I just learned something new from my local newspaper. Connecticut has three squirrel hunting seasons, and in fact, squirrel is more popular than one might have thought.
“Right now, I have five squirrels in the Crock-Pot at home, cooking,” Enie, 59, said prior to the festivities. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone try it who didn’t like it.”
His mother taught him how to cook with squirrel. Two of his favorite dishes are squirrel jambalaya and squirrel potpie.
So it sounds like squirrel meat requires some extended cooking to make it tender?
“It’s a dark meat,” Enie explained. “When it’s prepared right, it’s pretty tender. It tastes sweet, because they mainly eat nuts. Two squirrels would be enough for a meal for somebody. Three will feed my wife and I.”
There was also a comment in the article about somebody adding it to their pasta sauce.
Will we see more news like this as the economy lags and food prices rise? I wonder if squirrel would make a good pizza topping. If anybody has a recipe to share, add it to the comments on this post.
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Squirrels don’t seem to have any issue eating pizza…
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-top-10-pictures-of-squirrels-eating-pizza-of-a
Well, then turnabout is fair play. I must eat squirrel pizza.
More on squirrel eating!
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/01/22/why-eat-squirrel-really/
Georgia Pellegrini says: “after having feasted on a grove of pecans or acorns, their meat is nutty and sweet, buttery and tender. And so a fat, nut-fed squirrel is not only better tasting than any meat in the woods, it can be even better tasting, and much more economical than that Spanish pig that sells for one hundred seventy dollars per pound.“
I’m a former Illinois farm kid who grew up eating squirrel. My grandfather hunted them frequently, and could hit them in the head with a .22 Rifle. Then, my grandmother cooked them up! They were fantastic. I don’t recall my grandmother making any special preparation of them, other than to clean them and soak the meat in salt water for awhile. After that, she dipped them in egg, milk, and rolled them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Lots of pepper! She fried them (probably in lard), and they came out absolutely delicious! I had them often while growing up. Unfortunately, the grove of Hickory Nut trees where my Grandfather once hunted is now a housing project, and all the land that’s left around here is marked with No Hunting signs. Sigh. But, I DO notice I have a lot of fat, sassy squirrels in the neighborhood. I’m thinking that if I get up at 6 AM and go out quietly with a small crossbow….. Nobody would ever know….. As for making pizza with them, why not? You can use ANY meat to make pizza. Ever had Venison Pizza? It’s quite good! (But, don’t use Possum. Too greasy.)
I haven’t had any game meats on pizza, although I have been to game dinners and enjoy all the food there. It’s on my list of toppings to try.
If you want to find a bunch of game meat sausages, then you should check out the selection at Fossil Farms. They have great quality meats in general, but I can see the sausages being highly compatible with pizza making.