Squirrel hunting- 44 days!

[Felonious_Monk]

Straight to the plate

[hunterjohn]

how do you cook them things up to taste good ?

[Felonious_Monk]

Marinated and roasted or braised. Personally, I think they're tasty little critters.

[Felonious_Monk]

I realized you were probably looking for a recipe. So, here's an easy one that's chock full of flavorific love.

Roast squirrel a la Felonious

Makes 2 or 3 roast tree rat

1 - 2 medium cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 large onion

1 large carrot

2 stalks celery

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon rosemary

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/2 cup olive oil

Whole dried herbs preferably, pre-ground will do.

Grind salt and spices very fine. Add ground spices to chopped garlic and mix. Add enough of the olive oil to the spices and mix until a rough paste forms. Smear the seasoning paste inside and outside the squirrels, making sure to get it into all the nooks and crannies of the critter. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to marinate in the fridge at least 6 hours, overnight if possible. Peel onion and carrot, Chop the veggies small to medium, Preheat a cast iron pan in a moderate (350 - 375F) oven. Add any remaining seasoning paste to the olive oil and toss veggies in seasoned oil. Add veggies to preheated pan, they should sizzle when they hit the pan. Stir veggies until sizzling subsides, add marinated squirrels on top of veggies, place pan back in oven. Roast appx 25 minutes, or until desired doneness. I don't eat them any less than medium well.

Divide roasted root veggies among plates, add one roasted critter per plate, serve with a nice crusty French or Italian bread. I like a nice wheat beer with this dish myself.

[hunterjohn]

thanks sounds goood im going to have to try some squirrel

[Felonious_Monk]

I told this guy to look out, but it went in one ear and out the other...

Edited December 22, 2012 by Felonious_Monk

[Paula]

lol, good shot

[shawnhu]

I told this guy to look out, but it went in one ear and out the other...

Monk, I'm sure glad you didn't tell him to keep an eye out....

Nice shooting. Which airgun?

[josephmrtn]

i would LOVE to get a silenced 22 and take it with me deer hunting, i can GUARANTY i would fill my limit... (or maby a pellet gun)

[Felonious_Monk]

Monk, I'm sure glad you didn't tell him to keep an eye out....

Nice shooting. Which airgun?

The Gamo

[shawnhu]

The Gamo

Some of those Gamo's are indeed impressive.

[Felonious_Monk]

My Bull Whisper Extreme loves CPHPs, and CPDs. Followed by JSB 15.9s. It lobs the CPxx's at over 800 fps/20fpe consistently. For the price point, I have nothing but praise for the rifle. I just wish they kept the steel breech blocks from the older models. The ABS plastic barrel shroud is a pretty intelligent means of keeping cost down while maintaining integrity of the barrel due to it's high tensile strength, much moreso than the steel barrel itself inside (which is pretty thin). But it just looks cheap. That's really my only complaint, again, considering the pricepoint.

[shawnhu]

Those are pretty impressive energy outputs from a Gamo. Pair that with the CPHP and you have a very nice economical and highly available hunting airgun.

When I did the cost comparison on most .22 pellets vs .25, I found that they were not too far off, so I decided to go with a .25

If I could find a rifle that shot .22 CPD well, I'd get one in a heartbeat. Any other .22 pellet costs too much to shoot when the .25 JSB Kings are so economical, relatively speaking.

Gamo has always made quality stuff, but their recent Whisper line has a few design flaws that Crosman eliminated by using the welded on picatinny weaver rails.

[greybeard]

I got a new Coleman propane 2 burner grill and going to try it out..I am a terrible cook and have no cooking ability at all.

I want to boil some squirrel legs until cooked to tenderize them , then just brown them in a pan with a little olive oil and garlic.. I think that's sauteed

I always baked them in a low heat oven and loved them, and even I could do it., but want to try this.The slow cooking in the oven at low heat also tenderized them, and I'm hoping the boiling will tenderize them also.

My question... How long( time wise) do you think that I have to boil squirrel legs before they are fully cooked and edible even if I didn't do more to them. ( My wife is a great cook,and would cook them for me, but I don't want to ask her....I'll let her think I did it on my own)

[shawnhu]

Grey, wish I could help out there, but in honesty, I've never cooked squirrel before.

I've heard many many people talk about tenderizing them one way or another, either in a brine marinade for 24 hrs or a slow cook for many hours. I would imagine that if you are slow cooking(4+) hours, you need not worry about it not being cooked.

Hope someone chimes in!

PS. I believe Monk had a recipe posted here somewhere.

[Elmo]

Grey...first I brine the squirrel in a brine solution for 24 hours. This tenderizes them some and removes some of the gamey flavor. Then I bring a pot of water to a boil, reduce heat to low, drop in squirrel, and leave them in there for (covered) for 2 hours. At that point, their tenderness would not be fall off the bone like stewed chicken but tender enough to eat comfortably like fried chicken tender.

[edit] PS...the brining process is not necessary. While it does tenderize, it tenderize very little. While I have done this process without brining, you can sort of tell the difference in tenderness but not by a lot. It's mostly to help with flavor.

Edited December 23, 2012 by Elmo

[Felonious_Monk]

Let's see.

Just the legs? One portions worth? And you wanna boil 'em? If you're gonna go that route, do a braise.

Start by preheatng an oven to 350° F. You do have a cast iron skillet, right? Of course you do.

Now, chop 2 to 3 garlic cloves (or 2 tblsp chopped garlic from a jar).

Chop 1/2 cup onion

Herbs are up to you, but squirrels like rosemary and/or sage. I like sage, it's got a nice round flavor that goes well with the meat.

1 bay leaf

Carrots for a little sweetness, or you could add brown sugar/honey later.

1 quart water or chicken broth

Tomato paste ( 2 oz or so)

vegetable oil as needed

Place cast iron skillet over medium high heat. While skillet is heating, rub squirrel with oil and salt, save pepper for later, it burns. Once pan is hot enough to make water drops dance, drop in meat and cook about 2 - 3 minutes per side, or until nicely brown and some meat juices adhere to the bottom (don't let these turn black, it will make the sauce bitter). Remove squirrel meat and set aside. Toss in onion, and stir, sauteeing until just starting to show color, about another 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute. Add 2 oz or so of tomato paste, and cook until the paste is fragrant and has darkened in color, add water/broth and stir until a sauce forms. Return squirrel to pan, add sage and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, cover, and slam in the oven for about 90 minutes.

Serve over whatever you like e.g. rice, egg noodles, crusty bead.

If you like spicy food, you could add crushed red pepper when you add the herbs, or maybe chipotles if you prefer a smokey flavor. Or you could just add a dash of hot sauce after it's cooked.

enjoy.

[greybeard]

Thanx....

Felonious.. that sounds REALLY good... I can do that.... I'm gonna save your recipe...

I always make it differently and loved them, but due to my inability to be a creative cook, or plan a meal I have legs left over so that's why I thought the boiling and sautee thing would be ok for such a small amount

Elmo and Shawn.. I did soak them in cold saltwater, I do that for game and birds (not deer for some reason)..But I may not have soaked them enough..

[Felonious_Monk]

GB, you're more than welcome. Enjoy.

off topic, but I only ever soak deer in buttermilk, and only for certain dishes I make with them. Not so much to get rid of gameyness, but to help tenderize the meat. 12 hour soak in buttermilk, then grilled venison tenderloin? It's like sex in your mouth, pardon the family unfriendliness.

[shawnhu]

Not sure why squirrel hunting is always 44 days, but this thread is great!

I have some business up by Stewart Friday, so I'll be heading up there and hopefully do a little hunting in the area.

I'll be bringing the Marauder and hopefully run into some squirrels and such. If anyone is in the area, feel free to give me a PM and we could meet up.

Now that deer season is over for most of NY, it's time to get back to small game and scouting for next season.

[Felonious_Monk]

Wish we had coyotes here on the island. We have foxes, but they're always near neighborhoods. Don't think I've ever seen a li'l red in the woods here. I'd love to get a fox pelt.

[shawnhu]

Word has it that they are in areas that does not allow hunting.

[Felonious_Monk]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to take the one that's local. I'd never do any such thing, but I see him often. I'm a chronic insomniac and I go for drives at night. We have so much wildlife that just cruises the neighborhoods here I usually play "find the critter." It relaxes me to watch 'em for a while and I usually fall right asleep after about 30 minutes or so of critter watchin'. The local red's a fine lookin' specimen, big too. Obviously well fed. Like I said, I never would, but it's nice to dream.

[shawnhu]

Ok folks, let's keep this going.

Who's up for some squirrel hunting this Sat? Same place, same time.

Stan, Elmo, Alex, Edward, Denys, Sid, Steve?

Bring your airguns or shotguns. PM me if you're interested in getting together for a great time in the woods.

[Elmo]

Ok folks, let's keep this going.

Who's up for some squirrel hunting this Sat? Same place, same time.

Stan, Elmo, Alex, Edward, Denys, Sid, Steve?

Bring your airguns or shotguns. PM me if you're interested in getting together for a great time in the woods.

Would rather prefer a place that'll let me use a 22 but I'm down with a shotgun/airgun only zone. I'm in.