Turtle anyone?

[Cpl.Parker]

Since we are getting into the weird and wonderful, anyone have a good turtle recipe?

 

[wvbuckbuster]

My dad used to catch them when I was just a kid and mom would boil them some then roll in flower and fry. She also deep fried some as well. Kinda of reminded me of chicken. Glad you brought this up. Might have to catch one this summer. :grin:

 

[bigbore442001]

Th best way to cook snapping turtle is to par boil them, so to speak. Boil the meat and then change the water. Cook again with any spices that you like and you will have fine meat to eat.

 

[pennsyltucky]

keep the meat in chunks about 1" cubed or a little bigger. you cant just boil it in water or it will still taste skunky. you have to put a couple tablespoons of baking soda in the water. boil it in the BS for about 5 minutes, then rinse the scum off everything and get fresh water. add 2 or 3 tablespoons of salt and a bunch of red pepper flakes (a hlaf handful works well)to the water and boil till its starting to soften up. not too long or you will have a mess of string meat, but long enuf so its not tough and rubbery anymore.
rinse the meat pieces and roll em in egg then some cornmeal breading with salt/pepper, and toss em in the fry pan or deep fryer to crisp em up. i do the same thing with muskrat and a few other normally unsavory critters.

 

[longfowler]

an old portugese guy that worked with us a couple of years ago would keep them alive in a 55 gal drum with a little water in the bottom for about a week. just enough to clean out their digestive system, and git rid of the pond scum smell. then he'd chunk up the meat, bread it and dep fry it. he'd bring it to work and watch it dissappear!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I'm interested to see what info comes up here - considering that sea turtle soup is a high priced French cuisine. the soft shelled turtles down in Georgia are supposedly fine eating but I've never fixed (or caught) any.

 

[RetiredMedic]

SNAPPING TURTLE IN A POT

1-2 lb. turtle meat
1/4 c. dry sherry wine (optional)
2 tsp. instant, minced onion
2 carrots, sliced
1/8 tsp. dried basil
Salt
2 c. water
2 celery stalks, cut into pieces
8 sm. unpeeled red skinned potatoes, halved

Salt turtle meat well and place in your slow-cooking pot. Add all other ingredients in order given. Then cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours or until turtle meat is tender. Remove turtle meat from pot and cut into bite size pieces. Return meat to slow-cooking pot, cover, and continue to cook on low heat for an additional 2 hours or until vegetables are done.

 

[reddogge]

The sherry wine is very important too. If not in recipe then add some to the bowl. Yummy.

 

[Crossfire]

Mom used to parboil them in salt water first. Then throw out the saltwater and cook the meat in a stew. That was a long time ago and far away. Yum.

 

[aloyalistdawg]

:thumbsup: Awesome sounds great guys
I found there was about five to seven different textures of meat on a snapper. I cooked mine mainly in a stew with Parsnips, or carrots. I did not par boil them however. THe best meat was found under the shell ribs on the undernieth of the top of their shell.. This section I barbied and served with shrimp sauce ... The kids loved it ..
My best regards a loyalist Dawg :hatsoff:

 

[mingo]

Folks at home say there are seven kinds of meat on a snapper.
Putting one in a tub to clean him out is a good idea.
They are vicious suckers-even little bitty ones.

That head can shoot out about 3 times farther than you ever would think and at near light speed.

 

[shmrck1]

The sherry wine is very important too. If not in recipe then add some to the bowl. Yummy.

RetiredMedic,
I agree with 'reddogge' red wine is essential
to your recipe.Add it early if the alcohol is a
problem(it will cook off).Other things about your
recipe I do or don't do.I use chopped green onions,and I dice taters rather than 1/2them.I also add a 1/2 can of veggie juice or more depending on the ammount of turtle meat.
In almost every occasion that I make turtle soup
it is probabaly your recipe x 4. I only make it once or twice a year. The meat comes from very old friends that still go 'noodlin' or 'jug fishin' for them.
They like my soup and I like their turtle meat,and
don't have to clean them critters,which is a job
in itself IMO.
snake-eyes:thumbsup:

 

[62flint]

how ya clean em?

 

[shmrck1]

62flint,
Rather than have me try to explain the
cleaning process.Get a copy of the April issue
of Fur-Fish-Game magizine.There is an article
on pages 32/33 with photos that shows the process.
Maybe someone here can bring up the cleaning
process.If not let me know and I will send you
my copy of FF&G. Might also try www.furfishgame.com
snake-eyes

 

[Allan Gray]

Snapper Soup!! Yum!

Sorry, I don't have a recipe..

 

[Teresa]

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-clean-a-turtle/ I found this, hope it helps. :wink: BP Tess

 

[scott fellows]

i normally keep my turtles live for anywhere from a week to two weeks in clean water. after you take them from the water hang them upside down from a line or cable by the tail. when they are upside down they will stick their heads out. i use a shotgun with bird shot at close range to take the head off. let them hang for a while to bleed out. then you take and skin the neck back a bit leaving the skin whole don't split it. next take your garden hose and pull the loose neck skin over the end of the hose, turn it on. the water will seperate the hide from the meat and make the skinning much easier. next using a sharp knife skin around all the legs,tail and neck. there is a slight gap along each side of the shell that a knife will slice right through. twist the belly plate after all the skin is off and you have cut through on both sides and it should come off easily. remove the meat using your knife. to get the tenderloins under the bones at the top of the shell use a wood chisel and a hammer. hope this helps.
pieman

 

[FishDFly]

I use to work with a guy from Lousiana and we had finished a job in Beaumont and were headed to Houston, towing a pump on a small trailer.

I was tired and had just done to sleep in the truck when he locked up the brakes. I woke up thinking we are about to crash, he immediately does a u-turn on the interstate, goes about 1/4 mile and again locks up the brakes and another
u-turn through the grass.

The whole time he has not said a word. He jumps out of the truck and picks up the largest snapping turtle that I have ever seen off the center stripe on the interstate. He puts it in the back of the truck and gets in.

He looked over and said Momma will give me something nice tonight and next week I will have some turtle.

RDE