Squirrel Stew

This weekend we ate a fine squirrel stew. It does not sound appetising, and I did have some real concern that it would be inedible. Part of our family believes though that every good meal requires at least part of an animal. The hunter in our family was brought up with the odd but reasonable lesson that any creature that he shot and killed he would also need to eat. Because he brought home a squirrel in a bag, I needed to make it into a meal. It was a tough little animal with little meat, but we knew that it had led a clean life outdoors. That is more than we ever know about the meat from the local market, so we gave it a try. The recipe is as follows.-Polly

- Boil and then simmer the cleaned whole squirrel in water for 30 minutes.

- Let the squirrel cool just enough to handle. Discard the water.

-Remove all of the meat and set it aside. Discard the bones or think of some

good use for them.

-Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a heavy good sized pot.

-Add two finely chopped small onions, two sliced carrots, three sliced parsnips, two chopped celery stalks, and three large minced garlic cloves to the oil. Let them sit until the onion is becoming tender. Do not let the garlic brown.

-Add 4 Cups of water, vegetable broth, or chicken broth to the simmering vegetables. If you use water rather than broth, some salt may be desired.

-Add the squirrel meat.

-Make a dumpling dough while the stew starts to simmer again.

These dumplings are adapted from the

King Arthur Flour Baking Cookbook.

Mix together-1 cup of flour

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder

Cut in 2 Tbsp of butter

Add 1/2 cup of milk all at once.

Mix only a little, then drop the dough in blobs onto the stew. Cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then cook 10 minutes more with a cover.