|
Post by Amras on Apr 4, 2006 21:18:36 GMT -5
A little bit of a nip in the air...just right for some Scottish Atholl Brose... A good recipe for Atholl Brose, found on the 1st web site below...Lady Elfwine and I are always looking for good recipes for oatmeal, the good steel-cut Irish or Scottish kind, anyway. Both Hamlyn's (Scottish) and McCann's (Irish) are great! Slainte'! Atholl Brose - Good fore what ails yuh...:-) Soak 15ml of Hamlyn's Scottish Oatmeal in 100ml of cold water for 2 hours. Strain the liquid into a tumbler through a fine sieve or muslin cloth, and add 2 x 5ml sthingys of the oatmeal. Add 100ml of whisky. Sweeten to taste with honey. Stir well. www.hamlynsoats.co.uk/index.htmwww.mccanns.ie/
|
|
|
Post by Amras on Apr 4, 2006 21:25:58 GMT -5
"5ml sthingys of the oatmeal" ? I love filters...that should be 5ml s-p-o-o-n-s of the oatmeal...evidently, it doesn't like the word p-o-wha?? Oh...(blush)...
|
|
|
Post by Sir Black Fox on Apr 5, 2006 7:48:48 GMT -5
I found this at Ask The Chef ( members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/askchef.html ) Squirrel Field Preparation It is important to field dress carcasses immediately and to get them cooled down, clean and dry, free of blood and body cavity contents. When you are field dressing a squirrel,insert your fingers in ahead of the knife tip after you make the preliminary cuts so that you don't cut the intestines open and contaminate the meat. You may wish to use gloves to handle the meat if you are in an area where the health of the squirrels may be suspect.
If you skin them while they are still warm, it's fairly easy to pull the skins off. If you let those tough membranes cool, it's a bit harder. Some people recommend skinning before gutting, and that is not a bad idea, but I might reverse that order on a very hot day.
To field dress a squirrel and preserve the pelt, remove all four paws at the wrist joint, and cape the head if you desire a full face pelt. Use small, delicate scissors to cut open the belly skin without penetrating into the muscle wall of the abdomen. Cut down the insides of all four legs, and around the rectum at the base of the tail. Strip the skin away from the meat. Blunt nosed pliers will help you keep your grip when peeling the legs. If you wish to keep the tail on the pelt, remove the skin of the back first, and peel the tail up about two thirds of the way before using strong scissors to cut it off at the bone.
To clean the squirrel, use delicate small scissors or a small knife to open the abdominal cavity, placing one finger inside the cavity to keep the knife away from the intestinal mass. Carefully remove the intestines and discard. Wash the carcass, or wipe it clean. Remove edible innards, and reserve them for stocks and sauces.
Basic squirrel cooking tips:
Squirrel is a savory dark meat, flavorful, sweet and very tender when the animals are young. Older animals belong in a stew or confit; very young, tender animals might be simply grilled on a charcoal fire with a brushing of butter or good quality olive oil and few sprigs of aromatic herbs to enhance their natural fragrance and delicacy.
Squirrel meat tends to be somewhat low in fat, though not as much so as rabbit—as with any game animal, much will depend on the individual animal's diet, sex, age and breeding condition.
Excellent flavor pairings with squirrel: bacon, lemon juice, sour cream, arrugula and other bitter spring greens, earthy root vegetables such as potatoes, turnips and celeriac, horseradish sauce, wild and domestic mushrooms.
Squirrel is absolutely delicious cooked very simply to showcase its natural flavor when it's young and tender. It is a bit darker and greasier than rabbit, but its flavor is equally delicate. If you want to show off a bit, try grilled squirrel brushed with a dressing of crushed raspberries, chopped rosemary and olive oil. If hubby and friends are less cuisine oriented and want something heartier, serve roasted squirrel over braised wild garlic greens and endives with plenty of wild rice cooked with pecans on the side. The trick with young squirrel is cooking it until it's done, but no longer—don't let the tender, sweet and delicate meat dry out. Brushing with a quality cooking oil (olive, walnut, etc.) or with butter is recommended during cooking.
Three Squirrel Recipes:
Simple Squirrel Clean and carefully dress a couple of nice bushy-tails, removing any glands you find, and wash off all hair that might be sticking to the meat. Disjoint them into large pieces (quarters are fine), throw some lemon juice, garlic salt and a touch of balsamic vinegar on the cleaned quarters to sit for a half hour or so.
Oil the bottom of a cast-iron frying pan by frying some bacon; reserve bacon. Dredge squirrel in seasoned flour, and fry on low-medium heat till golden brown. Drain the oil from the pan thoroughly.
Add enough lemon juice, white wine and sour cream to the pan to cover the squirrel; season with garlic and herbs and pepper to taste. Some fresh herbs are also nice if you have them. Let it simmer uncovered in that wonderful- smelling until the meat is very tender, and serve with freshly baked, crusty bread and crisp vegetables, with the bacon on top. This recipe works nicely for squirrels of indeterminate age, but the sauce seems to come out better with older and fuller flavored animals that can be simmered until the meat is falling-off-the-bones tender. A younger one won't need as long a simmering time, so keep checking the sauce.
Squirrel Confit
This preparation will work with older animals very nicely; younger and more tender animals may be better on the grill, or dredged in flour and fried or baked.
Skin and clean two large squirrels. Wash the carcasses free of blood, and pat dry. Disjoint into four leg sections, one saddle (just above the pelvis) and one rack (the ribcage). Using large kitchen shears, snip off the lower part of the ribcage and any parts of the saddle that are not directly attached to meat, such as the pelvis. Reserve the rack; you can prepare it as you would a Frenched rack of lamb if you wish by scraping the ends of the bones clean, and cutting down the center of the backbone lengthwise to create two sets of "squirrel chops".
In a small saucepan, simmer down the bones and the edible internal organs (heart, liver minus the green gallbladder, kidneys, lungs, diaphragm) with some carrots, onions and bay leaves to create a small amount of fragrant demiglace. Reserve.
Rub the joints all over with a good quality salt and some herbs to taste; I like to use the "Herbs du Provence" blend with some thyme, lavender, basil and oregano. Leave them in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, rinse them briefly and dry thoroughly on paper towels.
Prepare enough clean rendered fat (duck or goose fat is ideal, but clean pork or bear lard will do; beef tallow is undesireable) to completely cover all of the squirrel parts to be preserved. Gently boil the squirrel parts in the fat on a low simmer for an hour to an hour and a half, checking and stirring frequently to avoid parts sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the meat is tender and falling off the bone, remove and drain all the fat if serving immediately.
Roast the reserved, Frenched squirrel chops seperately to medium doneness, with the broth demiglace as a sauce. About 5 minutes in a 425F oven should do, or you can pan-fry the chop sections in a skillet. After the chops are cooked, you can slice them into individual tiny chops as a garnish for the confit dish if desired.
If you wish to preserve the squirrel meat, debone the cooled, cooked meat and put it in a clean glass jar. Strain the fat, and pour it over the meat. Make sure there is at least 1/2" of melted fat above the level of the meat, and store it in a cool, dark place, ideally the refrigerator.
In medieval times, potted game was kept in this way for up to a year, and remained sweet and free from decay. Modern recipes advise taking more stringent safety precautions and storing the finished confit in the refrigerator and using it within a month.
To serve squirrel confit, heat it, drain the fat well, and serve it with a crisp salad of spring greens, garlic mashed potatoes and freshly baked bread.
Squirrel in the style of French hare
This is a recipe that best showcases younger, more tender animals. Disjoint the carcass as described in the earlier recipe, Frenching the rack and splitting the backbone down the middle. Remove the thigh bone and the shoulder bone from the hind and forelegs, keeping the forelimb bone intact. Make stock from the bones; you may need to enrich the stock with additional meat or bones from a larger animal, or leftover chicken, veal or pork.
To bone a squirrel (or any small animal), use a small, sharp knife to cut all the way around the end of the bone below the "knob", severing tendons and muscle attachments. Scrape downwards with the blade to push the flesh down on the bone.
Stuff the pockets created in the legs with lightly sauteed wild mushrooms and spring garlic or onion greens. Dredge the stuffed legs lightly in seasoned flour and brown in a small amount of hot butter in a covered skillet. Add enough wine and well-reduced stock to keep the liquid about 1/4" deep around the stuffed legs, and braise until the meat is completely done and runs clear when pierced.
Roast the rib chop and saddle sections, deglaze the pan juices with wine and stock, and serve as a garnish to the stuffed legs. This makes a very attractive presentation.Bon appetit,
|
|
|
Post by ladydragonfly on Apr 5, 2006 7:55:21 GMT -5
You have way to much time on your hands
Lady Dragonfly
|
|
|
Post by Amras on Apr 5, 2006 14:25:11 GMT -5
ROFL!! (Disgust fills my every pore...no, really!) ;D We owe the foundation of our country, in part, to the humble grey squirrel...the superior marksmanship of the Continental soldier over his british counterpart can be traced to the necessity for feeding ones family with a flintlock. The most prevalent game in North America was the grey squirrel...now, if you can hit a grey squirrel, against a brown or dark green background at 2 or 3 hundred yards, just imagine how easy it was to hit a tea-sipping clown in a bright red coat at 50-75 yards...Oh yes... You must remember that, unlike darned near everything else on the planet, it doesn't taste like chicken...Squirrel was the main ingredient in the original recipes for Georgia Brunswick Stew (now mostly made with...wait for it...chicken). Its has a mild, wild game flavor to it, but tends to lean towards the "stringy" side... Of course, in the deep south, the main problem was getting the road gravel out of it during cleaning... Now you know why the little tree creeps around here are so respectful...
|
|
|
Post by Amras on Apr 5, 2006 16:54:44 GMT -5
I found this at Ask The Chef... Bon appetit, What, no po-tay-toes?? Boil em mash em stick em in a stew...
|
|