Depends on their diet. If you catch a wild forest one where it eats ground falling food then it can get a bit gamey on the taste and will need some heavy marination or spice. Farm squirrels where they get at grain and other fresh food can taste a bit like chicken or turkey. Same with rats. Wild field rats taste pretty bad but grain fed farm rats have a chicken taste too.
No. Farm rats get into the grain and other fresh foods. Wild field rats tend to eat ground falling food which has chemicals and toxins that the rats tolerate but makes the meat taste bad. This is why the best tasting meat is grain fed meat.
I am a hunting guide & at one of our Duck Hunting camps down in Louisiana,the old Grandma of the land owner makes up a old Cajun Squirrel Stew that has been passed down through the family as the welcoming dinner ,it is something l look forward to it every year .
Squirrel especially if they have been feeding & reeking havoc in pecan orchards are a fantastic tasting game animal like a sweeter rabbit/ free range chicken chicken flavor.
Of course she would never reveal the full recipe but what l have picked up off her over the years the following is pretty close . -
Aunty Beths Cajun Squirrel Stew
Ingredients
8 squirrels, cleaned and cut into pieces
4 tablespoons Cajun Seasoning Blend or to taste
4 cups diced yellow onion
2 tablespoon minced garlic
3 cup diced bell pepper
4 cups chopped smoked pork sausage
4 tablespoons of Vegetable oil
2 cups diced celery
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
6 cups button mushrooms
6 tablespoons dark roux, such as Rox's Roux
2 quart chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Hot sauce to taste
12 cups cooked long-grain white rice
2 cups dry red wine
Instructions
In a large black iron pot with a heavy lid over medium-high heat, add the oil.
Sprinkle the squirrel pieces generously with Cajun seasoning and add to the hot oil in the pot. Cooking in batches, brown the squirrel on all sides and remove to a platter.
Add the vegetables along with the sausage to the pot and sauté until the onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and deglaze the pot with the wine and Worcestershire. Cook until the some of the alcohol burns off, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, roux, and chicken stock. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 1 hour.
Uncover and check to see that there is still plenty of liquid (add water, if needed). Cover and cook for another 1 hour until the squirrel is fork tender and the gravy thickens to coat the back of a spoon.
Taste the gravy and adjust seasonings to your taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
I have had it every which way but this recipe seems to really suit it ,she would say that back in the day during the pecan season the family basically lived on this recipe & they would just add ingredients to the simmering pot over the days they would have it.
I like it spicy so you can just add or put less spices in to your taste .Hope you enjoy .
All over the world, my Grand Father started a Hunting & Fishing guiding business before world War II as extra income for the Cattle Ranch as we are lucky to own some good ground & access to a lot through Ranch connections .Then when my Father & Uncles got back from Vietnam & Korea they expanded it in to all around the world as demand grew.
I now specialize in Alpine Long Range Hunting, so spend a fair amount of time hunting Chamois,Thar ,Deer & Mountain Goats & Sheep OS.After l got back from Afghanistan l got the Long Range hunting bug after spending a lot of time as SDM ,so where Cape Buffalo up close in the thick stuff were once my favorite BG hunts ,now Thar have become my obsession & as my Uncle was a Armourer with the Sniper program during Vietnam we now make our own custom Long range rifles ,we just finished a custom accurised 338 Lapua Magnum build that took a year to finish.
I've heard squirrel is pretty decent. Never tried it.
It's delicious, especially in a Gumbo. Tastes similar to rabbit.
My best friends mom used to make the best squirrel stew.
Depends on their diet. If you catch a wild forest one where it eats ground falling food then it can get a bit gamey on the taste and will need some heavy marination or spice. Farm squirrels where they get at grain and other fresh food can taste a bit like chicken or turkey. Same with rats. Wild field rats taste pretty bad but grain fed farm rats have a chicken taste too.
No. Farm rats get into the grain and other fresh foods. Wild field rats tend to eat ground falling food which has chemicals and toxins that the rats tolerate but makes the meat taste bad. This is why the best tasting meat is grain fed meat.
I am a hunting guide & at one of our Duck Hunting camps down in Louisiana,the old Grandma of the land owner makes up a old Cajun Squirrel Stew that has been passed down through the family as the welcoming dinner ,it is something l look forward to it every year .
Squirrel especially if they have been feeding & reeking havoc in pecan orchards are a fantastic tasting game animal like a sweeter rabbit/ free range chicken chicken flavor.
Of course she would never reveal the full recipe but what l have picked up off her over the years the following is pretty close . -
Aunty Beths Cajun Squirrel Stew
Ingredients
2 cups diced celery
2 cups dry red wine Instructions
Thanks, pede. That sounds really good. Saved for when I go squirrel hunting. I live in a forest and we have plenty of them around here.
I have had it every which way but this recipe seems to really suit it ,she would say that back in the day during the pecan season the family basically lived on this recipe & they would just add ingredients to the simmering pot over the days they would have it.
I like it spicy so you can just add or put less spices in to your taste .Hope you enjoy .
All over the world, my Grand Father started a Hunting & Fishing guiding business before world War II as extra income for the Cattle Ranch as we are lucky to own some good ground & access to a lot through Ranch connections .Then when my Father & Uncles got back from Vietnam & Korea they expanded it in to all around the world as demand grew.
I now specialize in Alpine Long Range Hunting, so spend a fair amount of time hunting Chamois,Thar ,Deer & Mountain Goats & Sheep OS.After l got back from Afghanistan l got the Long Range hunting bug after spending a lot of time as SDM ,so where Cape Buffalo up close in the thick stuff were once my favorite BG hunts ,now Thar have become my obsession & as my Uncle was a Armourer with the Sniper program during Vietnam we now make our own custom Long range rifles ,we just finished a custom accurised 338 Lapua Magnum build that took a year to finish.