Of Woods and Waters: A Kentucky Outdoors Reader

Meats: Game and Tame (An Excerpt)

SIDNEY SAYLOR FARR Meats: Game and Tame (An Excerpt) From More Than Moonshine (1983) FATHER AND OTHER MEN in the community went hunting for wild game to supplement food supplies. It always seemed to me it would be more fun to go tramping through the mountains hunting than staying home doing endless chores that faced women and girls every day—although I would never have brought myself to the point where I could have shot at a wild animal or bird. I used to feel such outrage when Father brought home a mother squirrel, a pheasant, or other wild game. And I had a hard time reconciling myself to eating the meals where game was served. But hunger helps one overcome many scruples, and I always managed to get enough objectivity to keep from starving. The women were very ingenious in finding many ways to prepare the wild game. Mother baked groundhog with sweet potatoes, for example, which was a favorite dish of the whole family. Father would bring the dressed carcass to Mother. She would cut it into serving pieces and parboil them in her black iron kettle . She sent one of the children to the spice bush which grew back of the house to bring in some branches. She broke the branches into lengths to fit the kettle. After putting the meat into the kettle with sufficient water, she added the spice branches and cooked the meat for twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until the meat was just beginning to be tender. Then she poured off the water and rinsed each piece of meat in cold water. While the meat was cooking in the first water, she would send ?» another child to the smokehouse to get a pan of sweet potatoes. These she peeled and cut into quarters lengthways. She rubbed each piece of meat with salt and pepper and placed it in a baking dish. Around the edges of the meat she arranged the sweet potatoes. Then she put in one and a half tablespoons lard and two cups water and put the pan in the oven. The groundhog and sweet potatoes would bake, sending out savory odors every time the oven door was opened. People in the hills still eat groundhog, and squirrel, rabbit, and quail, but are adapting cooking methods. A friend of ours, Frank Farr, gave me a recipe for barbecued groundhog. BARBECUED GROUNDHOG i groundhog, dressed and cut into bite-sized chunks 2 tablespoons lard, approximately Barbecue sauce Brown meat in lard in heavy skillet. Drain off excess lard and drippings . Pour barbecue sauce over meat until each piece is covered. Simmer on stove until meat is tender. Serve with vegetables and bread. Frank also gave me a modern recipe for fixing venison in a crockpot. Mountain people do adapt their ways of cooking as modern conveniences are brought in. Most homes today have electric skillets, crockpots, and gas or electric stoves. VENISON POT ROAST To prepare the roast, soak venison in a solution of salt, vinegar, and water for 3 hours. (For each cup of water, mix in Vi cup vinegar and l A cup salt.) Pour off solution and run cold water over meat. Put salt and water (1 cup water to l A cup salt) into container and soak venison overnight. Take out of container and rinse in SIDNEY SAYLOR FARR 79 cold water. Put meat in kettle or crockpot and pour enough water over the meat to cover it. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, celery, and cook very slowly—8 hours in crockpot or 4 hours in a kettle. You may sprinkle garlic salt over meat if you like. Venison should be cooked slowly for it to taste best. In addition to groundhog, Father brought in rabbits, squirrels , and sometimes, if the season had not been good for wild game, he brought opossums for the table. He caught possums which had grown fat from the corn in our fields. I never liked possum, but for those who did the following recipe was a favorite . Possum meat is strong and gamey, and elaborate methods of cooking had to be used to make it palatable. BAKED POSSUM 1 dressed possum 1 tablespoon butter 1 large onion 1 cup bread crumbs Vi teaspoon chopped red pepper Dash of steak sauce 1 hard-boiled egg, chopped Salt to taste Small amount of water 1 or 2 sprigs of sassafras root Dress...