Recipe - Squirrel stew with dumplings

Simple, frugal, hearty food. Check out Rosie’s squirrel stew with dumplings and veg recipe!

I had a calamity a few weeks back. I used to blame these blips on being blonde and from Essex, but since I’m now mousey and from Lincolnshire, it’s looking like it was just me being a div all along. I turned off the game freezer, emptied it, defrosted, scrubbed it out, replaced the contents, turned it back on and rewarded myself with a strong coffee and a Cadbury’s flake, for a job well done.

A week later, when it was time to create this month’s recipe, I trotted out to my sparkly clean freezer to retrieve a woodpigeon, or two, to find it completely defrosted. All the game; squirrel, duck, rabbit, venison, woodies … along with the fruits of several baking days – cooked pies, sausage rolls, cakes – all living in a disgusting, rancid steel cage. I couldn’t work it out. I distinctly remembered switching it back on, and then I took a closer look at the three-way plug extension. Each separate plug had its own switch beside it, and I’d chosen the only one that didn’t have a plug inserted. What an idiot!

Due to the lack of vital ingredients, I began to write about how I began on the ‘game-cookery’ journey, and what I’d learned along the way, and then, when rummaging in the main freezer for something for my dinner, I stumbled across a lonely squirrel that had somehow been put (read: I’d put – I live alone, no one else to blame) into the wrong place. The following recipe is the result, and I’m hoping for more supplies in the near future. If not, you’ll get the ‘How it all began’ article next month!

Squirrel Surprise (stew) recipe

Ingredients:

One squirrel, jointed

Celery, carrot, onion, parsnip – all chopped

One garlic clove, or an inch of the stuff in a tube

About a pint of chicken stock

For the dumplings: 2oz suet, 4oz self-raising flour, water, salt

Method:

Simmer all the ingredients until the squirrel is tender.

Mix the dumpling ingredients.

Form into six small balls and add to the simmering stew.

Lid on, cook for about ten minutes.

Serve with a green veg and mashed potatoes.