Game Recipes

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A special "Thanks," to those of you who wrote to let me know that you did enjoy the wild game article and recipes. The answer to the question which many of you asked is, "yes,"  I most certainly do have other such recipes and am delighted to be able to share them with you.

For those of you who are somewhat squeamish about eating wild game, perhaps it might help to know that taste in food, like many other things, is acquired.  It changes according to time and place.  For instance, did you know that Native Americans did NOT eat beef or pork?  They knew it stank and believed that it would destroy their bodies.  Attitude, which is formed from our belief system, is indeed everything.

Campfire cooking is to be savored...not hurried.

Let’s begin by saying that the best way to thicken the broth in any of these recipes is to mix flour with cold water before adding the mixture to the hot broth. The easiest way to do this in order to keep lumps from forming is to put the flour and water into a small glass jar with a screw lid or other similar container and shake the mixture until it is a lump free liquid and  then add it to the hot broth. You can vary the amount of flour and water as needed, depending upon the amount of gravy desired.

Also most of these recipes may be cooked over an open fire in a cast iron pot or skillet fitted with a cast iron lid. Just make sure you take the time to prepare a large bed of hot coals so that you can sit the pot down into the coals and still have enough to put around and also on top of the lid to ensure even cooking or baking. 

If you need your food to be gluten free, use arrowroot instead of wheat flour or regular white flour.  Do not use arrowroot to coat the meat for frying, instead use corn meal ground very fine.  It is possible to buy corn flour and arrowroot flour by the pound.

Remember that ice cold water was only available in the winter when rivers and creeks were frozen. Back then, water for all aspects of life was from a nearby creek, river or spring.  Wild herbs were also always available for food preparation as well as for medicinal use.

Squirrel

FRIED SQUIRREL

Dress the squirrel. Cut it into pieces and soak in salt water for several hours. Drain. Boil the meat until it is tender in fresh water. Dip the pieces in beaten egg and roll in finely ground cornmeal, fry the pieces in deep fat until brown. Add a mixture of water, wine

SQUIRREL STEW

In two quarts of water, place the meat of four or five squirrels which have been cleaned and cut into small pieces, one cup of diced carrots, four of diced potatoes, four cups of butter [lima] beans, and two medium size onions.  Cook until all is tender.  If thickening is needed, mix a small amount of flour into cool water and stir well until a thickish liquid mixture is formed, then pour this mixture into the pot of stew.  Season to taste with salt, pepper and thyme.  Some folk prefer to use tomatoes and corn instead of potatoes and butter beans while other use all four vegetables.

BRAISED RABBIT

Clean and cut into serving size pieces, one large or two small rabbits.  Measure one–fourth cup of flour, two teaspoons seasoned salt, one-half teaspoon pepper, one and one-half teaspoon of paprika into a paper bag.Add rabbit pieces to the bag.  While holding the top of the bag shut, shake the bag well, coating each piece of the rabbit well. Put a mixture of water and wine in to a baking pot or pan,  Add coated pieces of rabbit, Cook until very tender.  

FRICASSEED RABBIT

Clean, cut up and disjoint the rabbit. Put into a stew pan and season with cayenne pepper, salt and chopped parsley. Pour in a pint of warm water and stew over a slow fire until quite tender, adding some bits of butter when nearly done.

TURTLE

Place the turtle in boiling water for a quarter of an hour. Pull the outer shell off and then boil it again until the claws are tender.  Remove the turtle from the inner shell taking care to remove the gall and spongy parts.  Cut the remainder into small pieces and place into a stewing pan.  Add salt, black pepper and butter and stew for a short time.  Add about one-half cup of water and simmer for fifteen minutes or so.  Blend together a mixture of melted butter, flour and a very small amount of water.  Stir this mixture into the cooking turtle to make gravy.  Serve after the gravy thickens.

GROUND HOG

Skin the carcass, remove the insides and disjoint and cut the meat into pieces.  Soak overnight in very salty water.  Drain and boil the meat until tender.  Remove the meat and let it cool. To serve, roll the meat in flour and cook it in hot fat until brown.

BAKED GROUND HOG

Boil a dressed ground hog in salted water for at least two hours.  Drain and remove the meat, placing it into a baking pan.  Sprinkle it with salt and pepper.  Bake in a moderately hot oven for at least thirty minutes.

ROAST OPOSSUM

Skin and dress the animal, place it in a baking pan with a small amount of water. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and bake in a medium hot oven for three hours or until the meat is tender and brown.  Apples which have been pared and quartered along with raisins baked in the liquid makes a good side dish.

WILD TURKEY                                

Dress and clean the bird carefully.  Place the turkey in a baking pan; add water, salt and pepper.  The bird maybe stuffed with a favorite dressing before roasting.  Bake in a medium hot oven, allowing   twenty minutes for each pound of meat. Wild turkeys are leaner than domestic birds and need to be based more frequently with butter. Thicken the liquid with flour and water into a nice gravy before serving.

VENSION STEW

Deer  meat must be marinated by placing it in an earthen ware container [crock] together with onions and bay leaves, and covered with cider vinegar.  After two days, wash the meat in cold water and place it into a kettle with boiling hot water to cover. Stew until tender, remove and bone the meat. Cook four diced carrots, six stalks of diced celery, and four onions into the meat broth.  Add meat cut into small pieces and thicken with a flour and water paste.  Flavor to taste with salt and pepper.

BRUNSWICK STEW

Place three cups of water in a heavy iron kettle, two medium size peeled onions, four tomatoes  and one table spoon of Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Add the edible portions of one squirrel, one rabbit, and one small chicken. Allow the mixture to simmer for two hours.  Combine one cup of butter beans, one cup of corn cut from the cob, and a cup of okra, add these to these to the liquid and simmer for another hour.  Finally, add two tablespoons of butter, a half cup of bread crumbs and water if necessary and simmer for two more hours before serving.  This dish may also be made with chicken, pork, rabbit and squirrel, potatoes, peas, and snap green beans.

A great side dish to accompany any of the above recipes is a pan of golden brown Skillet Corn Bread.

SKILLET CORN BREAD
Take one chunk of lard about two inches square and melt in a very hot cast iron skillet.  Put about one and a half cups of self-rising corn meal into a bowl making a well or hole in the meal to which you add about two tablespoons of the hot lard.  Mix well.  Add about one cup of milk and two egg to the mixture and stir well with a wooden spoon.  Pour mixture into the well greased skillet, add the skillet's lid and bake in an open fire until golden brown.  Don't forget to put hot coals around the sides and on top of the skillet.  If you would like to try this in your oven, simply leave off the lid and bake until golden brown in a hot oven about four hundred degrees.  Don't forget to cover your hot cornbread with butter, honey, jam or even better, homemade apple butter.