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Gene Williams
29th June 2003, 13:13
Dear Chef Ed, Please start your culinary column here and re-post your delicious possum recipes. I'm sure we will continue to receive many interesting requests and questions. Gene

wendy ongaro
29th June 2003, 15:22
oooh, yum. possum. we don't have much of that out west, but I got to know one or two when I was training in North Carolina. :D


I wonder if any of these recipes could be applied to porcupine, as we have an overwhelming prevalence of those here. ;)

Gene Williams
30th June 2003, 02:24
Dear Chef Ed, We had our big family picnic here in Alabama yesterday, and we tried all your possum recipes. We lit some old tires from the John Deere in a hole and put an old drain grate over it and spread out several possums to BarBQ. We also cooked up a powerful possum stew in an old oil drum. Grandpa came out to sit in his chair, took a whif of all the possum cookin'and said,"Boy, that'd draw the buzzards off a gut wagon." My sister Sue was there with her new husband. Seems his mama, an Alabama girl, went and married a boy from Opaleika who's parents were part A Rab. He calls himself Shiek Yomomma bin Luvin,he gave us several recipes for camel hump and sand lizard. While we were eatin' the porch on Daddy's double wide collapsed and killed three coon dogs and woulda got me and my cousin Billie Sue if we hadn't a rolled out. Anyways, I wish you would post them possum recipes again. Thanks, A Friend in Alabama

CEB
30th June 2003, 15:48
Originally posted by Gene Williams
Dear Chef Ed, Please start your culinary column here and re-post your delicious possum recipes. I'm sure we will continue to receive many interesting requests and questions. Gene

I would prefer to have the Tuna thread back. I posted some good Tuna dishes. But if want the possum recipes I'll give them to you. They are not particularly useful. The problem with utilizing possum as a food source is that it is not readily available at the local food mart. I don't encourage the routine killing of opossum for food. I guess it OK to cook and eat any possum found lying dead along the road after recently being hit by a car.

You should never kill a possum just for the fun of it because it is one of the few animals in the wild that a man can catch with his bare hands. A stick or a rock would be useful because possums do have a nasty bite. I remember when I was a boy I was hunting with Dad and one of Dad's hound took a nasty possum bite. Because of the way they can be caught with out the need of a weapon possums, snakes, and hedgehogs can be a life saver. That is why I don't believe in killing them for fun.

So before you can cook possum you must catch one so lets cover the first step how to catch a possum.

How to Catch a Possum

Since possum are not readily available we must first discuss how who procures a possum. I know of several ways to catch a possum. Perhaps the easiest is to simply drive around for a while in your truck. The problem will soon resolve itself.(SCCRRRREEEEEEECCHHH!!. . . SPLAT. . .)

Much more fun, however, is to take your dogs and shotgun, and go into the woods and hunt one down. The advantage to this method is that you don't have to scrape the possum off the pavement. The disadvantage is that you do have to worry about shotgun pellets in the meat. (OUCH! Dadgum it! There went my best tooth!) Not to mention that a shotgun blast can really mess up the hide, which makes it a lot harder for the taxidermist.

It is also possible to set traps to catch a possum, but this method is notoriously unreliable. Possums like to stay in the trees, and you're much more likely to catch something else. (Hey, Ed! There's something in the trap! See them bushes moving? Let's see what it is! . . . OH, $#&@! IT'S A SKUNK!!)

Speaking of Skunk. Possum have scent glands similar to skunk. The stink isn't quit as bad but it is still bad enough. Be careful with the scent glands when cleaning your possum.

Another thing you might want to take into consideration is that possums are scavengers. They eat anything. If a possum is in the road, chances are he's there looking for lunch. Therefore, it's best to catch them alive if at all possible and feed them corn for a few days to clean them out real good before eating them. You just don't know whose garbage they've been into. After all, you wouldn't want to eat something that's been eating Aunt Edna's leftovers, would you? You know, she's the one who brings that stuff that nobody ever touches to the family reunion.
(Hey, man, what IS that stuff? I think it's still alive!)

Possums are also notoriously hard to kill, and they, well, play possum if they feel threatened. (That's why they're called possums!) I remember hearing about someone who had a possum get in his garage one time. He was real mad about something, and having a possum rooting around in his garage making a mess just made it worse, so he took after that thing with a shovel. The possum never had a chance. He did have to chop its head off to make sure it was dead; otherwise they just get up and walk off. It was real strange; right after he beheaded the possum, lightning or something struck the garage, blowing out all the lightbulbs and giving him quite a shock. (If you don't get the joke here, don't worry.)

Please note that we're talking about the North American opossum here. There is a species of possum (spelled without the leading "o") native to Australia which is endangered. It is strictly illegal to hunt, trap, or kill an Australian possum. However, this same species is reportedly a nuisance in New Zealand, so if you see one there. . . bon appetit!

Of course, if you take of this seriously ... you might be a from Georgia.

That ought to get you started. Now, on to the recipes...

Much of this was based on Mike Bolton's Possum Cookbook. This includes some of the recipes that follow.

CEB
30th June 2003, 15:53
Possum Pot Pie

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 3 1/2 pounds possum -- cut up
2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup peeled -- cubed potato
1/2 cup scraped -- chopped carrot
1/2 cup cut fresh or frozen green beans -- cut into 1-inch
-- pieces
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup fresh or frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 cup fresh or frozen english peas or butter
-- beans
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until tender. Drain possum, reserving 2 cups broth. Skim fat from broth. Set possum and broth aside to cool slightly. Cook potato and carrot in boiling water to cover 5 minutes. Add green beans; cook 3 minutes. Drain.

Skin and bone possum; cut possum into bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, and cook, stirring constantly, until tender. Add 1/4 cup flour, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is light golden. Gradually add reserved broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and is bubbly. Remove from heat.

Stir in possum, cooked vegetables, corn, and next 5 ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 11- x 7- x 11/2-inch baking dish; set aside.

Combine 11/2 cups flour, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Add sour cream, stirring with a fork until dry ingredients are moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; knead 3 or 4 times. Press dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with a 21/2-inch biscuit cutter. Arrange biscuits over pie.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden.
Serve immediately.

Possum Pot Pie nutritional data

Serving Size: 85.0 g
Calories: 149.0
Calories from Fat: 45.9
Total Fat: 5.1 g
Percent Fat: 30.8 %
Saturated Fat: 1.6 g
Cholesterol: 58.0 mg
Sodium: 47.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 0.0 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
Protein: 24.0 g

Baked Possum and Sweet Potatoes
2 young possums, 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 lbs each, dressed weight
1 baking potatoes, 1/2 lb
7 cups cold water
2 lbs sweet potatoes or yams
4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp red pepper
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup cold water
2 cups possum broth
Parsley

Clean possum carefully and remove scent glands and any clinging hair.
Pare Potato, wash and cut in quarters lenthwise, Lay potato inside possum.
Fit into a 5 qt kettle.
Add water, cover kettle but leave open space on one side for steam to escape.
Heat to boiling and boil gently 15-20 minutes; then skim froth that collects;
pour off about half the both.
Add 3 cups fresh hot water, return to heat, again partially cover and boil gently until meat is tender, but not tender enough to pull away from the bone.
Remember possums will not become more tender after they are placed in a roasting pan,
Sprinkle outside well with the seasonings that have been well mixed in a coup.
Make gravy by sprinkling flour over cold water, mix to a smooth paste, then blend with 3 coups of broth drained from kettle in which possums were parboiled.
Mix and pour around possum.
Arrange pared, washed sweet potatoes around possum.
Cover pan and bake until possums and potatoes are about tender .
Now uncover and bake until possums and potatoes are tender and beautifully browned or from 35-40 min.
Baste every 10 minutes with the gravy in the pan.
Remove meat and potatoes to platter and garnish with parsley.
Pour gravy into separate dish and serve meat and gray piping hot.
Makes 5 to 6 servings.



Wild Possum Kabob

Ingredients:
1 Still breathing, corn-fed Possum
3 Ripe but firm tomatoes
1 Large white or yellow onion
1/2 pound large mushrooms
2 large green peppers
1 package meat marinade
1/2 cup soy sauce
12 skewers (sticks are okay in Arkansas)

Preparation:
The possum must be alive so that you can scare it, giving you the "wild" taste from all the adrenaline it produces. It is best to hit it over the head with a large object in a humane manner. Boil the possum for 3 minutes to loosen the fur then skin and gut it.
De-limb (chop the little knubby legs off) the possum and cut the meat into 1/2 inch square chunks.
Marinate overnight in a mixture of meat marinade and soy sauce. Kentucky residents who have no fridge can use an ice chest and may use radiator coolant instead of soy sauce.
Thread the meat and veggies onto your skewer/stick in alternating sequences to distribute the delicious flavor evenly.
Cook over a barbecue, pit, 50 gallon drum or any other fire till you get the desired result. For added flavor, you can cook it over burning tires.

Servings: 6
Calories: 12,342
Carbs: Holly 4-barrel
Fat: If you eat this kind of crap, fat probably isn't your biggest concern.


Possum Creole
Ingredients:
1 slightly injured possum
1 cup mayonnaise
8 cups pig fat
2 cups buttermilk
2 fresh green peppers

Directions: Slice green peppers and mix ingredients in a large bowl(exclude possum). Cut possum into chunks or thin strips. Mix possum chunks into bowl. Transfer contents of bowl into a casserole dich and bake under 350 degrees for two hours. Remove from oven, let sit for half an hour, and serve. ENJOY!!


Australian Possum
Ridgey Didge Possum Roll
Ingredients:
1 possum
5 tbs balsamic vinegar
5 onions
2 cloves garlic
5 carrots
1 stalk celery
2 turnips
3 tomatoes
2 tbs cold pressed olive oil
1 clump italian parsley
1 tbs fresh rosemary
5 bay leaves
3 cloves
2 tbs Vegemite
1 damper (like a hot dog roll)

Note: As mentioned previously, there is a species of possum which is protected in Australia. They cannot be trapped, shot or hunted. If you run over an Australian possum, and it is still alive, call WIRES, which protects Australia's native fauna.
If it's dead, then this recipe may serve a purpose. Also remeber the same species is alsofound in New Zeland and is a nusiance there. So if in New Zeland, chow down!

First, skin the possum, checking first for lice, myxomitosis, and living young in the pouch.Separate legs from breast. Discard head, neck, tail and claws. If you wish, hold the offal for thanksgiving stuffing. Then cut the possum into long sringy pieces.
Marinate overnight in vinegar, rosemary, bay leaf, clove, garlic & oil mixture.
Make the roll: split the damper, and spread vegemite on each side. Put aside.
Chop the carrot, turnip and tomato into small pieces, then cook with the rest of the ingredients, and stew in a pot, adding a chicken stock cube for seasoning. Dip the possum pieces in the pot, then barbecue for 20 minutes (or until cooked to personal taste).
To serve: like a hot dog, use the damper & vegemite roll to surround pieces of possum.
Serve with chips, salad and beer.



Possum and Taters
Ingredients:
1 young, fat possum
8 sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon sugar
salt

Directions: First, catch a possum. This in itself is excellent entertainment on a moonlight night. Skin the possum and remove the head and feet. Be sure to wash it thoroughly. Freeze overnight either outside or in a refrigerator.
When ready to cook, peel the potatoes and boil them tender in lightly salted water along with the butter and sugar. At the same time, stew the possum tender in a tightly covered pan with a little water. Arrange the taters around the possum, strip with bacon, sprinkle with thyme or marjoram, or pepper, and brown in the oven. Baste often with the drippings.



Possum Stew

Ingredients:
two cans of tomato sauce
three cans of cooked tomatoes
1/2 thickly sliced warthog meat (mainly for flavor)
a big bag of pasta noodles (any redneck kind will do)
salt and pepper
1/2 possum (other 1/2 can be used for breakfast possum-omelettes)

Directions:
Fry bacon in big gramma kettle, over mid. size fire, then fry possum in the grease till golden brown. Take the meat out, then add enough water to pot to fill 2/3 way and then boil noodles. Once cooked add both things of tomatoes to kettle and meat and add enough salt and pepper to old granny's taste. Cook all together for a bout 1 hour simmering over low fire to sautee.
Bone Appa Teet.



Texan Possum Chili

Ingredients:
1 large possum or 2 small (good and dead-really dead)
3 onions chopped
1 pound sausage
15 jalapenos
5 tomatoes
2 red peppers chopped
3 squirrels, cut into pieces
1 armadillo
1 cup tea
1/4 can Copenhagen

Chop up everything (be sure to skin the 'dillo) set it on the fire (or stove, if ya wanna be fancy) let it boil until the dogs howl. Eat with regard to the bones and serve with cheese (not green) and more onions. This is actually a recipe my cousins taught me how to cook. It is actually edible.



Cajun Possum Chili

Ingredients:
Tomatoe Sauce (depends on possum)
1 tsp.-1 cup Chili Powder (Depends on Taste and possum)
1 Large possum or 3 small (If you ran over the possums better make it 4)
1 large pot or two large ones if the first isn't enough.
5-10 chili peppers (depends on taste and possum)
5-10 red peppers (depends on taste and possum)
5-10 jalapenio peppers (depends on taste and possum)
How ever much Cayenne Pepper you like, it depends on your taste and possum.
1 tsp. Black Pepper
a pinch of salt
Chili Beans for extra flavor
And whatever other ingredients that are hot and spicy you would like to add.

Directions:
1. Skin possum(s)
2. Remove internal organs, head, claws, and bones. There is no flavor or use for these. But if you want to add them, go ahead.
3. Put some tomatoe sauce in the pot(s). Then add the possum.
4. Chop peppers
5. Skip step four if you don't want chopped peppers; it doesn't matter.
6. Put the rest in and let set for a long dang while.
7. Before serving make sure you have enough bread, Milk, and Toliet paper for after dinner.
8. Serve. Enjoy
9. Race for bathroom. Whoever is first will make a large stench. Have enough air freshner.

Serving size of Meal-depends on how much you put in and the possum.

Warning-You're a redneck if you try this. (Either that or you like really hot chili.) May cause sudden urges to go to the bathroom. May cause burnt tongues and mouths. May cause severe indegestion.



Possum Tartar

1. Kill a possum by Method #1 as described above.
2. Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and garlic. Some folks also like onion.
3. Run over it one more time to mix the spices in thoroughly.
4. Contact your mental health professional and inform him of what you're about to do.


Nutrition Facts

Serving size: Depends on the possum
Servings per container: Depends on the possum
Amount per servingepends on the possum
Calories: Depends on the possum
Total fat: At least three times the U.S. RDA.
Sodium: Depends on the possum
Total carbohydrate: Depends on the possum
Protein: Depends on the possum

Shitoryu Dude
30th June 2003, 16:32
I'd like to take this time to point out that about the last thing you want to do with a live possum is try to grab it or hold it. The can be damned vicious and have a lot of sharp teeth.

:beer:

CEB
30th June 2003, 16:43
Originally posted by CEB


...A stick or a rock would be useful because possums do have a nasty bite. I remember when I was a boy I was hunting with Dad and one of Dad's hound took a nasty possum bite. ....[/I]

Gene Williams
30th June 2003, 18:14
Did you know that possums do not get rabies? They have naturally selected it out since they have been around since the Big Bang, or close to it:D They have injected them with 1000 times a lethal dose and they do not get it. But, a possum's mouth is so nasty that if he bit you you might as well have rabies:( Gene

CEB
30th June 2003, 18:23
Originally posted by wendy ongaro
I wonder if any of these recipes could be applied to porcupine, as we have an overwhelming prevalence of those here. ;)

I suppose they could. The only porcupine recipe I have seen is for a stew type concotion taken from a Canadian Cookbook of North American Aboriginal Recipes. Sorry but I don't have it with me.

You have the same problem with cooking the porcupine as you do with cooking possum. The issue of obtaining it.

I have never handle a North American variety of the Hedgehog. I saw a few on a short little hike I took from Granby to Estes Park Colorado back in 1993. I have a little bit of experience handling the African Pygmie Hedgehog. It is much smaller variety. If you wear heavy work gloves you can handle the African hedgehog, live or dead. Once you pick them up they just curl into a ball. Their underbelly is soft fur they roll into a ball and use the quills as their primary defense mechanism. It is important to have some knowledge of the physical and pyshcological tendencies of whatever species you try to handle. Some creatures are just totally irrational and erratic in their behavior and as a result are totally unpredictable. I have found this to be the case with human females. I have no experience with North American Porcupines so I don't think I can help you.

Shitoryu Dude
30th June 2003, 20:35
Have you ever seen a dog mix it up with a porcupine? It is not a pretty site a the dog ends up with a face full of quills and the porcupine just wanders off. Then you have to hold down or sedate the dog and use a pair of pliars to remove the quills. This is not a fun thing to do.

But, by all reports porcupine is pretty tasty grilled over a fire.

:beer:

CEB
30th June 2003, 21:42
I married a city girl and she had a kitty. When we first got married we lived out in the country and I liked to pet her kitty. There were certain things about country living that she didn't seem to comprehend. One was critters. I kept getting on her case about feeding the cat inside the garage. I told her and told her to feed her cat out away from the house. We would come home and find varmits in the garage eating the cat food. It took twice getting the garage sprayed by skunk for her to get the idea.