khmu woman in northern Laos, who showed us how to use it in a dish.

The recipe is in our recently published Lao cookbook, which I probably cannot name for fear of breaking adverting rules.

Anyway, the dish "Khmu rattan stew" or "Aw Lahm wai Khmu" used a dried smoked squirrel, and ended up being very tasty.


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## homecook61

Hmmmm...I've never eaten squirrel.  I would like to try it some day.  I have had buffalo and venison and elk a number of times.  Elk meat is especially delicious.  I feel like I've been very lucky to have had elk hunted by my stepfather and cooked by my mother.

I've heard moose meat is delicious too - that's another one I would like to try some day.


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## tylerm713

HomeCook61 said:


> Hmmmm...I've never eaten squirrel. I would like to try it some day. I have had buffalo and venison and elk a number of times. Elk meat is especially delicious. I feel like I've been very lucky to have had elk hunted by my stepfather and cooked by my mother.
> 
> I've heard moose meat is delicious too - that's another one I would like to try some day.


All the ones you listed are extremely good meat. Anything in the deer family will be much leaner than beef, and also more flavorful in my opinion. I grew up hunting deer, elk, and the like, but my favorite wild meat is caribou. My father killed one about 15 years ago on the north slope of Alaska. It was absolutely fantastic.


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## gobblygook

squirrels are not tree rats.  Rats have little fur on their tails, but a squirrel has a very furry tail.  Possums have very little hair/fur on their tails, so they belong in the same group as rats.  I don't care to eat either. 

I'm both impressed and concerned that beaver has been mentioned so many times in this thread and no one has opened the door for my crass jokes.  I rarely OPEN the door, I just run through it screaming.


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## chefross

Squirrel is good.

I used to stew them in my college days with cheap red wine and canned tomato sauce.

The acid in both seemed to help make it more tender faster.

I work for avid hunters so there is always some kind of wild game to clean, and freeze.

Moose, elk deer, pheasant, geese, chuker, (a type of partridge), even bear meat once in a while.

I want him to go wild boar hunting some year, so I can learn how to butcher one of those babies.


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## tylerm713

Chefross said:


> I want him to go wild boar hunting some year, so I can learn how to butcher one of those babies.


Just curious, what state do you live in?


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