My husband is planning to do some squirrel hunting this fall. I've never eaten or cooked squirrel, but I'm a little hesitant. If it's anything like other wild meat, some of it I like, some of it I don't care for. But I've never had sausage I didn't like. So, while I'll cook at least one squirrel, I'd like an alternative, such as sausage, in case I don't like it. Has anyone ever made sausage out of squirrel? Any recipes out there? Thanks!

-- Stacey (stacey@lakesideinternet.com), October 30, 2001

Answers

I don't have any sausage recipes, but if you pressure cook the squirel then bake it with some onions and cream of mushroom soup for about an hour you will probably like it.

-- Sherry (tlnifty@ecenet.com), October 30, 2001.

I usually do mine as jambalaya. Simmer the squirrels until done, pick the meat off the bones, then cheat and add to one of those premixed packets of rice and spices and follow the directions on the packet.

-- Steve - TX (steve.beckman@compaq.com), October 30, 2001.

Try this. Substitute the squirrel for the rabbit. Bart

Rabbit Sausage

Categories : Charcuterie

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 10 lb Rabbit -- cubed 5 lb pork butt -- cubed 90 grams salt 15 grams pate spice 2 grams sage -- dry 2 grams cayenne 3 c water or salme

Mix dry ingredients. Add dry to meat and mix well. Pass through grinder one time. Add salme or water. Pipe into casing.

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NOTES : Salme - stock made from rabbit bones

Diced dehydrated apples work very well in the mix.

-- Bart (Dominickwb@dot.state.sc.us), October 31, 2001.

I recently married into a squirrel-eating family, and it's now one of my favorite foods (we have 27 squirrels and a rabbit as our current meat supply). I don't know much about sausage but I think there is nothing better than a squirrel potpie!

-cook 1 squirrel over low heat in a covered pan with about 3/4 inch of water. It will take about 40 minutes to be tender if it's a young squirrel, longer if it's an older one; when it's done the hind leg will come off easily.

-make gravy by adding butter to the pan juices, then adding flour until you get a paste, and then stir in enough milk to make it the right (gravy-like!) consistency.

-take the meat off the bones (careful-- there are lot of small bones in a squirrel!).

-mix the meat with chopped celery, carrots, diced potatoes, some sauteed mushrooms, sweet corn, and anything else that sounds good. Mix it up with the gravy and pour it into a pie plate.

-cover the mixture with a circle of pie crust (if you want a very delicious, flaky recipe, contact me), cut leaves or other decorations out of the extra dough and put them on top. Don't forget to cut steam vents!

-Bake at about 350F until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling through the openings. Enjoy!

-- Wendy VanDyk Evans (wendelberry@hotmail.com), October 31, 2001.

Where's Brad when you need him?! I'll hunt him down and tell him to send you some recipes. He used to swear at squirrels, but now he swears by them!

Another friend of mine just cooks them like chicken or makes soup out of them. He lived on them one winter and wiped out the populations in his area! They're coming back now and he's a little more cautious, I think!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), October 31, 2001.

Stacey, Stacey, Stacey! Sheryl hunted me down, and I feel obligated to respond. Would you make sausage out of filet mignon? How about T- bone steak sausage? Perhaps lambchop sausage? Maybe (around here - Sheryl and I are neighbors in Maine) some lobster sausage. Or maybe Caviar sausage? Get a grip! I know there are folks who disagree with me. I bless their little pointed heads. I am not omnipotent,but the odds dictate that I am probably not wrong on these matters. Anyhow, squirrel is the absolute best meat that has ever managed to pass your lips. Think about it. What does a squirrel eat? If you eat meat, think about your "normal" protein diet. Squirrels eat only the best of vegitative protein. We are more omnivioruos. So be it. Use any good chicken or rabbit recipe. If you turn them into sausage, I will hunt you down and severely slap you upside the head, which punishment would be justified to the nth degree! Being a bit more of a pussycat (as I am, ask Sheryl!), e-mail direct and I'll send you some recipes! GL!

-- Brad (homefixer@SacoRiver.net), November 01, 2001.

I would have to agree with some of the other folks. You can't beat squirrel and dumplins, or if they are very young they are great if fried like chicken. However, it is possible to make either sausage or jerky out of them and they are very good also.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), November 04, 2001.