RUSSELL HOMESTEAD LLC
  • Home
  • Mini Schnauzers
    • Mini Schnauzers - The Basics
    • Current & Upcoming Litters
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Nutrition >
      • Nutrition - The Basics
      • Recommended Products
      • Life's Abundance-FAQ
    • Past Puppies
    • Puppy Photo Updates
    • Testimonials
    • Past Puppy Blogs
    • Documents
  • Goats
    • Our Goat Herd >
      • Goats - The Basics
      • Velvet
      • Nickel
      • Llama
      • Darla
    • Available Goat Kids
    • Past Goat Kids
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog

A Flashback to Elementary School & Squirrel Stew

11/4/2015

1 Comment

 
Spacebar…spacebar…spacebar…faster…spacebar.spacebar.spacebar! 
 
For those of you who went to elementary school in the 90s, perhaps you can reminisce with me about playing the good ole Oregon Trail computer game.  I remember several things about the game – seeing the little covered wagon bump along the trail, “burying” those who died along the way, trying to feed my oxen, and trying to shoot squirrels and deer for food.  I have this mental image (from the hunting part of the game) of the little man on the computer screen with his rifle with bullets emitting each time you pressed the space bar.  The faster you pressed, the faster the bullets came.  (Thus, my opening line for this blog post.)  So, when you saw some squirrels or deer, you blasted a stream of bullets at them (remembering, of course, that your bullet supply was limited). 
 
I had a flashback to playing that game the other day when, lo, and behold, the Russell men brought me some game….

Picture
The pride on their young faces at bringing home some meat was too much.  I cautiously mentioned that I had just seen a recipe for squirrel stew in my Mennonite Country-Style Recipes cookbook.  That was the all the encouragement my dear husband needed to butcher the critter. 
 
I smiled bravely as I carefully washed the squirrel.  (Let me insert here that before this experience I had never eaten squirrel meat.)  Thoughts ran through my mind, such as how I encourage other people to branch out and try new things like venison and goat milk; the old saying, “waste not, want not;” if I were really hungry, I would eat this, and how happy I was in the Oregon Trail game when my hunting yielded some squirrels.  Hmm, could I practice all I preached and eat this creature?
 
I read a few tips online and soaked the squirrel in a water, vinegar, and salt solution for a few hours.  Then I poured it off and soaked it overnight in just salt and water.  The next day, I simmered that little guy for about an hour to make it really tender.  I deboned it, and it yielded about ¼ cup of meat that looked and smelled somewhat like dark chicken meat.  I put it back in the fridge for about 2 days soaking in Worcestershire sauce.  And, then….then…I made squirrel stew.
 
I used a recipe from Mennonite Country-Style Recipes, but I adapted it so much that I’m not going to quote the original recipe.  (I do want to give credit to the cookbook, and I highly recommend it because it is loaded with tips for from-scratch cooking.  If you have the cookbook, the recipe I used is on page 511; it is called Brunswick Stew.)
 
Russell Homestead Squirrel Stew
1 cup cooked and shredded squirrel and/or chicken meat
1 potato, diced
½ cup chopped onion
2-3 cups chicken broth
1 quart of canned tomatoes
Salt, pepper, & seasoned salt to taste
 
Directions: Put all ingredients in a kettle and cook until potatoes are tender.
 
Notes: The canned tomatoes were my own.  I can chunked tomatoes with peppers and onions.  I did use chicken meat in addition to the squirrel meat because the squirrel was so small.  We could not tell a difference between the chicken and the squirrel in the stew.  (However, I will note that there was hardly any squirrel meat to speak of, so I won’t say that it tastes like chicken!  It simply pretty much hid in our stew.)
 
Other options: The Brunswick stew recipes also called for bacon, lima beans, cayenne pepper, and corn.  The options are endless, provided you have squirrel meat available.
 
The conclusion of all this – it was worth it!  My boys felt like men who provided meat for the table.  The stew was quite tasty, and everyone enjoyed it.  I will definitely use this recipe again if any other unfortunate squirrels meet my Russell men.  And, since I'm an animal lover who could never bring herself to shoot any animal, I feel good when a harvested animal does not go to waste.
 
If anyone reading this has any tips on cooking squirrel, I would love to hear them!  Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe Disclaimer

1 Comment
Kayseri Klima link
11/5/2023 01:06:41 pm

Hello mate, great blog.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Vanessa from Russell Homestead.  Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead.  Thanks for stopping by!
    Read more about me here.

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    March 2023
    February 2023
    April 2022
    March 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    April 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    Chickens
    Faith
    General
    Goats
    Homeschool
    Homesteading
    Motherhood
    Puppies
    Recipes

    RSS Feed

    Follow this Blog
    Vanessa Russell
    Independent Field Representative
    ID#20249934.

"The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24:1

All photos and text are property of Russell Homestead.  Use only with permission.
  • Home
  • Mini Schnauzers
    • Mini Schnauzers - The Basics
    • Current & Upcoming Litters
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Nutrition >
      • Nutrition - The Basics
      • Recommended Products
      • Life's Abundance-FAQ
    • Past Puppies
    • Puppy Photo Updates
    • Testimonials
    • Past Puppy Blogs
    • Documents
  • Goats
    • Our Goat Herd >
      • Goats - The Basics
      • Velvet
      • Nickel
      • Llama
      • Darla
    • Available Goat Kids
    • Past Goat Kids
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog