Small Game was Joy on the Table

by

The dining experiences of my high country boyhood were, I’m fairly certain, an accurate reflection of culinary practices as they existed throughout the 20th century. Folks grew big gardens, raised chickens for eggs and as the basis for sumptuous main meat dishes, and kept hogs as their main source of meat. If they had an acre or more to spare for pasture, there likely would also be a milk cow in the dietary picture, but beef on the table was a rarity.

Between being eaten fresh, pickled, dried, cured, canned, or otherwise preserved, these represented the staple dietary items of mountain life. However, foods from nature’s abundant larder were always welcome additions. These ranged from vegetables such as poke salad and creasy greens in the spring through summer’s wild berries, autumn’s bounty in forms such as nuts and persimmons, and wild game in late fall and winter.

About the only big game animals available that offered anything approaching reasonable expectation of hunting success were bears and wild hogs. Unlike today, deer were exceedingly scarce and wild turkeys almost nonexistent. On the other hand, squirrels, rabbits, quail, and grouse were reasonably abundant anywhere there was suitable habitat, and they graced the table on a regular basis.

Hunting small game also provided a bit of welcome relief from the tedium of daily chores. From the time I was old enough to tag along until I had finished college, married, and was off on my own in the wider world, my father, a few of his adult buddies, and my boyhood pals regularly took to the fields and woods from the time squirrel season opened in October right through fall and winter until all small game seasons closed at the end of February.

In good mast years squirrels were abundant, although nowhere nearly as plentiful, according to my Grandpa Joe, as they had been in times before chestnut blight killed those towering, nut-laden monarchs of Appalachian forests. Similarly, thanks to far more subsistence farming and small patches of land forming ideal habitat for rabbits than is the case today, cottontails were readily available. If you flushed a covey of quail or started a grouse or two while hunting bushytails or cottontails, then managed a successful wing shot, that was sort of the hunter’s equivalent of lace on the bride’s pajamas.

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Small game was, in short, reasonably abundant, a delight to hunt, and pure joy on the table. Certainly the latter quality remains true, and anyone looking for some delightful variety in their main dishes will find small game a grand change to established culinary habits. Moreover, folks involved in “back to the earth” lifestyles or discovering the delights of subsistence-style living can raise rabbits and even quail. Both are also available in specialty meat markets and online. Wherever you manage to procure small game, and my personal approach involves continuation of the lifelong pleasures hunting has afforded me, it can add tasty delight to your table.

Here are some recipes that will do just that.

Anna Lou's Squirrel

My maternal grandmother absolutely loved to eat squirrel and was, throughout much of her life, a plain fool about hunting them. Even when age and health problems ended her woodland forays, she loved to eat squirrel. In fact, in her dotage it was about the only meat she would consume.

This simple recipe, named after my mother, was a favorite.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 squirrels, dressed
  • Water to cover the meat
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons butter

Place dressed squirrels in a large saucepan. Cover with cold water, add soda, and heat to boiling. Remove from heat and thoroughly rinse squirrel under running water, rubbing to be sure all the baking soda is removed. Return to rinsed pan and cover with fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender. Then remove squirrel, place in a baking dish, dot with butter, and bake at 350 degrees until browned and crusty.

TIP: Use the broth from cooking the squirrel to make gravy. Incidentally, rabbit can be prepared the same way, and indeed most recipes for squirrel are equally applicable to cottontails.

Paprika Rabbit

We raised beagles when I was a lad, and the joyous hallelujah chorus of a pack of them hot on the cottontail trail still echoes as a wonderful memory coursing through the chambers of my mind. This is one of many ways we enjoyed the bounty of a successful hunt.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup butter
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 2 rabbits, quartered
  • 2 medium or 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup (or slightly more) sour cream

Heat butter and olive oil and in a large skillet sauté rabbit until brown. Remove rabbit from pan and add onion and tomato to it, cooking until tender. Add paprika, along with salt and pepper, and stir constantly for one minute. Add water and mix well. Place rabbit back in pan and bring to a boil; then reduce heat, cover, and simmer. Add water as needed when liquid cooks down, continuing to cook until the meat is tender and only a few tablespoons of liquid remain. Add sour cream and heat to a simmer (do not boil). Serve with pasta or rice.

Fried Rabbit

This is a simple, straightforward, and scrumptious way to prepare rabbit (or squirrel).

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 dressed rabbit, cut into five pieces (hind legs, back, front legs and adjoining rib cage)
  • ½ cup flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ¼ cup milk
  • Vegetable oil

Season jointed pieces of rabbit with salt and pepper. In a separate dish, combine egg and milk. Dip rabbit pieces in seasoned flour, then egg mixture, then flour again. Fry in deep, hot vegetable oil until brown and tender. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

TIP: The pan drippings can be used to make milk gravy if you wish, and such gravy, along with sweet potatoes or cathead biscuits, makes a mighty fine side dish.

Baked Rabbit or Squirrel

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 rabbits or 4 squirrels, cut into serving size pieces
  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup butter, melted
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Place meat in a Dutch oven with a small amount of water and simmer until it sticks tender with a fork. Remove from Dutch oven and place in a large casserole dish. Pour butter over rabbit and season to taste. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Rabbit or Squirrel Pie

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 rabbits or 4 squirrels
  • ¼ cup butter
  • 4 tablespoons flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Cut meat into pieces and place in a saucepan, barely covering with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until tender. Remove meat from water, reserving two cups of broth. Cool meat until it can be handled, debone, and chop into pieces with meat scissors, an ulu, or chef’s knife. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter and add flour, stirring constantly. Gradually add reserved broth and stir until thickened. Add salt, pepper, parsley and meat. Mix well and stir until thickened.

CREAM CHEESE PASTRY

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup butter
  • 6 ounces softened cream cheese
  • 2 cups flour

Cream together butter and cream cheese. Slowly add flour. Form the resultant dough into two balls, wrap in waxed paper and chill in refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling pastry to line a deep-dish pie plate and have a pastry cover for the top. Pour meat mixture into pie shell, cover, cutting several slits in the top, and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown (about 30 minutes).

Beefy Quail

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 package (2 ½ ounce) pressed, dried beef (chopped or you can chop on your own if dealing with pressed slices)
  • 6-8 dressed quail
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 (10 ¾ ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

Line a greased, shallow one-quart baking dish with chopped beef. Place quail on top of beef. In mixing bowl, combine sour cream and soup; then pour over birds. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for one hour or until the birds are tender.

TIP: If desired, quail can be wrapped in slices of dried beef and secured with a toothpick as opposed to lining bottom of dish with chopped, dried beef.

About the author: Jim Casada is a full-time freelancer with dozens of books to his credit. Those include The Complete Venison Cookbook, The Ultimate Venison Cookbook, and Venison Cookbook: From Field to Table. For more information, visit jimcasadaoutdoors.com.

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