Subject: RECIPE: Muskrat in tomato sauce
From: [email-masked] (Pat Carstensen)
Date: 1 Apr 87 19:54:45 GMT
Newsgroups: mod.recipes

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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE MUSKRAT-1 M "1 Apr 87" 1987
.RZ "FRED'S MUSKRAT" "Muskrat roasted in tomato sauce"
In northwestern Ohio and downriver Detroit, we have ``muskrat suppers'' in
the winter, sponsored by churches and volunteer fire departments to raise
money, rather the way other people have chicken and ham dinners. This recipe
comes from Fred Witty, via the cookbook put out by my parents' church.
.PP
Legend has it that during the depression, the Bishop of Detroit declared
muskrats to be fish (since they live in the water), so they could be
eaten by Catholics on Fridays.
.IH "Serves 4"
.IG "3\-4" "muskrats"
(all fat and glands removed)
.IG "\(12 lb" "bacon" "250 g"
.IG "\(12 bunch" "celery,"
chopped
.IG "4" "onions,"
chopped
.IG "\(12 lb" "oleo" "250 g"
.IG "\(12 tsp" "cayenne pepper" "2.5 ml"
.IG "" "salt"
.IG "" "pepper"
.IG "21 oz" "canned tomato soup" "600 ml"
(2 standard cans)
.PH
.SK 1
Saut\z\(aae bacon, celery, onions, oleo, and cayenne pepper together
for 10 minutes.
.SK 2
Put rats in bottom of a pan you can cover tightly (my mother makes
a double batch and uses the roaster she cooks turkey in).
.SK 3
Pour saut\z\(aaeed mixture over the rats, and then cover with
tomato soup.
(Don't add water to the soup.)
.SK 4
Bake, covered, for 2\(12 hours at
.TE 350 175
or until done.
.NX
Muskrats are small rodents that live in swamp and build beaver-like
houses out of cat-tails and mud.  In New Jersey and Ohio, at least,
they are trapped for their fur;  I suspect that knowing a trapper is
the only way you can get muskrats.
.PP
The recipe book I have has a recipe for muskrats for a crowd,
that (for 20 rats) uses the above ingredients (but quantities
unspecified, except it only uses
.AB "\(14 lb" "100 g"
oleo), plus chopped green and red peppers, garlic salt, 5 bouillon cubes,
and 3 bay leaves. Around Detroit, muskrats are cooked with cabbage and
potatoes, and some folks at home roast them with apples and onions.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
easy once you have the muskrats.
.I Time:
30 minutes preparation, 3 hours cooking.
.I Precision:
count the muskrats.
.WR
Pat Carstensen  
Bell Communications Research, Inc., Red Bank, New Jersey, USA
nvuxa!nvuxb!pjc2