Smoked Squirrel Burritos

There is never enough squirrel meat. 

Twice a year, Rachel and I do a full inventory of the freezers, rearrange and take stock of what we have. It’s kind of fun rummaging through vacuum sealed packages, like some kind of ice cold photo album. We keep a running inventory on a dry erase board, so we make adjustments up and down as needed. Every time we do this, there seems to be a shortage of squirrels. 

Every season, I think “this is the year we kill a bunch of squirrels” and every year we don't. It might be because we’re always trying to chase bigger ‘fish’, it might be because we don't take squirrel hunting seriously enough. Maybe we are too loud, moving too fast, underestimating their wariness. It's a humbling mistake. And we're reminded of this every time we look at the freezer inventory. 

With the limited stock, we like to make the most of each squirrel. Slow cooking and pulling the meat helps us maximize as much of the squirrel meat as we can. This recipe adds the step of smoking the squirrels before braising them- it obviously adds a great deal of flavor, but also, going through the process of smoking and then braising gets us pretty jazzed up for “our best squirrel season yet.”

Smoked Squirrel Burritos

Servings: varies

Cook time: 5 hours inactive, 20 minutes active

Ingredients:

As many squirrels as you want to use

Garlic

Bay leaf

Dried chiles

Method:

Preheat the smoker to a low heat and high smoke setting.

Season squirrels with salt and pepper. Place on the upper rack of the smoker and smoke for two hours.

Place squirrels in a crock pot or dutch oven and cover with stock or water, add some aromatics if you like. We added a few bulbs of garlic, bay leaves, and a few dried chilis. Don’t add any more salt at this point- you’re going to be reducing down the braising liquid later so you don’t want it to end up too salty. Cover with lid and cook on high for 2-3 hours (or, if in the dutch oven, a low heat setting) until just fork tender.

Remove squirrels from the crock pot and place on a sheet pan, carefully flake meat from bones. Set meat aside.

Strain the braising liquid into a saucepan and reduce over medium heat to about half. Use this liquid to reheat the squirrel meat.

Assemble your favorite burrito fixins. We like cumin rice, refried black beans, sauteed bell peppers and some melty cheese.

---