This recipe for How to Cook a Groundhog, by Bill Carver, is from From Our Mountains: Our People, Our Food, and Our Stories, one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We help families or individuals create heirloom cookbook treasures. |
Contributor: |
Bill Carver
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Ingredients: |
1 groundhog, 10-14 lb.
Salt water touch of vinegar small amount of baking soda |
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Directions |
Well, this is how it's done: Catch yourself a fat one. (Its belly should nearly touch the ground when he walks. 10-14 lb.is about right.) Remove the skin and entrails. Make double sure you remove the gland (strong bone) found under each foreleg. Soak over night in salt water. Next morning when it is warm enough to open the doors and window, prepare a pot with salt water and a touch of vinegar. Put in the groundhog and boil for twenty minutes. Now you understand why the windows and doors are open. Throw the foul smelling water way out in the yard and repeat the process two more times. The third time add a small amount of baking soda to the pot. Each time you should be able to close more of the windows.
Build a fire in the stove and heat the oven to bread-baking temperature. BAKE THE GROUNDHOG until tender! The meat is dark so pay a mind that you don't burn it. Serve with cathead biscuits and applesauce. Nothing else. Oh, if you're going to have the preacher over for company, a few sweet potatoes wouldn't hurt. Now you've got yourself some fine fall fancy fair. |