We use a locking cooler when necessary.
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Grilled squirrels with pineapple reduction is ridiculously delicious.
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Pretty close… her recipe says she added 1/2 tsp of dry mustard and 1 Tbsp of vinegar in 1.5 cup recipe.
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Squirrel is the best small game meat there is. Then you use their bones as toothpicks.
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My Dad really liked squirrel. I never ate it with him, though.
Apps were crab cakes, hot crab dip, shrimp cocktail and cheese plate.
Mains were roast duck with sour cherry/pomegranate sauce, roast chicken (for those who don’t like duck), duck fat roasted potatoes (best thing ever - they were demolished) and frisée salad with pancetta duck fat vinaigrette.
Whole family together so 23 all in. My sister and I took the lead. I cooked 5 ducks and a chicken in 2 different ovens, each duck flipped every hour. I cooked for 8 hours straight, felt like a restaurant shift. But my BIL got a handle of delicious homemade Coquito from a Puerto Rican co-worker that I sipped on to get me through and my sis and I stashed a special champagne for cooks only. There were no leftovers.
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what a fabulous and festive spread!
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Thanks, was nice to get everyone together. We are spread out so don’t really all get together like this other than funerals these days.
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I used to eat fried squirrel when I don’t think I was old enough to realize what it actually was, even though I watched them being skinned, cleaned and cut up. Kind of a disconnect, I guess.
It’s very rare that I see it for sale. And then , only occasionally at the farmers market. On those occasions when we’ve seen it, the recommendation is always to treat it like rabbit.
Amazing! I know what you mean about feeling like the holiday meal is a restaurant shift !!
Duck fat potatoes … sigh.
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Doesn’t JOC have a recipe for Squirrel Cockaigne?
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I know the copy I took to college with me had directions for skinning and cleaning squirrels. I already knew what was involved, because I’d seen it done; I was surprised it was in a cookbook.
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That is hilarious (my kiddo thought so, too).
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I made:
• ‘loaded’ chexy mix and brie with wild mushrooms en croûte to start, Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider (we call it kid’s champagne) for all, no alcohol anymore. We’re still enjoying the brie, I bagged up the rest of the chexy mix to take home for the other families.
•prime ribs of beef (18 pounder, cut in half so I could fit it in the oven, $5.97/lb and just wonderful!) which was seasoned with Montreal seasoning and dressed with sliced carrots, celery stalks, and sliced onion
• oven roasted sheet pan baby potatoes, Brussels sprouts, parsnip chunks, carrot chunks, red and golden beets and portabella 'rooms. Some ate the roasted onions from on top the roast.
•Waldorf salad made this time with raisins because there were no decent grapes available
• horseradish & sour cream sauce
• an awful dried out Yorkshire pudding (mentioned in Holiday Food Failures)
Our son (a fomer chef) made his macaroni and cheese (it’s what the grandies eat) and our daughter made a beautiful pumpkin pie that was decorated with pie crust leaves around the edge. It looked like a laurel wreath from above. Unfortunately we never got to eating it because as soon as we were done with eating, the present mayhem began. The pie is in the freezer for new years. Ten humans (one is a teenager who just discovered beef) polished of one of the 9# sections, I sent 1/2 of the other 9 pounder with the daughter, and the roomie and I are working on the other half and the veggies.
Next year…pot luck everything. I’ll make a main for our gathering here, everybody can make everything else. I’ve finally gotten wise in my old age.
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I roasted the ribs feom my rib roast yesterday and made a gorgeous beef stock today. Havent decided if I want to use it, freeze it, or let it go to demi. Its in the fridge at the moment.
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Yes, definitely worth pondering!
They’re almost a pleasure to skin and gut. No stink (ever clean a rabbit?Oh, the stink), easy off skin. 'Bout as good as game gets, IMO.
Harters:
Rabbit is good when you can control the feed. I’ve eaten enough wild rabbit to gag a maggot. But, it was my philosophy to eat what I kill (save for rats, possum, mice and that.)
Never bought a squirrel or rabbit; but I prefer squirrel if we’re talking wild harvested.
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It was just the two of us this year. We enjoyed the quiet day. I made Parmesan Crusted Rack of Lamb (NY Times recipe), broccolini with lemon zest and red pepper flakes, creamed onions, arugula salad with oranges, walnuts and goat cheese, and au gratin potatoes. These were frozen leftover potatoes. I’ve never done this before but a friend told me they freeze. Thawed them, drained some water off, added heated heavy cream, more grated Gruyère on top and baked covered for 30 min, then uncovered a bit to brown. They were delicious!
Now it’s soup and salad time!!
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One week later and BIL brought over his very delicious bean soup made from last week’s hambone. I have some biscuits in the freezer and some good chocolates under the tree. Sounds like new year’s dinner to me.
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