Squirrel season has just started here and while out deer scouting I found some hot spots where the squirrels have been feeding heavily. Im curious what's a good way to cook squirrel? Im not going to lie im a pretty picky eater and not ever trying squirrel im a little nervous about eating one in fear of it tasting bad.
What's a good way to prepare one so it has good flavor? How good are they? Ive tried rabbit and thought it was pretty good when cooked right so in hoping there's a way to prepare squirrel so that ill like it. If anyone has a good recipe please let me know. Thanks in advance.
Aint no such thing as a bad tasting squirrel.
Personally, I like mine sprinkled with season salt and some garlic pepper, then grilled over oak or hickory.
Another way I do it is to roll it around in a cornmeal/flour mixture then drop it in a cast iron skillet filled with screamin hot corn oil. Its gotta be cast iron, though...they have laws against frying squirrel in teflon.
SAVE THEM BRAINS!!! Peel the hide off the head and drop the skull into a simple squirrel stew. That meat'll cook off the bones. When the stew is done, them brains is done. Crack the skull open and dig it out.
I like to keep my recipes for squirrel very simple, cause I like the natural flavor of the meat. People will suggest bbq squirrel and squirrel and dumplings. Those are good too.
Cherish the squirrel.
Boil squirrel until tender with a tablespoon pickeling spice may take awhile. remove, discard water. coat squirrel in favorite coating like seasoned flour and buttermilk or egg and corn flakes,etc get frying pan hot add olive oil and place squirrel in pan brown both sides on med to med high. add 2-3 cups of chicken broth and reduce by 50%.
remove squirrel and thicken broth with rue (melted butter and flour) or flour milk season with salt and pepper to taste a little red pepper or tabasco if you like, return squirrel to pan and simmer on low 15-20 minutes. serve with biscuits, or potatoes. use same meat recipe for sauce with white wine, or red wine and mushroom gravy. (no Brains allowed) If someone offers you squirrel brains run like he#$
squirrel is probably one of my favorite wild game because it is very sweet to me.. simply salt and pepper it to taste, then roll in flour and pan fry until done... serve that with some bisquits, rice, and milk gravy and its slap yo mama good ha
* 6 slices bacon
* 3-4 squirrels, cut up
* 1 large onion, peeled and sliced
* 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
* 3 tablespoons flour
* 1 (10 ounce) can beef broth
* 1 tablespoon tomato paste
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/2-1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 whole bay leaf
* 1/2 lb white pearl onion, peeled
* 1 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 1/2 cup Burgundy wine
Directions
1. Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp.
2.Remove from pan and drain.
3.Add beef cubes to the same pan and brown well.
4.Place browned beef cubes in crock pot.
5.Add onion slices and carrot slices to skillet.
6.Season to taste with salt and pepper; stir in flour.
7.Add broth and mix well.
8.Add this mixture to the crock pot over the beef.
9.Crumble cooked bacon and add to crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients except mushrooms.
10.Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.
11.Saute mushrooms and add to crock pot with wine about 1 hour before serving.
Enjoy!!!
Make great dumpplings.
Here are some. Squirrel Recipes (http://www.huntingpa.com/Squirrel%20recipes.html)
I hope Ron LaClair answers you. His squirrel feast in camp every year is the highlight for me.
The old boars & sows can be tough when frying. Save the young ones for those recipes.
Easy way is to put them (squirrels) all in a crock pot & cover with whatever BBQ sauce you prefer. Always tender.
Hey everyone thanks so much for the help. I got alot of choices so I think im bound to find a way that I like. If anyone else has more please post. Its off to work then home to chase some squirrels with the stickbow :archer:
Prepare the legs as if they were hot wings! They're just hot legs instead!
They make great protien shakes :goldtooth:
I just tried this one. Boil two squirrels till meat falls off the bone. Add that to a box of Zatarain's Gumbo Mix or New Orleans Style Jambalaya with Cheese. Good Stuff!
I'll put 2 to 3 (depending on fox or grey) dusted with Riley's All-Purpose Seasoning in a crock pot with Sweet Baby Rays, a sliced Vidalia onion, and a little dry red wine. Set the crock pot on low and let it go for several hours.
I'm also a fan of the various Zatarains's mixes. Squirrel makes a great substitute for anything calling for chicken.
Do you guys soak them in salt water prior to cooking them? Ive seen some with grubs in them do you guys cut the grub out and still use the squirrel or discard the whole animal?
ok here ya go this will do the trick. put tree rat in a pot ad a stone and water bring to the boil and simmer for two hrs then let it cool. when the tree rat is cool throw the tree rat away and eat the stone. :biglaugh:
I soak mine in saltwater overnight in the Fridge. Rinse them off the next day and toss them in the pressure cooker for about 8 -10 minutes then lightly season with Lawry's and black pepper and roll in House Autry Chicken breader and fry in Canola oil until Breading is brown. Place on Plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Enjoy
Them grubs is probably just botfly larvas. You can eat the grub if you want, but I'd rather not. They creep me out a bit. The meat is still good if they got the botfly grub in them, but its just a bit unsettling.
I've read that Native Americans wouldn't eat a squirrel or rabbit in warm weather unless they had a botfly larvae. The larvae only infest healthy animals, and they don't affect the meat.
But they creep me out, too.
I quarter them (kinda like wings) then soak in buttermilk overnight, Season them with celery salt, pepper, red pepper, just a touch of dales, and pepper sauce. Batter and pan fry in a cast iron skillet at about 375 in olive oil and butter till golden. Homemade cathead biscuits, grits, and a couple fried eggs to go along with them on a plate so they dont get lonely :)
First I boil them for 30 minutes. Meat falls off the bone. I dip the meat in egg/milk and bread in Jiffy cornbread mix. Then I fry up the meat with bacon. Great! Good w/ rabbit as well.
My all time favorite way to cook squirrels:
boil in water and white wine till meat can be picked off the bones.
add green peas and little pearl onions (I keep both in the freezer ready for this)
make a white sauce (equal parts flour and butter simmered in a skillet then add milk and simmer till it thickens)
add the squirrel meat and vegies to the white sauce. place this mix in a deep pie dish or baking dish. Make a top crust out of Buisquick (follow package directions for biscuits) and put it on about 1/3 inch thick. bake till brown on top.
oh man, I can taste it now. must be time for my annual squirrel massacre.
My favorite squirrel recipe
Boil squirrels in water until they fall off the bone, like chicken, and put them in yellow rice. Nothing better than squirrel and yellow rice.
Will make your tongue slap your brain:)
Vanilla Gorilla the botly creeps you out!you eat the brains for cripes sake...LOL
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=7;t=000381
I'm gonna try the Zataran's way. I love the stuff, just never thought to put squirrel in with it.