Meats and Small Game: The Foxfire Americana Library - Foxfire Students (2011)

DRESSING AND COOKING WILD ANIMAL FOODS

RACCOON

SKINNING AND DRESSING—Many hunters cut the jugular vein and bleed the coon as soon as they have killed one to prevent the meat from spoiling. Then they either bring it home and skin it, or skin it in the field. It is done as follows:

Ring the hind legs and the front legs at the foot joint. Split the pelt on the inside middle of both hind legs from the ring to the crotch.

Repeat on front legs, splitting to the middle of the chest.

Then split the pelt up the middle of the underside from the crotch, through the split from the front legs, and up to the end of the bottom jaw.

Cut around tail on the underside only. Connect split. Skin out both hind legs, and make a small slice between bone and tendon and insert a gamblin’ stick. Hang the coon up. Take two small sticks, and grip them together firmly so that the base of the tail is between. Pull carefully while holding the sticks tightly clamped together, and the tail will slide off the tail bone (Illustration 13). If you want to keep the skin, be sure not to pull the tail off.

Work the pelt off to the front legs, slicing the mesentery between skin and muscle when necessary (Illustration 14). Slice up to front legs, and then skin the front legs out. If you want to eat the coon, remove the two pear-shaped musk glands from under the forearms.

ILLUSTRATION 13 U. G. McCoy clamps the tail between two sticks and slides the pelt off the tail bone. The coon is hanging upside down from a gamblin’ stick.

ILLUSTRATION 14 Now he works the pelt up to the shoulders slicing the mesentery, where necessary, with his pocket knife.

Skin around the neck until you get to the head (Illustration 15). Cut the ears off even with the head. If you make a bad ear hole, the pelt’s value will be reduced by fifty cents. Skin right around the eyes leaving only the eyeballs. Then go down the snout, cutting off the end so that the nose button is still attached to the pelt.

Now split the flesh down the middle from throat to crotch and remove intestines and organs. Cut off the head, tail, and feet, and soak the carcass in cold water (preferably overnight unless you have just killed it) to get the blood out.

ILLUSTRATION 15 Carefully, he works the pelt off over the coon’s head

COOKING—The most common way of cooking coon is to put it in a pot of salted water (one spoon of salt per pound), one or two pods of red pepper or one tablespoon of black pepper, and let it boil in a pot with no lid until the meat is tender. Remove, put in a greased baking pan, and bake until golden brown.

To parboil, add either broken spicewood twigs, an onion or two, a teaspoonful of vinegar, or some potatoes to the water to remove the wild taste. Take out, roll in flour, salt and pepper, and bake in a greased Dutch Oven turning the meat often. Another method is to rub the parboiled coon with salt and pepper, and dot it with butter. Place quartered sweet potatoes around the meat, and bake it in an oven at four hundred degrees until the meat and potatoes are tender. The meat can also be parboiled, cut into pieces, rolled in corn meal, and then fried in lard.

Another contact told us that his method was to sprinkle the skinned carcass all over with salt and leave it overnight on a pan that was tipped so that as the salt drew the water out, it would drain. The next morning he packs it in ice and cools the meat, then parboils it, cuts it into two halves, and bakes it like a ham, basting it with a sauce containing poultry seasoning. Still another woman told us that rather than skinning the coon, her family always dipped the coon in boiling water to which ashes had been added to help loosen the hair. Then the coon was scraped clean, gutted, and the chest cavity filled with sweet potatoes. It was then baked until brown and tender.

Apparently it is also possible to salt the scraped, gutted carcass and smoke it like a ham for later use.

POSSUM

DRESSING—Few people in this area bother to skin the few possums they eat. The prevailing tradition is to scald the possum in boiling water containing a half cup of lime or ashes. Then it is scraped until hairless, gutted (it should have been bled immediately after caught), the musk glands under the forearms removed, and either the head or at least the eyes removed. The carcass is then soaked, preferably overnight, before cooking.

COOKING—The most common way of cooking possum is to parboil it in water containing salt and red or black pepper to taste. It is boiled until tender, and then put in a greased pan surrounded or filled with sweet potatoes. It is then baked until golden brown (about two hours if you’re using a wood stove).

Another contact lines the bottom of the baking pan with sassafras sticks instead of grease. Then she bakes it. Some prefer to skin the possum, parboil the meat in salty water until tender, cut the pieces up and roll them in red and black pepper and flour and fry them in fat.

Beulah Perry said, “Lot a’times, when I was a kid, th’ possum head was my favorite, an’ my mother would always pay me to do things. And she’d say, ‘Now Beulah, if you do so and so, then I’ll leave th’ possum head on.’ And when th’ possum would get done, she’d cut that head off and give it to me. You know, as little as you think, why, they’s right smart a’meat on those. You eat th’ tongue, brains, everything in th’ head except th’ eyes.” You could also dry, salt, and smoke the carcass for later use.

RABBIT

SKINNING AND DRESSING—Some hunters in this area gut the rabbit as soon as they have killed it. Many carry it home and gut it that evening, however. They do this by making one short slash in the belly parallel to the backbone, and removing the entrails through this cut. At home they skin it, often making a cut across the middle of the back, inserting their fingers, and pulling both ways. The legs are lifted out of the pelt as with the squirrel.

COOKING—There are several popular ways. First cut the rabbit into sections. Remove the legs, and separate the ribs and back section by cutting up the rabbit’s sides vertically. Parboil the pieces in a covered pot in salted (two tablespoons) water to make it tender if it’s not young and tender already.

For frying, put the parboiled pieces in a greased pan and fry until brown on all sides, seasoning with a half teaspoon pepper. Some roll the pieces in meal or flour before frying.

For baking, dip the parboiled pieces in a breaded solution consisting of two eggs, four tablespoons of flour, a quarter cup milk, and a half teaspoon pepper. Put pieces in an oven and bake until brown (about thirty minutes).

Others prefer the meat simmered in the salted water until tender, and then eaten. Another contact used to make rabbit dumplings similar to those described in the squirrel section.

GROUNDHOG

DRESSING—Skin the groundhog, remove the glands from under the legs, gut, and soak overnight in salty water. The hide was often placed in a bucket of ashes over which water was poured. After the ashes had taken the hair off, the hide was removed, dried, kneaded, and cut up in strips for shoe strings.

COOKING—Parboil with spicewood twigs (to take the wild taste out) until tender. Pepper and put in a greased pan to bake until brown.

Another way is to parboil the groundhog until tender in water containing two carrots, garlic, and a piece of fat meat “about the size of a baby’s fist.” You can also add pepper and a tablespoon of salt if you wish. Then the groundhog is browned in an open baking pan in the oven.

The carcass could also be dried, salted, and smoked for later use.

SQUIRREL

SKINNING AND DRESSING—The most common way of skinning a squirrel in the mountains was to ring the back legs at the feet, and cut around the top of the base of the tail. The hunter then put the squirrel on its back, put his foot on its tail, grabbed its back legs firmly, and pulled. The hide would come off just like a jacket right up to the neck. Then the front legs were pulled up out of the skin and cut off at the feet, and the pelt cut off at the neck. Usually the head was not skinned out, but if you wanted to, it would be done about the same as with the coon.

Cut off the head, back feet, and tail. Then gut.

COOKING—After soaking the squirrel long enough to get all the blood out, cut it into pieces and roll the pieces in flour, salt, and pepper. Fry until tender and brown. If the squirrel is old, you may want to parboil it in water containing sage to take out the wild taste.

Another contact used to cut the squirrel into pieces after parboiling, and cook the pieces in a gravy made of milk and flour.

Another made squirrel dumplings. Cut the squirrel up and parboil the pieces for five minutes. Then remove the meat and cook it in fresh water until tender. Add to the broth a quarter teaspoon of pepper, one tablespoon of butter or cooking fat, and some milk. Prepare the dumpling dough, and cook by dropping the pieces into the boiling broth mixture. Cover and cook for ten minutes and serve hot.

BEAR

SKINNING AND DRESSING—Cut jugular vein and bleed, or cut head off. Slice down the middle of the underside from the neck to the back legs, sliding the knife between the hide and the flesh. Roll the bear from side to side while cutting until the hide is off.

With the axe, cut off the legs below the knees, cut through the breastbone, and cut between the buttocks to the backbone. Cut the end of the large intestine and strip out the innards. Cut on either side of the backbone (as in the hog) separating the meat into two halves. Cut out the hams and shoulders for curing in salt. Cut the neck, flank, and lower part of the shoulder into small pieces for stewing at once.

COOKING—Many of our contacts cooked bear roasts and steaks in the same fashion as beef or venison. One suggested parboiling the fresh meat until tender, and adding several large apples to the water. When the apples fell apart, the meat was ready to be taken out, seasoned, and baked.

DEER

SKINNING AND DRESSING—After killing, remove the scent glands (on the hind legs at the inside of the knee joint), the testes, and cut the jugular vein immediately. Then hang the carcass up by its hind legs, and ring each of the back legs below the knee. Cut down the inside of the back legs to the crotch, cut down the belly to the center of the chest, and ring the front legs in a manner similar to the back. Cut down the inside of the front legs to meet the cut in the chest. Peel the hide off the back legs, down the body, and off the front legs up the neck to the ears. Cut off the head right behind the ears with an axe.

With the same axe, chop down between the hams. Cut from the hams to the chest with a knife, and then separate the ribs using the axe again. Cut down to the brisket with the knife, cut around the anus, and then remove the entrails. Save the heart and liver if desired.

Another method also used by local hunters was to make a diagonal cut just behind the chest cavity about twelve inches long. The entrails were removed through this cut, which was plenty large enough and yet small enough to prevent dirt and leaves from entering the cavity.

CURING—Sometimes hunters would salt the entire carcass with about twenty-five pounds of salt, let it dry, and hang it in the smokehouse. When they needed pieces, they simply stripped them off and cooked them.

Others cut the deer into pieces very similar to those that a beef is cut into (legs, ribs, rump, loin, etc.). These pieces were either dried in the sun until all the moisture was out and then put in the smokehouse; put into a fairly thick salt brine and left; or salted down (about one inch thick) and put in the smokehouse to cure in the same manner as pork.

COOKING—Before cooking meat from the smokehouse, soak the pieces overnight in clear water. If you kept them in brine, simply cook without adding salt.

For steaks from the smokehouse or brine, slice into pieces a half inch thick, four inches long, and three inches wide. In a skillet, brown in butter and simmer until tender depending on the toughness of the meat. Salt is not needed since the meat was salted during curing. For fresh steaks, roll in flour, pepper and salt until covered, and then put in a frying pan with a half cup of shortening. Fry slowly until tender, or until both sides are browned.

One woman told us to pound the steak, and soak it for an hour in a mixture of a half cup vinegar, one cup water, and a teaspoon of salt (for two pounds of steak). Remove from the liquid, dry, and roll in about a cup of flour. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt, and brown in shortening at a high heat. Cover, and simmer at a low heat for forty-five to sixty minutes.

For fresh roasts, some put a four-pound roast and one pod of red pepper (to kill the wild taste) in water and parboil, uncovered, until tender. The meat should be completely covered with water. When tender, take out, wipe dry, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste, and then brown in an oven.

To cook without parboiling, rub with a teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and place in a roasting pan. Add one cup water, one medium diced onion, and one half cup chopped mushrooms. Cover and bake at a low heat for around three hours.

For pot roasts, soak a four-pound roast in salt water overnight. Remove from water, dry, and rub with a mixture of one half teaspoon each salt and pepper, and one half cup flour. Heat one half cup fat, add five or six chopped onions, and brown meat on all sides. Add a cup of water, cover tightly, and cook on top of stove until tender. If you wish, add two or three chopped potatoes and carrots half an hour before the roast is done.

For venison loaf, mix together 2½ pounds ground deer meat, 1 pound ground hog meat, 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 1 large chopped onion, and 1½ cups breadcrumbs dampened with a little water. Shape into a loaf, and bake for about an hour at 400°.

For stews, cut two pounds of meat into one-inch cubes and brown on all sides in a small amount of fat. Then, in a stewing pot, add the meat, two cups water, four potatoes, six large carrots, four medium onions, one quart of tomatoes, one tablespoon salt, and one teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for three hours. After three hours, thicken with three tablespoons flour and one half cup water. Eat then, or store in a cool place and heat as needed. Another person told us to thicken with flour, three tablespoons bacon drippings, and a pint of tomato juice.

TURKEY

DRESSING—Most early cooks in our area scalded and plucked the turkey leaving the skin on, but one said that he skinned them many times. Then the fuzz was removed by singeing in the fire, the feet cut off at the joints, the head cut off, and the entrails removed. The latter was done either by severing the backbone from the base and pulling the entrails out through the tail end, or by cutting up the middle from the legs to the breastbone and removing them. The gizzard, liver, and sometimes the heart were saved.

COOKING—After cleaning, some then cut off the legs and breast (saving them for frying like chicken) and stewed the rest. Others rubbed the outside with lard, sprinkled it with two tablespoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper, replaced the liver and gizzard, and baked it for about three hours on low heat. After baking, two cups of the resulting liquid were sometimes mixed in a saucepan with two tablespoons flour and a quarter cup water and heated to make gravy. Chopped liver and gizzard could be added.

Lon Reid’s family used to cut off the wings, spread them out and dry them in front of the fire. When stiff, they were used as fans for the fire.

QUAIL

DRESSING—Pull the skin off the bird without bothering to pluck the feathers. Cut off the feet and head and remove the insides, saving the gizzard, heart, and liver if you wish. Rub it all over with butter, salt and pepper, place in a roasting pan, and cover. Bake in a moderate oven until tender, then uncover and let brown.

TURTLE

DRESSING—When cleaning mud turtles, most people chopped the head off first (some by holding a stick in front of the turtle, coaxing him to bite down on it, and then chopping), and then dropped it shell and all into boiling water.

Then the meat was cut loose from the shell, gutted, and cut into pieces, sometimes three inches in diameter and one inch thick, and sometimes just chunks.

Others simply skinned the turtle without boiling by cutting the bottom plate off first, then cutting between the meat and the domed shell, and then gutting the turtle, cutting off the legs, and cutting the remaining meat into pieces. Some took the meat off the legs, and cooked it along with the rest of the meat.

COOKING—The meat was soaked overnight in salty water (some with a little soda also) to remove the wild, strong taste. It was cooked according to any of the following directions:

Parboil (if desired) and roll in flour. Put three tablespoons of flour, one tablespoon salt, and one teaspoon pepper in a covered skillet, and fry the meat until brown on all sides.

After parboiling (with salt and hot pepper if desired), cool, and dip meat into a batter made of one cup plain sifted flour, one half teaspoon salt, one teaspoon baking powder, two beaten eggs, and one half cup milk. Fry in deep fat until golden brown.

Stew in sweet milk and butter, pepper and salt just like oyster stew.

FROG

Mrs. Lake Stiles: “First, after y’get’em dressed [cut the legs off and clean them and throw the rest away], get your grease not too awfully hot—if y’get it too hot, when y’put’cher legs in they’ll jump out. Roll’em in flour an’ salt an’ pepper like chicken, an’ fry’em; or either y’can take buttermilk’n’an’egg an’ whip it t’gether, and then roll th’ legs in it an’ either bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, an’ fry it.”