any recipes for possums?

[goatilocks]

Ok, as gross as it sounds Im serious. Lately we have been trapping several young possums trying to get our chickens. I got to thinking, when the SHTF, would we eat a possum? I was trying to find a descent recipe on line, but most sites act like it just a big redneck joke. Has anybody eaten a possum and have a recipe to share?

 

[Wannabefree]

You clean them like any other animal, parboil, and oven roast with sweet potatoes. That's the traditional method anyway. i haven't eaten one, but my grandma says they taste like chicken :/ To which I replied...uh huh, what doesn't? I'll take her word for it for now

 

[Henrietta23]

I think the Joy of Cooking book has recipes for possum among other things. I'll check my copy in the moring.

 

[hoosier]

My dogs eat just about anything and everything - except 'possums. Given that, I can't imagine eating one.
(I know different cultures find different foods revolting. In the UK, the thought of eating squirrel really puts people off.)
It is just the fact that my dogs won't touch them and I have seen them eat some really disgusting things.

ETA I think the old 'Joy of Cooking' books have a recipe in them.

 

[Wannabefree]

Here's a real recipe from the early 1900's

1 opossum
1 cup salt


Opossum Stuffing
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon fat
opossum liver (optional)
1 cup breadcrumbs
chopped red pepper
1 dash Worcestershire sauce
1 hard-boiled egg, chopped fine
salt, to taste

1 Roast Opossum:.
2 The opossum is a very fat animal with a peculiarly flavored meat.
3 It is dressed much as one would dress a suckling pig, removing the entrails, and if desired, the head and tail.
4 After it is dressed, wash thoroughly inside and out with hot water.
5 Cover with cold water to which has been added 1 cup of salt.
6 Allow to stand overnight. In morning, drain off the salted water and rinse well with clear water.
7 Stuff opossum with opossum stuffing (stuffing recipes next); sew opening or fasten with skewers.
8 Place in roaster, add 2 tablespoons water and roast in moderate oven (350F) until tender and richly browned, about one and one half hours.
9 Baste every 15 minutes with drippings.
10 Remove skewers or stitches, and place on heated platter.
11 Skim fat from gravy remaining in pan.
12 Opossum Stuffing:.
13 Brown onion in fat.
14 Add finely chopped opossum liver and cook until liver is tender.
15 Add crumbs, a little red pepper, Worcestershire sauce, egg, salt and water to moisten.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I know I have seen recipes for them, but I'll check in the morning

 

[goatilocks]

Thanks everyone. If the SHTF I would hate to see a possible source of meat go to waste.

 

[2dream]

I will add 1 important piece of info. Since Possums are scavangers most people who eat them, trap them, feed them a decent diet for a week and THEN kill and eat them.

 

[calendula]

I checked out a book called Wild Food Cookbook by, Frances Hamerstrom, and I know it has a possum recipe in it, but it's at home so I can't check right now. I will look tonight and let you know tomorrow though. This book has recipes for all kinds of critters, like squirrels and crows. I think the author is from Wisconsin, so the animals and plants that she forages for are found mostly in the Great Lakes area, but it's an interesting book.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

I will add 1 important piece of info. Since Possums are scavangers most people who eat them, trap them, feed them a decent diet for a week and THEN kill and eat them.

THAT! If not longer...
Possums will go straight for a dirty diaper in the trash. I don't want to eat that
Behind my old country rental home, there was a set of cages. I thought they were rabbit hutches. Turns out they were really possum cages. My landlord said his dad raised them and I think he fed them corn & veggie scraps.
He said it tasted a bit like pork.

HEY Wanda!!!