Grandma’s greatest gift: Squirrel dishes

A star in the kitchen, she shined best with small game recipes

As a young’un growing up with a heavy influence of countrified, or should I say country-fried grandparents, I learned early the delicious taste of wild game.

My grandpa Willie killed his share, and my grandma Mary cooked it all. The winter never ended without their freezer full of deer, squirrel, rabbit, frog, duck and even a raccoon or two.

And my spring and summer visits usually included three meals a day from that delicious food reserve. I loved it all, and why wouldn’t I. Those days were long before we worried about lard, bacon drippings and everything else Grandma used to turn wild into wonderful.

Her duck and deer venison sausage gumbo was superb, as were her venison meat loaves and shepherd pies, smothered deer steaks, fried frog legs, baked coon and yams, and her killer rabbit and squirrel dishes.

I would go as far as to say they were all to die for, and they probably came close to doing me in. They were rich, and probably an early source of artery-clogging plaque that led to my heart problems decades later.

Quite possibly, one reason I survived is that both Grandma and Grandpa thought Tobasco and Louisiana Hot Sauce were a food group that was to be enjoyed liberally at every meal. I learned that at about the age of 3, many years before the health benefits of hot peppers became widely known.

All day, all wild

A typical day at their table in Houston, Texas, usually went like this:

Breakfast: Fried young squirrel quarters, deer sausage, fried eggs, grits and biscuits, with lots of squirrel gravy for the grits and biscuits and Tobasco for everything.

Lunch: Pan-fried (in bacon drippings) venison cheeseburgers, with Tobasco-infused mayonnaise (she would stir mayo and hot sauce in a bowl, and spoon it on the buns).

Dinner: Squirrel and/or rabbit with dumplings, fresh greens and field peas, both simmered in a ton of hog jowl stock, and crackling’ cornbread.

I think I was 5 before I finally asked Grandma if she ever bought steak or pork chops, or chicken, or anything else I saw my Mom and Dad cook at home. She quite matter-of-factly said, “son, if you want that, we’ll just drive down to the Jack-in-the-Box and get you a burger or a taco.”

Funny thing, one year I went to visit and a family from Mexico had moved next door to my grandparents and their influence was obvious. Grandma was now making venison tacos and rabbit enchiladas, which of course came with the always-present little bottles of red-hot nutritional supplements.

Queen of squirrel

The new dishes were great additions to the menu, but never would they beat my favorite Grandma concoctions — her squirrel dishes. I didn’t care how she cooked it, I knew it was going to be good.

Fried, smothered in gravy or simmered in a big pot of dumplings, squirrel was her specialty. A great country cook was she, and she was best when squirrel was on the menu.

Grandpa had a lot to do with Grandma’s mastery of squirrel. At that time in Texas, he hunted an area between Houston and Galveston that had no bag limit on squirrel and the only time he didn’t hunt them was in the summer when the mosquitoes and humidity were impossible to handle.

The rest of the year, hunting with an older black man named Skeet on Skeet’s family land, Grandpa would bring home about 50 a trip and we’d sit in the backyard and clean them while he drank Falstaff beer.

Grandma would grade every one like an inspector at a slaughterhouse. The smaller, younger squirrels — she referred to them as tenders — went into one pile. The bigger, older, tougher ones went into another.

The tender piles were for frying. The others were for slow cooking, and were destined to either be browned for smothering in a gravy, or, my favorite, to be simmered into a stock for cooking dumplings.

Grandma taught me to make her dumplings with lard and flour, and how to shake enough off to thicken the stock. She taught me how to make a delicious squirrel stock with celery, garlic, onion, carrots and squirrel, then how to carefully debone the cooked meat to insure big pieces.

I still do the stock the same way, both with squirrel and rabbits, but I no longer use her dumpling recipe. I have found that 98 percent fat-free flour tortillas, available at most larger grocers, are a healthy alternative. Cooked properly, my guests have never been able to tell the difference, unless I tell them, which I do anytime somebody asks for the recipe.

I have also found that by adding a can of reduced fat (again 98 percent fat free) cream of celery soup, I can produce a thick stock similar to what the extra flour and lard would create.

Try it. The recipe follows, and works well with both squirrel and rabbits and is a great way to stretch a few into a meal for many. For big dinners, simply increase the amounts of each ingredient.

Easy squirrel (or rabbit) and dumplings

Upfront, let it be stated unequivocally, that at no time should a young gray or fox squirrel ever be used in this recipe. Those should be separated into a different pile and reserved strictly for frying. Just cut them into pieces, soak in a buttermilk bath with hot sauce, roll in seasoned flour and pan fry. (Serve fried squirrel as a side with the dumplings AND/OR you can turn the drippings into a gravy and smother the fried squirrels to serve on biscuits for breakfast or over rice for lunch or dinner).

The older and bigger squirrels, especially fox squirrels, should be used for this dumpling recipe. They need to be simmered for a long time to tenderize, and the stock makes a wonderful base for dumplings. You can also substitute rabbits in this dish and not change anything else.

If you know a good homemade dumpling recipe use it, but I have a dietary reason — I am fat and lazy — for changing this recipe to low-fat tortillas, and I use a few tricks that allow me to cut the sodium level, too. Enjoy.

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 squirrels, cleaned and quartered.
• 1 onion, halved, with one half diced fine.
• 4 stalks celery, 2 chopped fine and 2 left whole (with leaves)
• 6 cloves garlic, whole but flattened
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, cut in several pieces
• 1 Tbs black pepper
• 1 Tbs white pepper
• 1 Tsp (or more) cayenne
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 packs low-fat flour tortillas, cut into 1 ½-inch squares and separated
• 1 can of 98-percent fat-free, low-sodium cream of celery soup
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 bay leaf
• Stock

Preparation

Put squirrel quarters in a big pot and cover at least by 2 inches with water. Add flattened garlic cloves, 2 stalks of celery (or celery trimmings with leaves), the half onion and a carrot or two. Bring to a rapid boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook 2-3 hours. Remove squirrel and debone, leaving meat in the biggest pieces as possible. Toss vegetables and reserve stock.

In a dutch oven on the stove, melt butter over medium low heat and add diced onion and chopped celery and sauté until clear (about 10 minutes, working slowly). Add minced garlic, black, white and cayenne pepper and cook 2 more minutes, stirring. Stir in 6 cups of the stock, and bring to a boil. When water begins rolling, stir in celery soup until it dissolves. Add bay leaf. Begin adding cut tortillas a few at a time, stirring and making sure they do not stick together, until all are added. Immediately reduce heat to low. Cover and let cook 30 minutes. If more liquid is needed, add more stock if available (or low-fat, reduced sodium chicken stock). Carefully stir in squirrel meat and let cook on low heat 10 more minutes. Serve in a bowl, and if available, with fried young squirrel quarters on the side, with Tobasco.