Barbequed Squirrel - Wild Game Recipe

Barbequed Squirrel

Barbequed squirrel on a sandwich with homemade bread and butter pickles or relish will disappear off the plates in a blink of an eye.  Anyone who likes barbque chicken will love barbqued squirrel.  The wild game recipe I use for squirrel meat is one that I have evolved and tweeked over the years and finally settled on cooking it in the following manner.   NOTE:  Alot of people clean and then freeze their squirrels whole - I prepare my barbeque and then freeze the barbeque.  It takes up less room in my freezer and is very handy later to pull a pack of barbeque out, thaw and heat and eat. 

This recipe for the barbeque sauce was given to me by my Grandmother many years ago - I have made only a couple of slight changes to it over the years but this is her recipe  - my recommendations for the changes I have personally made to it follow below:

Barbeque Sauce

1 T Crisco

1/2 C chopped onion

1 C tomatoe paste

1 t Worchester Sauce

1 t tobasco Sauce

1 t salt

1 t mustard

3 T brown sugar (heaping)

1 C water

1/4 C vinegar

3 C chopped, cooked Squirrel

Mix all ingredients, except Squirrel, and heat to simmer - pour over squirrel meat in a casserole dish, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.  Don't let it cook dry, but let it get gooey and good!

Now for my suggested changes to the original recipe above:

1.  use a garlic and red wine vinegar

2.  add 2 T hot salsa  - or - 1 T hot pepper relish

3.  add 1 chopped garlic clove

4.  add 1 chopped  sweet banana pepper

Squirrel Preparation

After skinning and cleaning the squirrel and making sure all gunshot is picked out (if shot with shotgun), place in saltwater and let soak overnight in the refrigerator - next day drain the salt water and rinse the squirrels with clear water.  Place 4 to 6 squirrels into a large pot of water with 1/4 t salt added to the water and bring to a boil.  Boil until meat is falling off the bones.  Drain broth from meat and cool.  Once cooled, pull meat off the bones - meat is now ready to be placed into barbeque sauce or to be used in other dishes like Squirrel and Noodles or Squirrel Pot Pie.

Just Me - Granny D