Honey Bourbon Squirrel Legs
Fried squirrel front legs tossed in a sticky bourbon-honey glaze. Camp appetizer for the day you actually got some.
- calories
- 390
- weight
- 5 oz
- cal / oz
- 78
- protein
- 26 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 40 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Liquid fuel
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Day one only
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Squirrel front legs, cleaned | 16 to 20 | back legs work too, they just take longer |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1 cup | |
| Salt | 2 tbsp | for the dredge, plus a pinch for the sauce |
| Black pepper | 2 tbsp | |
| Cajun seasoning | 2 tbsp | |
| Honey | 1/2 cup | |
| Bourbon | 1/2 cup | |
| Sorghum syrup | 3 tbsp | molasses if you cannot find it |
| Apple cider vinegar | 3 tbsp | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | the bottled kind travels fine |
| Garlic | 3 cloves, minced | |
| Frying oil | 1 quart | peanut or vegetable, high smoke point |
Method
- Blend the flour, salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning in a bag at home. It is one bag instead of four jars in the cooler.
- Shake the legs in the seasoned flour until coated. Lay them out and leave them ten minutes so the coating hydrates and grips.
- Combine honey, bourbon, sorghum, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a small pot. Simmer over low heat until it thickens enough to coat a spoon, five to eight minutes. Set it off the heat.
- Heat two inches of oil in a deep pot to 350F. No thermometer: a pinch of flour should sizzle hard and float, not sink or scorch.
- Fry the legs in small batches, seven to ten minutes each, until the coating is dark gold and the meat pulls from the bone. Crowding the pot drops the oil temperature and gives you grease-logged crust.
- Drain on a paper bag, then toss the hot legs in the warm sauce. Serve right away, before the glaze soaks the crust soft.
This is a game recipe, not a trail recipe, and it stays that way. Squirrel front legs are small, lean, and full of connective tissue, so they need either long moist heat or hot fast fat. Frying is the fast route: the seasoned flour crust protects the thin meat while the interior finishes, and ten minutes at 350F is enough to loosen it from the bone.
The glaze is a reduction, so the bourbon’s alcohol cooks off and leaves the wood and sugar behind. Vinegar and lemon are load-bearing here, not garnish. Half a cup of honey plus sorghum is a lot of sugar, and without acid the whole thing coats your mouth and quits. Sauce the legs at the last second; the crust starts surrendering the moment it goes wet.
Packing
Seasoned flour premixed in a zip bag. Sauce liquids can go in one screw-top bottle at home, mixed and shaken, with the garlic added at camp. Squirrel rides on ice and gets cooked the day you pack it out. Pack out the used oil in the bottle it came from.
Variations
- Chicken wings or rabbit legs behave the same way if the hunt came up empty.
- Cut the bourbon to a splash and add another tablespoon of vinegar if you want the sauce sharper and less sweet.
- No deep pot: sear the floured legs in a heavy skillet in half an inch of oil, turning often, then glaze.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/honey-bourbon-squirrel-wings-recipe