Using up game - squirrels and rabbits

Last year we swapped preserves for a sackful of squirrels and rabbits. This game arrived on our doorstep frozen ready frozen and largely unprepared. It went straight into our chest freezer.



We are trying to use up the big stock of food that we have in the freezers and create some space. The game took up quite a bit of space. Our plan therefore was to make some game pies. The first part of the process was to prepare the squirrels and rabbits.



It turned out that the rabbits had already been gutted, making the job of preparing them easier. The squirrels needed to have their innards removed however. All the pelts were retained. They went into a bag in the freezer and at some point in the future I'm going to have a go at using them.



The game was put in a pan, brought to the boil and then simmered for half an hour.



Once it had cooled, the meat was stripped from the bone.



The liquid in which the game was simmered was kept in the pan. The bones were then returned to it. More water and onions were added and the bones were simmered for a couple of hours to make stock.

Both meat and stock would find their way into the game pies. More about the next stages in forthcoming posts.