Wild Recipe

I had a birthday several weeks back & I thank God for His many blessings this past year. This was my day after birthday supper & it was sooooooooo good. It took me by surprise. We hadn't planned on doing anythig special but it just happened that for my birthday Mike brought me flowers and...


his first kill. (On a left over pizza box. Food grade cardboard & all of that.) I felt rather queenly. In a barbarian sort of way.

It was really one of those fun family moments where we all got to learn at the same time. He had never cleaned squirrel, so I watched him figure it out. Victor has a weak stomach for this sort of thing, though Mike told him that the squirrel was God's gift to us & it had probably led a much healthier & happier life than the frozen 3 lb. tube of ground beef I buy every week. The goats were typically very curious; it looked hard cleaning something w/ their noses into it. Victor & Charlotte's job was to entertain them.


The second one was harder to do because of stiffening up & such. Charlotte thought the tail very nice. Is it wrong to let your child pet a disembodied tail? They have creepy little hands w/ very long, thin thumbs.


We soaked the naked, limbless, headless squirrels in lemon juice & water overnight. I read several recipes (this is something Paula Deen is silent on in her books) on the internet & they all agreed that squirrel is a good substitute for chicken. I made something up so I present, my squirrel stew.

In keeping w/ the spirit of the thing I broke out my cast iron skillet. Wash very well to get any fur off, but it's all fiber.
1. Quarter at least 2 squirrels, 4 would probably be better. I used poultry shears for this.
2.Season w/ seasoned salt, garlic salt & pepper.
3. Place in skillet & cover w/ 2 cups of broth (I used turkey stock), a glug of cider (You know, the sound it makes leaving the jug?) & a dash of marsala.
4. Add chopped carrots, onions, celery, garlic (lots!), fennel (less than parsely) & parsely (more than fennel). I had no potatoes, but I would proably use them if I did. I used egg noodles instead.
5. Cover & simmer 3-4 hours, add water if needed. De-bone.

Family reaction differed widely. Mike declared that the single thing wrong w/ it was that there wasn't more of it. And potatoes next time. I liked the egg noodles & thought it was delicious, sort of sweet but not like pork. Victor refused to touch it & received bread w/ butter & a lecture on close mindedness. Charlotte tried it & asked for bread & butter. I added applesauce to their bread & butter. Miranda went nuts. She screamed & asked for a separate bowel all for herself, not wanting to wait for me to chew it for her. Gross I know, but we don't buy the baby food. I chew for her, put it back on my fork & then send it her way.