Squirrel Stew
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe by:
Serves: 6 to 8
Ingredients
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 squirrels, cleaned and cut into pieces
  • 2 tablespoons Acadiana Table Cajun Seasoning Blend, see recipe here
  • 2 cups diced yellow onion
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 1 cup diced bell pepper
  • 2 cups chopped smoked pork sausage
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 cup dry red wine
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 cups button mushrooms
  • 3 tablespoons dark roux, such as Rox's Roux
  • 1 quart chicken stock
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Hot sauce
  • 8 cups cooked long-grain white rice
  • 1 cup diced green onion tops
Instructions
  1. In a large black iron pot with a heavy lid over medium-high heat, add the oil.
  2. Sprinkle the squirrel pieces generously with Cajun seasoning and add to the hot oil in the pot. Cooking in batches, brown the squirrel on all sides and remove to a platter.
  3. Add the trinity vegetables along with the sausage to the pot and sauté until the onions begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and deglaze the pot with the wine and Worcestershire. Cook until the some of the alcohol burns off, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, roux, and chicken stock and return the squirrels back to the pot. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 1 hour.
  4. Uncover and check to see that there is still plenty of liquid (add water, if needed). Cover and cook for another 1 hour until the squirrel is fork tender and the gravy thickens to coat the back of a spoon.
  5. Taste the gravy and adjust seasonings to your taste with salt, pepper, and hot sauce.
  6. Serve over a mound of white rice and garnish with a sprinkle of green onion tops.
Notes
This dish should be spicy: There’s plenty of spice in the seasoned meat and the smoked sausage, but feel free to add more to your taste (or have the hot sauce on the table). Some folks like to add tomato paste or diced canned tomatoes to this recipe (more like a sauce piquant), but I like the flavor of the roux and the wine to come through; it’s your choice. The sauce should be thick like a gravy, so thicken it up with a little cornstarch if needed. Oh, and be sure to have plenty of hot French bread to sop that gravy up with!
Recipe by Acadiana Table at https://www.acadianatable.com/2017/10/16/squirrel-stew/