Ep. 258: This Country Life - 2024 World Championship Squirrel Cook Off (Bonus!)

Welcome to This Country Life. I'm your host, Brent Reeves from coon hunting to trot lining and just general country living.

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All right, friends, grab a chair or drop that tailgate. I've got some stories to share. It's our first bonus episode of This Country Life. And if you heard us on the Bear Grease Render talking about the World Championship Squirrel Cookoff, you may not have known that. Me and Reva Hanson we're also walking around visiting with folks about the squirrels they were cooking and the methods they were using.

Listen to you every week.

But hey, Paul, Yeah, yeah, we are here.

With Paul and they were the World Champion Squirrel Cookoff of twenty twenty three.

Now, where are you all from?

Northern Kentucky? He's from Litchfield, Kentucky and Paul's from Columbia, Kentucky.

All right, all right now and Kentucky's represented Well here tell me what you're fixing that.

We're making a It's a campfire Cumberland campfire pie. It's made with a Cumberland sauce, been around since the seventeen hundreds, wild game sauce. It's got currant jelly and stuff in it, really good sauce. And I'm making cherry fritters with a prey leaned squirrel and hickory nuts on the top of it, and then little pepper's on the side just because man.

That makes me hungry just thinking about it.

Now.

Is this different from what you cooked last year?

Yeah?

Last year we went with a called it to a squirrel, Loretta I did. Uh yeah, I think you were one of the judges. It was on the uh steak I am sauce basically going the squirrel eggs. Yeah, with mince meat tried pies.

That is incredible. How'd you go over with this?

And what's the process of trialing there to get it going well?

Uh?

This year's recipe?

I was sitting in a deer stand, got bored, started looking up wild game sauces and That's what I came up with, was that that, And then I've been wanting to do the pritters. We did the mince meat last year, and just just researching old game recipes and stuff, something a little bit different.

All right, this is something I'm asking everybody. Will you set us some aside that we can come back and try it a little bit?

We sure will.

Yes, all right, that's that's proof right there. We'll get you something.

I actually, actually I've got a pot of groundhauled chili over there.

Yeah, trail ballooney really.

Made from brown whistle pig chili.

Oh well, we got to try that too. What you got there?

We're testing the fritters.

Is it hot?

Yeah?

I'm trying to get my almond right, tell me what? Tell me what all is in there?

Just a flour, sugar, bacon now I'm Michigan sour cherries, a little almond to jazz it up a little bit.

Now, my grandpa when he took a bite of something, you know, he liked it.

If he said, you know what, this tastes like. It tastes like more that that good.

We'll get you a full deal with everything going with that's good man, Thank you, thank you very much.

Brand I'm the I'm the baker.

Was at a flea market. I thought of you, said, I read verse they in. Now I know you know this guy is about country boys, the old swimming holes pull them in the last I'd like you to have it and that it is. Yeah, every time when I read it, I said, I God, give this to princip.

That is so fall for you.

Yeah, of course.

You know you can't believe anything it says. I don't believe nothing.

Anybody good, ugger we got we got two marines with me today too.

So Kennie Murphy, heygree what is happening?

We're trying to get her squirrel stuff ready.

I don't this fella needs no introduction.

He is an absolute whirlwind of small game killery. Name it, he hunts it, squirrels, rabbits, whatever. What are y'all cooking today, Kevin?

We are cooking.

We've got rabbit gumbowl for the crowd to have, and we have dirty rice.

Squirrel Vinnet's pepper jelly mayo.

And we have squirrel gumbow. Is that right, Jeff?

For the judges?

Oh very nice? Now whose recipes.

Is mister chef?

Jeff Chef Jeff. Now are they from Kentucky too?

He's from all over.

He's obviously wanted by the law somewhere, so we're not gonna narrow down where he's from.

Both of these boys are from all over.

I'm not gonna tell you where they.

But we know where they're at.

And that's the World Championship Squirrel cook Off.

Now did they did they compete last year?

Chef Jeff was the one man show last year, and so we brought some kitchen help. I'm just an ornament.

I got you.

One thing I noticed right off when I've seen Kevin over here is that today he's wearing shoes.

How long is that gonna last? Well till it lasts.

That's awesome, man. We'll save us some gumbo. We want to try something you start then, all right, brother, thank you. What's the name of y'all's team.

Grand Prayer Grillers?

What's your name?

Nick?

Nick?

Law, Nick, and Matt? Where y'all from Central Organs? Okay?

All right, our in prairie, sir and pray?

All right, we're talking about squirrels now, but it won't be long. Y'all be thinking about ducks right a little bit first.

Yeah, all right, your equal opportunity.

Equal opportunity, y'all like you. If it's in the woods, we'll try to you. That's all right. Tell me, uh, is this y'all's first competition? We came here last year the first time, got nine.

The nice yeah, yep, nice, okay, ninth place, that's pretty spoiled.

Yeah, tell me what you cook today? We got like a deep fried.

Squirrel burrito and crowning savi. It's the side squirrel chips on the side, Yeah, squirrel tilla chips.

Spottilla chips.

Is this your first competent or the second competition?

Yes, sir, we did we did last year, right, Yeah, scrappy sabch crappy Savicia.

It's been frozen parrisise ago. You're good to go. All right, I love it. Let's go over and see what y'all doing. Now, you all right, little in the wild game.

Since the pot takes no prisoners, so you can make anything you cook, attendance.

Youe in here.

It's good stuff. So we're just browning these a little bit, and that's the pot.

And then we're gonna pre shure to cook them and debone all the meat and then we'll make our taco burrito mixed from that.

Man, that is absolutely I wish you could smell.

You could smell what if that smells like right now, you'd be crawling.

Through the all ingredients be prepared.

We'll just flash for those burritos real quick. They won't they won't be in there. They're not gonna be drenched, you know.

Yeah, they're just as quick flash.

Yeah.

So we're just browning these little bit with some onions and seasoning oil, and then we'll put them some plotles of broth in there and debone it make burritos.

Did y'all come up with this this year? Or is this an old recipe? We did? Uh, we did those last year.

We did a similar recipe last year, but we've uh, we've improved upon it since.

He's for our kids. Yeah, that's how we got to.

We do everything.

Dear taco, squirrel, rabbit whatever.

Now is this a secret recipe?

Oh man, we'll share this with anybody, all right, tell me how you cook. We just we used some of Malcolm's spg the killer hogs on here, little old little onions. You can't mess up sorry that way, and then well, uh, it's we're gonna cook her down and pressure cook it and de bone it, and then we'll add a little more season than after that.

All right, I'm looking forward to it.

Ring the dinner bell loud because I want to come back down.

In a minute. So with it me.

We're making our chips perfect, We're make a loose we'll figure out.

I'm on, Matt, thank you. That's gonna be good. All right now? If I remember right, hear me? You guys were part of the team in the Warned the World Championship last.

Year, Is that right?

Yes, sir, I was with these guys behind me last year. We decided we break it up this year, trying to get first and second in the state of Kentucky.

Somebody I talked to send me the recipe is that you.

No, I wasn't here last year.

This is my first time he invited me out this year.

So all right, where are y'all from? Horny, Kentucky, Worthy Kentucky.

Yees? Sir?

Tell me about these squirrels.

Here, Well, most of them are killed by my son. Them were killed by day his son, Little Eddie Squirrels Killer Simmons.

He busted quite a few.

Love of course, it's a recipe, a new recipe or something old that y'all had for river.

Now, so we're gonna do it, just likely to have it go to my house.

Fry up squirrel some ash tag squirrel gravy traditional.

I like it. Well, nothing one you eat them? Yes, sir, that's a last job.

Tell me about the recipe that y'all been using. That you've been using ad hole? Is this from you, grandpa? How you learned to do it when you were young or what? What's what's your history? Who's eating squirrels with cooking?

Yeah, that's pretty much how we've always done it, Cry them up, have it a little gravy.

Let's tell me what's your process of getting the perfair and in front?

Well, for right now we're trying to pick sure and find the best little pieces of leg and everything like that for the judges. Try to get all the hair and shot off air with and and uh, I'm gonna seize them up and then uh, what's buttermilk on them and soak for a little while, put them bringing out and regiments of season flowers.

Do it the old electric skilling, just like mom.

Used to do. Ah, I got we all save us some Yes, sir, let me son back.

We went back to eat the same Absolutely, we sure will. All right, thank you.

Hey, we're here with the squirrel mafia.

Is that right?

Yeah?

Buck snort, squirrel ma buck snort, the squirrel mafia. What are you cooking today, Curtis, I guess we can tell it. It's too late.

Now we're cooking squirrel gumbo, and then we're also going to do squirrel boot and balls.

Come on with it. Where are you boys from?

Uh in northwest Arkansas? We're from uh Rogers Faetteville area.

Yeah, so you got this. You got the home field, advanced fields manage, got local squirrels, taste rights. Everybody tell me what this guy's doing back your line.

He's prepping some of the you know, we get eighty percent squirrel, you can have twenty percent something else in that ought to be sausage.

So well, it's gumbo. It's gotta bere. Can we come around there kind and see what's going on? Yeah?

You can you see inside these pot walk me through the process.

This is gonna come out after this to It's not a secret in this life. No, it's not a secret. It's a regular gumbo.

We're gonna start with a butter and make a roof, and then we've got all fresh vegetables, you know, all the trinity everything that goes in and yep and uh and uh, and then we've got squirrel. We're gonna pressure cook in and uh and then prep and then add to once we get the roo established and get our vesions done.

So is this a recipe that y'all came up for this or is this what you've been cooking forever?

It's just it's just what you cook.

Yeah, when you make gumbo, it's not really a recipe. Cook it in the path.

So, man, it's a and gumbo. I always tell people. They say, what you put in the gumbo?

And I said, whatever I got in my eyespots.

Whatever's left over. Yeah, it's whatever we got. Well, so we're serving. We're making a big batch for the crowd too. So it's gonna have squirrel chicken sausage, you know, whole whole deal.

All right, I'm gonna ask you the same thing we've been asking everybody else.

Y'all put us some back so we can come back and have it sounthing.

Oh yeah you bet, yeah you heard it here, folks, Thank.

For that homemade ribulogue that I make too. So yeah, how long you've been making that? I don't know, thirty years. We all have the King's work out.

I got the Kings work out, all right, good deal, squirrel buck, but snore.

And squirrel I like. And then comes squirrel Camp this year.

Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely, yeah, squirrel Camp cut that part out.

But we don't want nobody else, say Curtis, I've been.

Doing this a while, right, yes, yes, uh, I think we started cooking in this after we met Joe Wilson, maybe the third or fourth year that he been having.

This opposition, and uh, we cook.

In it every year since that. What the whole life started? About the World Championship.

I knew about to lie.

I was not into the first one and when we lied on national television.

But I jumped in after that because I liked the life. That's awesome. I can't make a lie, I'm true. We had to make Joe Wilson legiting it again. You know, that's good.

We'll be back.

That's good. That's good. That's gonna be real dark before you get right. Yeah, this is gonna take about thirty minutes to get this right. Tell me what I'm meaning here man.

All right, that's a squirrel gumbo.

Uh, you know, rabbit gumbo for you know forever, buddy. Try uh dirty rice with mercy livers, a little bit of homemade hot sauce.

Uh, some scallions sliced up nice that way they curl and.

Get a little extra pop. Ho leak out. This is good?

Good?

Why'd you like it?

I've been on a cave man died for about four weeks.

Yeah, I'm on leave here like i've been on a fat man.

That you should.

This is good. Yeah, this is a really good Thank you so much, sir, Yes, sir.

Yeah, curly, sir, tell me about what this is here. I know it's left over and then there's not a whole lot left good.

So I have candy bacon that I made with my smoked sugar maple tubernano smoked grass sugar and then spicy squirrel and acolate chips.

In the cookie.

Spicy squirrel and chocolate chips.

Yes, sir, you gotta have some bacon.

Oh yeah, you always gotta have a break to have bacon. If I could get that lid, I would smoke it, that is absolutely so.

I make the smoke sugar by hand process that I could smoke it for twenty four hours.

Okay, you keep dogging. I'm gonna keep eating.

You can keep eating.

I have seven flavors of salt, cherrywood.

Hickory, apple wood, mesquite, pecan, oak, and whiskey barrel. I have a maple turbern on, a smoked raw sugar, yeah, a bourbon barrels smoked Corse grown pepper which I actually used on the bacon, and a trio which is a fine salt pepper and garlic glint.

Awesome.

This is awesome, man. What's your prize? The How long is you're taking to cook this bacon, y'all? Guess you're slow cooking it over.

I put it on the grill.

Okay, what tim whatever? Five hundred degrees?

I can't tell you.

I have no idea.

I just cooked on the grill. Okay, everything was cooked on the grill.

This is absolutely wonderful. I appreciate y'all being here.

Y'all, well, when you came in twenty fourth and it's the absolute best position to be in because you get a truck load of goodies.

Joe Wilson and them.

This is the absolutely the greatest thing ever appreciate y'all.

This is so much fun.

Yeah, thank you, thank you for Branny Sez. Yes, Bailey, you ready for some bacon?

Yeah, Joe was here.

I'm sorry about Joe.

Joe wasn't here when when the bacon was here? So Joe's Joe's and like a shark feeding the friends, you over here