Timothy Tarkelly’s Squirrel Quiche Recipe

Tarkelly’s article, “Allowable Diversions: A Friend Explores the Morality of Hunting,” appeared in the August 2023 issue of Friends Journal.

An interview with Timothy Tarkelly is included in the August 2023 podcast.

Squirrel Quiche is a two-part process. Before you can make the quiche, you need to cook the squirrel. I developed this recipe on my own. Once you get it down, you can use the meat to make a variety of dishes: quiche, pizza, bbq sliders, soup, tacos, etc.

Slow Cooked Squirrel

Ingredients:

• 1-2 Squirrels, skinned and gutted
• As many cloves of garlic as you can handle
• 1 tbsp each of salt, pepper, and oregano
• Half an onion
• 1 peeled lemon (helps with gamey flavor – can also use lime, vinegar, or some other source of acid)
• 1 can of beer (I use NA Busch, as I don’t drink alcohol)
• 6 cups of water 
• 4 bullion cubes

Steps:

1. In a crockpot, place the squirrels in the crockpot. Add all other ingredients.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours (fox squirrels tend to take longer than gray squirrels).
3. Remove squirrels and place in a large bowl.
4. Let the squirrels cool until you can touch them without burning your hands.
5. Carefully remove the meat from the bones. Arms, legs, and back strap are the easiest and most enjoyable pieces, the rib, belly, and spine meat is much more difficult to get, is more stringy, and is optional. However, I always go for it. 
6. Discard bones and remove any bbs from the meat if you find any (only a problem if you hunt with a shotgun).
7. This meat can be used in a variety of dishes.

Squirrel Quiche

Ingredients:

• 3-4 strips of bacon
• A cup of diced green onions
• 1 diced serrano or 1 small jalapeno
• Salt & Pepper
• Tony Chachare’s creole seasoning (or your own cajun blend of salt, pepper, oregano, paprika, and garlic powder).
• 1.5 cups of shredded cheese
• 6 eggs
• Pre-made pie crust

Steps:

1. Preheat oven at 375
2. In a skillet, cook the bacon until desired crispiness (mine is basically burnt) and crumble into small pieces. 
3. Put the pie crust in a nine-inch pie pan (it helps to let the crust warm up on the counter for 20-30 minutes beforehand.
4. Add the bacon, green onions, squirrel, serrano, and 1 cup of cheese into the pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat the six eggs until smooth and consistent.
6. Pour the eggs over all of the ingredients in the pie pan.
7. Add the remaining cheese on top.
8. Place in the oven for 40 minutes. 
9. Let cool, slice, and then serve.