Housewifery - Squirrel, the Other White Meat

Housewifery - Squirrel, the Other White Meat

The weather is getting just plain brisk, so we housewives need to find something to feed our families that sticks to their ribs. Recently, I came upon just such a delectable dish, squirrel dumplings! Now, personally, I have to say, I’ve never had this warming treat, but I’ve heard from friends both in Texas, Louisiana, and in Minnesota, that squirrel dumplings are just the thing.

My friend Cea who hails from Louisiana says, “Squirrel stew! Now that is a subject on which I have a few good stories. But, to answer your question. Yes, squirrel eats good. Six to twelve makes a pretty good amount. Depending on the size of the squirrel. About one per person is right for a normal size squirrel.”

To which my friend Levi from Minnesota chimes in with a recipe:

Levi’s Squirrel Dumplings
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2 Squirrels cut serving pieces
3 tablespoons butter
3 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/3 cup sliced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
1 cup carrot sticks
2 tablespoon flour - (to 3 tablespoons)

Prepared dumpling dough, use your Grannie’s recipe

Method :

Brown meat in butter. Cover with water, season,
and simmer for 1 hour. Add onion, celery, and
carrot, and more water if needed, and cook for
15 minutes.

Thicken with flour dissolved in 1/4 cup water.
Drop in dumpling dough, cover, and steam for
12 to 15 minutes.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

This was followed by some thoughtful silents, and then Tom from Texas spoke up, “As a toddler in Northeast Oklahoma, I was raised eatin' squirrel. It is best to hunt them in the fall as they put on weight for the winter; they're kinda scrawny in the late winter and early spring. My granny liked to fry 'em up and make a rich brown gravy. Sometimes, we'd have 'em for breakfast. The squirrel dumplings are cooked using the broth and grease from the squirrels; the dumplings themselves were made kinda like a sweet biscuit.

“Damn!!! Now, I'm hungry and don't have ammo for the .22 rifle. I got the rifle from my uncle who inherited it from my granddad. Came in handy when one of the girls' suitors were actin' up. Some of them city boys spook easy.”

Now for some practical advise. The following Texas counties have open season for squirrel from October 1 to February 1, and from May 1-31, with a daily bag limit of 10 squirrels: Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Chambers, Cherokee, Delta, Fannin, Franklin, Freestone, Galveston, Gregg, Hardin, Harris, Harrison, Henderson, Hopkins, Houston, Hunt, Jasper, Jefferson, Lamar, Leon, Liberity, Limestone, Marion, Montgomery, Morris, Nacodgoches, Navarro, Newton, Orange, Panola, Polk, Rains, Red River, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Van Zandt, Walker, Wood.

The following counties have no closed season on squirrel, with a daily bag limit of 10 squirrels: Brazos, Burleson, Collin, Dallas, Ellis, Falls, Grayson, Grimes, Kaufman, Madison, Milam, Rockwall.

The following counties have no open season on squirrel: Andrews, Bailey, Borden, Brewster, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Cochran, Crane, Culberson, Dallam, Dawson, Deaf Smith, Ector, El Paso, Floyd, Gaines, Glasscock, Hale, Hansford, Hartley, Hockley, Howard, Hudspeth, Hutchinson, Jeff Davis, Lamb, Loving, Lubbock, Lynn, Martin, Midland, Moore, Oldham, Parmar, Presidio, Reagan, Reeves, Sherman, Swisher, Terry, Upton,Ward, Winkler, Yoakum.

The remainder of the state has no closed season and no bag limit, and our local counties are included in this category.

It appears that the easiest time to find these bushytails is the beginning for the season, on about the first of October. However, this can work against you because your liable to get confused looks from the deer hunting community and at this time of year squirrels will be, well, hum, storing up nuts for the winter, which means they’ll always be on the move, rushing from tree to tree looking for those tasty acorns and pecans!

Squirrels are usually on the move until late morning and again for a short period in the early afternoon and then just before dark. Later in the winter these periods of movement will be considerable shorter.

After you’ve bagged your limit for the day, you’ve got to get the little devils ready for cooking, so here’s what you do. Get a pair of meat scissors or a really sharp knife. You’ll need two large pots of luke warm water, one with a teaspoon of salt per cup added to it, and a trash can. Lay down newspapers where you plan to work, outside is the best place because the smell can linger for quite a while, and you don’t want your house smelling like dead squirrel innards.

Wash the squirrel in the unsalted water as this pot is for loose fur and dirt. Throw anything you’re not going to eat in the trash can. The fur should separate easily from the skin by rubbing the squirrel towards the head and tail leaving you a clear space to cut. Cut the squirrel up about like you would a chicken, trying not to cut into the muscle. Be sure that all the fur is off the meat, and then place the meat in the pot of salted water. When you have finished cutting up the squirrel, sit the pot of meat in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Then you’re ready to cook your squirrels.

Hope this helps you have a yummy stew or some squirrel dumplings in cold January! Until next time...happy cookin’!