How to Cook Ground Squirrels

Many of us can't imagine eating the ground squirrels that we see in our back yards, but squirrel is actually a delicious, low-fat dark meat. It is especially popular in the southern states, where hunting is a favored and traditional activity. Squirrel can be baked, stewed, or fried as a main dish, with biscuits and gravy.

Things You'll Need

• 2 squirrels, about 1 lb. each, dressed and quartered
• Approx. 1 cup flour
• 6 bacon slices
• Salt to taste
• Pepper, freshly ground
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. sugar
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ½ cup chilled vegetable shortening
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• 3 tbsp. butter

Instructions

Cooking the Squirrel

1. Put the squirrel quarters in a large pot of salted water. Bring the water to a simmer and cook the squirrel quarters over medium heat for 1 to 2 hours, until the meat is tender but not falling off of the bones.

2. Fry the bacon until crisp in a Dutch oven or a large cast-iron skillet.

3. Remove the bacon from the pan and save it for another use, but leave the bacon grease in the pan.

4. Put 2/3 cup of the flour in a shallow pan or bowl and season it with salt and pepper.

5. Dip the squirrel quarters in the flour and fry them in the bacon grease on medium-low heat until they are browned on all sides. Add butter to the pan if there isn't enough bacon grease.

Making the Buttermilk Biscuits

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Mix the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar and baking soda together in a large bowl. Divide the shortening into smaller pieces and cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture forms large crumbs about the size of peas.

3. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and shortening mixture and pour the buttermilk into the hole. Use your hands to fold the flour and shortening mixture carefully into the buttermilk until it turns into a sticky dough.

4. Put the dough on a floured surface and fold it over to form layers. Flatten it with your hands until it's ¾ inch thick.

5. Cut out the biscuits with a biscuit cutter. Transfer them to a baking sheet and brush them with melted butter.

6. Bake the biscuits until they are golden brown, about 15 minutes

Serving With Squirrel Gravy

1. When the squirrel quarters are completely cooked, remove them from the pan, leaving about ¼ cup of the grease. Put the squirrel quarters in an oven on low heat to keep them warm.

2. Heat the grease in the frying pan on medium heat and add ¼ cup of flour to make gravy. Stir the gravy constantly, until it turns golden brown.

3. Add ¾ cup of cold water to the gravy and continue stirring until it thickens. If the gravy is too thick, add more water.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. Serve the squirrel on a platter with the biscuits and serve the gravy on the side.

Tips & Warnings

• This recipe is best with young, tender squirrels. If you are using older squirrels, they should be stewed.