Eating Woodchuck..

[tonaka]

Those of you who hunt woodchucks, do you eat them?
If yes, what are the recipies for them?
Thank you.

[Mebits]

I'm told that any rabbit recipe will work well on Woodchuck. Any "low and slow" wet cooking method will be fine, too. I must say, the below recipe is very, very good.


Gorgonzola Bunny
(takes 1/2 hour to prep, and 2-2 1/2 hours to cook.)

For 4 people:

2 large rabbits
2 Tbls Tarragon, divided
1 cup flour
ample salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled and whole
2 bay leaves
3-4 springs of thyme
2-3 onions (based upon taste and size/room)
2 large turnips
3/4 lb carrots (less or more to taste)
2 cups Chicken broth (enough to cover--best quality made with feet*)
1 cup of dry white wine.
1/3 lb Gorgonzola (Italian is better, if it's not really sharp, try Danish Blue instead)
Fresh Tarragon for garnish or to add to sauce (optional)


First, bone the rabbit. I separate the back legs and then simply cut the meat off each in as large pieces as possible. Then I cut the meat from the front legs, and slice the saddle off both sides. I then cut the loins off by running a sharp blade down either side of the back bone. This is tricky and a bit like filleting fish, pulling the meat out with your thumb and scraping along the spine and ribs with the knife. It's worth the effort however. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, you can cut the whole loin section apart from the ribs and worry about pulling the meat once it's cooked. If you REALLY don't want to bone the rabbit at all, you can have the butcher cut it into pieces, but your guests will have to eat the meat from the bone and some may be squeamish.

Once boned, dredge the rabbit pieces in flour seasoned with 1/2 of the tarragon and ample salt and pepper. lightly brown in a non-stick pan and place in your dutch oven or covered pan. De-glaze pan with wine and pour in with the rabbit pieces.

Peel and coarsely chop the carrot, onion, and turnips. Add to the pot with the rabbit. Add remaining tarragon, thyme, garlic, and bay leaves. Cover with best quality chicken stock, bring to a simmer, and then place in a 350' oven for 1 1/2 hours. Add about 1/3 of the Gorgonzola to the pot, in small pieces. Return the pot to the oven for another 10 minutes or so.

Serve on plates or wide bowls. Arrange the rabbit and vegetables so that you can place small pieces of gorgonzola on each. Pour hot broth from the pot over the pieces of rabbit so that it melts the Gorgonzola into a glaze. Serve with a nice pinot noir and a salad of bitter greens with a Dijon vinaigrette.

Note, if your broth/sauce isn't thick enough, feel free to make a little roux and add into the pot (but not too much!). Bring the sauce to a simmer (not a bad idea anyway, as it will help the Gorgonzola melt when you pour it over the rabbit.

One tip: If you don't already make your own chicken stock, you should. Ask your poultry guy for chicken feet as well as backs, necks and/or breast bones. Follow any standard stock recipe. You'll taste the difference and it's great for pan sauces and gussying up squirrel or quail sauces.

[longislandhunter]

I eat them all the time and really enjoy them.  Matter of fact I still have quite a few tucked away in the freezer waiting to be turned into tender morsels  

I am the first to admit that my cooking skills are very basic.  That being said my favorite 2 recipes are:

Cajun Fried Woodchuck:  Cut woodchuck into smaller pieces, give them a hefty coating of cajun spices  (or whatever spices you like) and fry them in very hot oil until the spice coating is nice and crisp and a bit "blackened" or at least golden brown.  I like to use a mixture of olive oil, bacon fat and a slice or two of butter to help make em nice and brown.  

Woodchuck Pot Roast:  Simply use whatever pot roast recipe you already use and like, just substitute woodchuck for beef  
Just recently I tried one of those pot roast "kits" that come with the pre-packaged spices and a cooking bag that you place in the oven after you fill it with the meat and vegetables that are coated with the spices..... I have to tell you..... it came out really good.  I"ve used this pre-packaged kit for woodchuck and beef and both times the meat and vegetables came out just as tender and juicy as when I make it the "traditional" way in the crock pot for 8 hours, except with the "kit" you only have to cook it inside the bag in the over for about 2 hours.  I think the ones I bought were made by "Knorr" and I picked em up in the local supermarket.  

You can also make woodchuck stew using whatever stew recipes you might have.  I've read that you can bake them in the oven with vegetables as well although I haven't tried that yet.  

Give it a try..... I think you will enjoy it.  

Jeff

[tonaka]

Thanks Mark and Jeff!
I have a lot of them running around on the property but I didn't want to shoot them if they are not possible to eat.
Now that you guys told me that you can eat them I might shoot couple and try them out.
BTW, what skinning method do you use to clean them off their hide.
Thank you

[crowpopper]

i have done them in my smoker i set the smoker to 220 degrees
i make a homemade bbq sauce(it funny cause my sauce base is woodchuck cider, dont know if its available all over but its good)
and i baste every 45 mins and cook it using apple wood chips for smoke and dow it for 5-7 hrs
tender juicy and good on a nice hardroll

[longislandhunter]

The easiest way I've found to skin them is to lay them on their back and slice just under the skin from base of the skull to the tail.  Just cut under the skin, be careful not to puncture the stomach lining.  

Next I cut off all 4 paws with a small camping axe.  Then, with the g-hog still on his back, make a slice from all 4 legs to the slice that you made down the belly.  

Starting at the slice on stomach and using your fingers begin pulling the hide away from the skin, pulling the skin away from the meat with one hand and lightly running a very sharp skinning knife against the hide to help separate the hide from the meat.  When you're using the knife, which is really a necessity as the skin doesn't simply pull off the meat like it does on a rabbit, make sure the blade of the knife is angled against the hide and not pointed at the meat.  Now,,, using this process work your way from the belly outward until you work the hide off the belly, off the legs and up onto the animals back.  Cutting off the tail helps free the hide from the back end.  Once you have the hide freed all the way up to the back just grab the hide at the tail, pull towards the head and use the skinning knife to free it as you go.  When you get to the base of the neck use the hand axe to chop off the head.  You're done  

Do not slice the animal open and gut it before you skin it, this is important.  The entrails still being inside the stomach actually keep the stomach pushed out and firm so that you can easily pull on the hide and work your knife against the hide as you pull.  If you were to gut and clean the animal first then the stomach won't have any pressure on it and you will find it much harder to work the knife and skin the animal.  

After you've skinned him and chopped off the head then you can go ahead and gently slice open the belly and clean out the entrails.  

Hope this helps ya out....  it's the easiest method I've found and with practice it only takes a few minutes to cleanly skin a g-hog.

Jeff

[tonaka]

Thank you Jeff!
I got to learn new skill.

[airiscool]

Jeff,

A few years ago I was talking to a local gal, who grew up on a farm and the family occationally ate Woodchuck, about how-tos of skinning/cooking them. She mentioned that in cleaning, there are glands in the hind legs that need to be removed, or they taint the meat.

Never having skinned a Chuck, I just excepted it as fact .. Is this true ?

Paul.

[longislandhunter]

Yes, it is true.  There are also glands under the front legs that should be removed after you skin it....


Jeff

[airiscool]

Jeff,
Thanks. That's good to know.

Paul