Brian of mountnman shows us how to cook squirrel. He says that often people end up with a squirrel dish that is far too tough and chewy. He’s done a perfect job dressing the squirrels. They look like rabbit that you’d see at a butcher’s.
Strangely he didn’t add any onions, garlic, sauces or spices. But I think his aim, anyway, is to show the basic method for stewing the squirrel.
Here’s a ’50s style squirrel stew recipe from the Missouri state government’s Department of Conservation, complete with floured squirrel and cream of mushroom soup:
A recipe from the same folks for Squirrel Country Sausage:
Country101living brines and then deep fries his squirrel:
I’d come across this interesting article on the tradition of eating squirrel meat in the US. Apparently, as recently as the 1940s, eating squirrel was very widespread and common. Judging from the many YouTube videos on hunting squirrel for food and cooking squirrel, squirrel eating either never left or has had a renaissance.
From the article:
“The first edition of The Joy of Cooking, published in 1931, was heavy on the squirrel.”
” On Shaw’s book tour this autumn, he was pleasantly surprised to find that squirrel eating was still alive and well in the South. And squirrel was not the only rodent either to persist as a regional delicacy. In Delaware and Maryland, people wanted to talk muskrat, so much so that he thought he was being set up, until he read that it was for sale at local markets.”
Article notes that eating the squirrel’s brain, which is a delicacy in some places, is a no-no in terms of health.
Here are a series of videos from WoodlandTV in the UK on eating, dressing and butchering squirrel (so it is graphic).
Apparently grey squirrels are non-native to the UK, having been imported from America and have decimated the native red squirrels. Was interesting – the guy who made the video is attempting to only eat wild-sourced meat, which means he says he eats a lot of vegetarian meals since he isn’t out hunting every day and he also is focused on eating ethically.:
Country101living uses an air compressor to separate the squirrel’s hide from its flesh:
Here’s another skinning technique from Nevis Walker:
A couple in Queensland, Australia talk about keeping guinea pigs for meat. They decided on guinea pigs because they had limited space and keeping rabbits in Queensland is illegal. They eat the males and keep one male and females for breeding (they have about 20 guinea pigs). They have plans to set up an aquaponics system that would incorporate droppings from their guinea pigs.
Danny at Soulsby Farm writes on why chickens are good livestock to raise as well as giving lots of information on how to get started (selecting your breed, finding chicks a good reference book on chickens and how to feed and water them). He’s also posted neat pics of the coop building process and of his flock.
Danny and his family live on a small farm in Hudson, Ohio. He writes “We believe in sustainable farming from organic heirloom seeds and are strongly against GMO’s. We grow everything organically and let our hens free range around the garden (and sometimes the neighbors yard).”
Find out more about the non-profit he started, Project Garden Share (especially if you’re in that part of Ohio as they’re looking for donated seed, plants and tools) connect individuals in need of food with people who grow gardens.
The Real Know How 