Camp-Fried Squirrel with Pan Gravy
Bushytail dredged in seasoned flour, fried in a skillet, and finished with gravy built from the drippings.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 10 oz
- cal / oz
- 62
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 60 min
- total time
- 90 min
- water
- 250 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Day one only
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Squirrel, quartered | 3 to 4 young squirrels | older animals need a longer simmer first |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 1/2 cups | 1 cup for dredging, 1/2 cup held back for gravy |
| Salt | 2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Cajun seasoning | 1 tbsp | |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/3 cup | reconstituted at camp, stands in for buttermilk and gravy milk |
| Lemon juice or vinegar | 1 tbsp | souring the milk gets you close to buttermilk |
| Cooking oil | 1 1/2 cups | enough to come halfway up the meat |
Method
- Whisk 3 tbsp of the milk powder into 1 1/2 cups cold water, stir in the lemon juice, and let it sit five minutes. Put the squirrel pieces in it for 20 to 30 minutes while the fire burns down to coals.
- Shake 1 cup flour with the salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning in a bag. Pull each piece from the milk, let it drip, and shake it in the flour.
- Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over coals or a liquid-fuel stove until a pinch of flour sizzles on contact. Lay in the pieces without crowding. Fry 6 to 8 minutes a side until the crust is dark brown.
- Move everything to a plate and cover it. Add a splash of water to the skillet, put the lid on, and let the meat steam over low coals 20 to 30 minutes if the legs are still tough. Young squirrel skips this.
- Pour off all but about 3 tbsp of oil. Stir the reserved 1/2 cup flour into the drippings and cook it two minutes, scraping the brown bits loose.
- Whisk in 2 cups of milk made from the remaining powder, a little at a time. Simmer until it coats the spoon. Salt to taste and pour it over the meat.
This is camp cooking, not backpacking cooking. It wants a skillet, a real fire or a liquid-fuel stove, and enough oil that you will be packing a bottle in and packing the used oil out. The payoff is that fresh-killed small game gets handled the day it is taken, with no cooler and no kitchen.
The two changes from the home version are the buttermilk and the gravy milk. Powdered whole milk soured with lemon juice does what buttermilk does here: it wets the meat so flour sticks and it takes a little edge off older animals. The same powder, mixed thicker, becomes the gravy. Hold back half a cup of flour before you dredge, because flour that has touched raw meat cannot go into the pan sauce.
Packing
Flour, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning go in one bag pre-mixed, with the gravy flour in a second bag so you are not measuring next to a hot skillet. Milk powder in a small jar. Oil in a leakproof bottle inside a second bag.
Variations
- Rabbit, dove breast, or grouse work the same way with the same timings.
- No milk powder means no gravy, but the fried meat stands on its own with hot sauce.
- A cup of water and a lid turns the leftover gravy and meat into a skillet stew the next morning.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/buttermilk-fried-squirrel-with-southern-gravy