Eating rodents, possum, squirrels, raccoon

Eating game meat and rodents is hard because of the strong flavors. So what to do ?

You know one of the best ways to take some of the strong flavors out of any food is to cook it in dairy. Milk or sour cream will do a lot to make it mild tasting.

Also, try cooking it with a small amount of baking soda for awhile by itself before adding other foods. If you've ever followed recipes in a chinese food cookbook, they use baking soda as a tenderizer so this helps in that way too. It doesn't take much.

Also, acids help tenderize meats so parboiling in water with a pinch of baking soda in the water will help it a lot. Then drain it off and add sour cream for the final few minutes but don't boil sour cream hard or it will separate. Just simmer while you add all your herbs. Remember to add your fresh herbs last thing. They overcook and lose their flavor easily but your dried herbs should be added early and cooking them in oil will make their flavors come alive.

The trick then could be this, parboil with soda, take it out and towel dry, salt and pepper the inside and outside. Put some oil in a pan and add your dried herbs to the oil for a minute, then add your meat to brown it in the oil. Once it's started to brown in the pan, then add water to simmer and braise the meat, cover until it's done. Then add sour cream near the end of cooking. Add your fresh herbs. Then let it cook briefly until the fresh herbs taste nice, and then serve.

Nice thing too is that the leftover broth is perfect for making a nice gravy, afterwards. You should start with 2T of flour per cup of liquid. Just make a roux and I usually let the flour get chocolate brown on a med/high heat before adding oil/fat to thoroughly wet the flour. So then lower the heat to medium-medium/low, add the stock and perhaps a little more milk or half and half a ladle at a time, and whisk it until it is a nice gravy. Salt and pepper to taste.

When you ring the supper bell, you should hear everyone burst into action as they rush to the table like a pack of dogs because the smell is bound to be heavenly. The flavor and toughness of game should be thoroughly tamed by this treatment.

Just about the worst thing you can do to game meat is to fry it. That will make it tougher and intensify the gamey taste. People will wonder if they're eating liver that got overcooked till it was shoe leather.