Now I know you think that a possum stew recipe may be yuck, but guess what, it’s actually very tasty! These days, folks don’t know how to survive. This is a common fact! But back in the day, the old timers knew how to survive, especially during the great depression and other times of hardship!
When you are hungry (or near starving), you will eat just about anything! From Possum to racoon, Rattlesnake to Horsemeat. People did what they had to do to survive. There was no Wal-Mart back in the day, and the only stores usually carried just the barebones basics that would not ruin. Like flour, seasoning, lard, salt etc.
When I was growing up, we had to plant our own vegetables, kill most of our own meat and skin the carcasses right in our back yard! That’s just how we did things.
How Best To Prepare Granny’s Possum Stew Recipe
Now I do not want to sound sexist, but back in the day, the menfolk would kill the varmints and the women folk would cook the meat! Southerners take great pride in their cooking skills, not because they are Gourmet cooks, but because they do one step further than gourmet!
That take some of the worst foods imaginable, and cook a dish that would delight the most elite (if they did not know what they were eating that is).
Possum is one of those dishes. Now, I will be honest. I do not like Possum, never have, never will! But my PawPaw raised me to follow a simple rule. He always told us “You need to at least try it. You will not know if you like it unless you try it. If you do not like it, then I will not make you eat it.”
So yep, I tried Possum once. Did not like it, he never made me try it again, and I stand firm to this day of my dislike for the dish. I did have a pet Possum once, but that’s for another story to be told another day.
Cleaning The Possum Well
I assume if you plan to cook this possum stew recipew, then you already know how to clean a possum. But, in case you don’t, I’d like to point out a very important thing!
Possum has lost of nasty stuff in the fur. I won’t mention what kind of nasties here, since this is in fact a recipe page. I would not want you to lose your appetite!
Basically, a headshot is the best way to kill a possum for eating. Before you kill one tho, you must make sure that you are adhering to local laws! In some areas varmints can only be killed during hunting season. In other areas, they can’t be killed at all. And in some areas, they are deemed pests and can be killed anytime.
Boil That Carcass!
To clean the possum, you should first build a fire pit outside. Grab a huge pot, fill it with water and bring the water to a boil.
Once the water is boiling, remove it from the fire and sit it in a safer location. Grab the possum by the tail, and dunk it in the water (wear gloves!!). Leave in the water for about 5 seconds, then remove it.
Using the backside of a butter knife, or a putty knife, gently scrap the fur and nasties off the carcass. Do this away from the pot of water, cause you may have to dip the carcass several times to get all the fur removed.
Get Ready To Make This Delicious Possum Stew Recipe
Once the fur has been removed, you can gut the carcass, clean it using your water hose and prepare it for cooking.
Follow the recipe below, and be sure to comment below and let me know how it turns out for you!
If you do not like the idea of killing or cleaning a possum, don’t worry! There’s probably a good ol boy in your neck of thew woods that would be happy to do this for you! That is of course in exchange for a bit of ice-cold beer!
Possum Stew Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Stock Pot
- 1 Pyrex Baking Dish
- 1 Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 Possum Skinned, Gutted, Cleaned and Quartered
- 6 Potatoes Large Russet
- 1 Onion Large
- 2 Carrots
- 1/2 Cup Lard
- 12 Ounces Beef gravy
- 2 Cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup 10.5 oz Cans
- 2 Stalks Celery
- 2 Cans Stewed Tomatoes 14.5 Oz Cans
- 1/2 Cup Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Black pepper
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Add 1/4 cup of the lard to the skillet, and fry up the Possum meat until golden brown.
- Place the Possum in a baking dish, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes.
- Place the Possum meat in the stock pot, cover with water, add the salt and bring to a rolling boil.
- Turn the heat down, and simmer for 6 hours.
- Remove the Possum from the water, pick the meat from the bones, clean the pot and get ready to make the stew.
- Add the Possum meat to the cleaned stock pot.
- Slice the potatoes into 1/4 " slices, cut the celery into 1 inch chunks and slice the carrots into 1/2 inch chunks. Place all of these in the stock pot and cover with water.
- Melt 1/4 cup of lard in the cast iron skillet.
- Slice the onions and fry them for 15 minutes until they are translucent and done.
- Place the cooked onions in the stock pot.
- Barley cover with water, bring to a rolling boil, cover the pot and simmer for 40 minutes until the vegetables are done.
- Add the stewed tomatoes, beef gravy and cream of mushroom soup.
- Bring to a boil, simmer for ten minutes, enjoy!
