Opossum, Squirrels and Woodchucks - They Can Be Eaten

Old cookbooks have a wealth of interesting recipes that have long been forgotten. During the wars, the depression, and other times of rationing, people often had to use what they could find. There always seemed to be lots of squirrels. Woodchucks always seemed to eat everything you planted, and then some. Oppossums were not as much of a problem, but they could be mean. So having found some of those old cookbooks, I thought I would share some of the interesting recipes I found.

Mind you, I have not tried any of these. I don't have any photographs of the finished dishes, but if you are adventurous and want to try some of these, share your photos and your opinions.

PREPARATION OF WILD GAME

If you are a hunter, it is very easy to know how to safely kill these somewhat nuisance animals. If you  are not one to like guns, you can catch them with various traps available at places like Cabela's or other sport shops. Once they are trapped and killed, you need to skin them and you need to remove the scent glands and the organs.

OPOSSUM - Place a stick through him and hang him to let him bleed out, about 12 hours. Place him in a half filled tub of scalding water, holding by the tail, until the fur begins to strip. Take him out of the water and pluck off the fur. Draw, clean and hang him up to freeze for two or three nights. You might have to use a freezer for this if you are not in a place with freezing nights. (From the book Camping and Woodcraft, Horace Kephart. One source to buy is Amazon.)

SQUIRREL - To skin, hang up by the hind legs. Slit skin around first joint of hind legs. Insert knife in slit and loosen skin around the legs and rump. With fingers, pull tail and skin down over body until free. Cut off head and feet. Slit down front and remove entrails, reserving the heart and liver. When ready to cook wash thoroughly and dry. (From New American Cookbook, published by Books Inc in 1941. Edited by Lily Haxworth Wallace.)

WOODCHUCK - An old timer named Bob Flowers from the Smokies recommends only eating the gray ones. He says to remove the scent glands from under their front legs. Skin them and remove the entrails. I have no idea how to skin a woodchuck. Boil them fast to get all the strong into the water. According to J. Alden Loring, the only way to cook a woodchuck is by roasting him whole on a stick over a hot fire. (From the book Camping and Woodcraft, Horace Kephart.)

Recipes for cooking these three game animals.

OPOSSUM 

Recipe 1582 in New American Cookbook, 1941.
Plunge animal into very hot but not boiling water for 2 minutes. Pull out or scrape off hair without damaging the skin. Slit belly from throat to hind legs. Remove entrails, feet, eyes and brains. Do not remove head or tail. Wash thoroughly. If possible freeze for 3 or 4 days. When ready to cook, wipe with a cold, damp cloth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put in roasting pan. Add 1 cup water and the juice of 1 lemon. Bake in hot oven (400 F) for 15 minutes, turning once. Cover. Reduce heat and bake in moderate oven (350 F) 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

From Camping and Woodcraft, page. 311

After freezing for a few days, place opossum in a 5 gallon kettle of cold water that you have thrown two pods of red pepper. (Perhaps cayenne.) Parboil for one hour in the pepper water. Throw out the water and refill the kettle with fresh water. Boil for an additional hour.

In the meantime, slice and steam some sweet potatoes. Take the opossum out, place him in a large Dutch oven, sprinkle him with salt, black pepper, and a touch of sage. Lemon juice can also be added. Pack the sweet potatoes around him. Pour a pint of water into the oven, put the lid on. Bake slowly around 325 until brown and crisp. Serve hot with no gravy.

WOODCHUCK        

I had no recipes for cooking a woodchuck. I decided to do a Google search. I found a site called Wild Game Recipes. So I will only list two recipes.

Woodchuck Stew

1 woodchuck
2 onions, sliced
1/2 cup celery, sliced
Flour
Vinegar and water
Salt and pepper
Cloves

Clean woodchuck; remove glands; cut into serving pieces. Soak overnight in a solution of equal parts of water and vinegar with addition of one sliced onion and a little salt. Drain, wash, and wipe. Parboil 20 minutes, drain, and cover with fresh boiling water. Add one sliced onion, celery, a few cloves, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until tender; thicken gravy with flour. 

Woodchuck Pie    

1 woodchuck, skinned and cleaned

1/4 cup onion
1/4 cup green pepper
1/2 tbsp minced parsley
1 tbsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 1/2 tbsp. flour
3 cups broth

Biscuits:
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. fat
1/4 cup milk

Cut woodchuck into 2 or 3 pieces. Parboil for 1 hour. Remove meat from bones in large pieces. Add onion, green pepper, parsley, salt, pepper, and flour to the broth and srit until it thickens. If the broth does not measure 3 cups, add water. Add the meat to the broth mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour into baking dish.

For biscuits: sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Cut in the fat and add the liquid. Stir until the dry ingredients are moist. Roll only enough to make it fit the dish. Place dough on top of meat, put in a hot oven (400 degrees F.) and bake 30 to 40 minutes or until dough is browned. Serves 6-8. 

SQUIRREL          

All recipes were taken from New American Cookbook, 1941

Recipe 1579 Roast Squirrel

Boil heart and liver until tender. Chop fine and mix with poultry stuffing dampened with water in which giblets were cooked. Stuff squirrel. Sew the opening in the belly. Tie or fasten legs close to body with skewers. Rub squirrel with butter, oil or fat before cooking. Place on side in roaster. Roast in hot oven (450 F) for 15 minutes, turning once and basting frequently with melted butter or drippings. Reduce heat and continue cooking in moderate oven (350 F) 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, basting every 15 minutes. Make gravy by adding a little flour, mixed to a smooth past with cold water, to drippings, blending well. One squirrel should be two servings. 

Recipe 1580 Brunswick Stew

2 gray squirrels                                                                   2 cups canned or strained

1 tablespoon salt                                                                           stewed tomatoes

4 potatoes, pared and cubed                                               1/4 pound diced salt pork

1 cup canned corn                                                               1 tablespoon butter

2 diced onions                                                                     1 tablespoon flour

1 cup lima beans                                                                 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Skin, dress, draw and clean squirrels. Disjoint. Put 8 cups water and salt in kettle. Bring to boil. Add squirrels, potatoes, corn, onions, beans, tomatoes and salt pork. Cover and simmer 2 1/2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. Add flour, mixed to a smooth paste with butter. Mix well. Cover and cook 15 minutes more. Season with pepper and stir until slightly thickened. Serves 6 to 8.

Recipe 1581 Squirrel Pot Pie

3 gray or fox squirrels                                                          1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup flour                                                                         1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoons butter                                                              Rounds of biscuit crust (not sure if biscuit is baked)

1 chopped onion.

Skin, dress, draw and clean squirrels. Disjoint. Roll in flour. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in saucepan. Saute squirrel until brown. Add 1 quart boiling water, onions, salt and pepper. Cover closely and simmer 1 hour. Lay rounds of crust on squirrel. Cover. Boil 15 minutes. Remove crusts and squirrel to hot platter. Blend 1 tablespoon flour and 1 tablespoon melted butter and add to liquid in pan, mixing well. Pour over squirrel and crusts. If desired lemon juice, sherry or Worcestershire sauce may be added to gravy before serving. Serves 6 to 8.

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Well, I hope some will try to refine these recipes. Many of the old cookbooks did not put complete directions, so some of these recipes may take a little trial and error to see what works best. These game animals are quite plentiful and there should be no issue with overhunting them, especially the squirrels. Happy hunting and happy cooking.                          

 

Leftover Steak - What can be done?

It was a busy day today.  The weeds have reached over the vegetables in some parts of the gardens, so they had to be tamed down.  We have gotten some showers in the past few days, which put everything into overdrive for growth.  Despite the drizzle today, I still had to go out to see what I could do for my poor veggies.  The weeding took perhaps 2 hours, and now the gardens actually look like a garden, rather than a scruffy patch of tall grass in the middle of the yard. 

Once the weeds were gone, I realized I had a huge area in my spring garden with absolutely nothing growing in it.  The peas are gone, the cauliflower is gone, much of the dill is gone, and my lettuce and french greens are gone.  I hate seeing garden space not being used, so after turning up the dirt and dressing it with Moo Doo, which is a composted manure for organic gardening,  I took a huge chance by planting Danvers Half Long Carrot seed and spinach seed.  Tomorrow I will take another chance and plant beets.  I am taking a chance because it is already July 24,  and it is a little late to try planting anything from seed in an area of Connecticut that has similar conditions as southern Maine.  Though we supposedly fall into zone 6 for hardiness, everything I plant is hardy to zone 5. 

It is cold around the marsh in the winter.  We have a constant breeze all summer long, and the winds in the winter howl like a train.  We do see temperatures at times to as low as  22 below zero.  So we may very well see a good frost in mid September, though carrots and beets should be able to weather at least a minor freeze.

So what does this all have to do with leftover steak?  In all honesty, the work today used every ounce of energy I had.  I did not think I could even cook, let alone be creative.  However, a hungry family must be fed no matter how one feels.  I wanted something easy, quick, and still with a little creative flow. 

Last night we had a marvelous dinner of N.Y strip steaks, and we had barbequed them over charcoal, brushing them with bourbon barbecue sauce (less the bourbon.)  We ended up with 4 strip steaks leftover.  I wondered what I could do with them.

After perusing my pantry, I spotted a box way in the back that may have been there for awhile, but I took it out anyway.  It was a box of Near East vermicelli with roasted garlic, parmesan, and olive oil.  It sounded like it might work with the steak.  We also had fresh yellow squash from the garden.  So I had the beginnings of a dish.  Putting it together was relatively easy, since I wasn't overly worried about herbs and spices for this night.

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Leftover Grilled Strip Steak with Vermicelli

Ingredients:
4 leftover grilled strip steaks, cut into bite size pieces
1 box Near East Vermicelli with roasted garlic and olive oil
red wine vinegar
chopped jalapeno pepper
yellow summer squash
butter or margerine
olive oil
chives
salt and pepper

Cook vermicelli according to directions.  (I am currently looking to create my own recipe for this vermicelli) 

Cut yellow squash into 1/4 inch circles.  Place in medium saucepan and cover with water, then cook on medium heat until tender.  Drain and add butter, salt and pepper.

Take your cut up steak, place on microwave safe dish, and shake on about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar.  Cook in microwave on power level 7 or 8 (roast) for about 4 minutes or until hot. 

I did not do it this time, but if I make this again I will be sure to keep some of the bourbon barbeque sauce to be used as a glaze on the plate before creating the finished dish.  Place vermicelli on dish, mix in cut steak, top with yellow squash, place about 1/2 tsp of chopped jalapeno pepper on squash, and garnish with a couple of pieces of thin chives. 

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The various flavors do not overwhelm each other.  I was a bit concerned since yellow squash tends to be very lightly flavored, but even with the jalapeno pepper, the delicate flavor of the squash is still detectable.  This dish will work as well without the pepper, but I always like a little spice with everything I eat, so chile peppers and their many varieties become my spice in most cases.