Ok, anyone have a turtle (yes turtle) recipe? We have (had) a snapping turtle in our pond, that MUNCHED Pat’s Mother’s Day present from the boys, a beautiful Lotus plant. He (she) chowed it to the bottom, so, I declared WAR!. Decided to bait a large hook with chicken heads (from previous poulty processing) and see if we could reel him in. 1st one in the pond, man we had him, but we we tried to pill him in, he apparently bit through the steel leader. Next two baitings, he stole the bait, last night he (she) somehow wrangled around enough to get the hook OFF the leader (leader was a bent up mess, still have it for evidence). Tonight, success, baited another hook before I started milking the goats, and by the time we were done, he (she) was on the hook again, so this time we were better prepared, two shovels, a steel rod, and a .22 rifle! Got him (her) up, used a little .22 action (twice actually), and he (she) was ours. Ok, now what?? Read you should be-head the beast and let them drain, ok, did that. Then it’s a matter of seperating the bottom of the shell from the top, gutting, and then getting the meat. Did that, took a little while since it’s not something I have ever done before. Bottom line, I am hoping the Lotus plant comes back, and I want to try something with Turtle meat. Please send me a recipe if you have one. (expect I will only hear from old timey country folks on this one (meaning Lousiana rednecks or cajuns)). Please hurry, I want to cook it up tomorrow night!
1 Snapping Turtle
Any old soup recipe will work for (snapping) turtle soup. The main problem with turtle soup is cleaning the turtle. You have to be certain that every last speck of fat is removed from the meat before cooking. This is not too difficult because the fat is between the skin and the flesh.
To butcher a turtle you start by chopping off the turtle’s head. Be careful because the head will still bite even after it is removed from the body and the body will still crawl away after the head is removed. Turtles don’t die right away.
When the body stops trying to crawl away, dip it in boiling water and scrape off the exterior layer of skin, including the shell. The result will be a bright white carcus, compared to the muddy brown-green you started with.
Next step is to remove the shell. Cut along grove on each side between the front and back legs. It is the narrowest part of the shell. The tail, neck and all four legs are attached to the top of the shell. Remove from shell and you have the bulk of the meat. However, there will be some meat on the bottom shell and top shell.
It is at this point that you remove the fat. Just roll back the skin and with a paring knife and your index finger scrape out the fat.
I learned about turtles from my parents who learned from their German immigrant fathers. It has been told in family circles that my maternal grandfather would catch snapping turtles by hand. I never saw him do it because he was hit and killed by a truck when I was about nine years old. It was a big loss for me because he was just starting to teach me about turtles, wild mushrooms, dandelions and other natural things. He made the greatest doughnuts I ever ate.
Good luck with your turtle soup. Just cook it long with lots of vegetables and it will be good if you removed all of the fat. – Earl
Thanks Joann! I wish I had asked BEFORE I caught him (her). I did all you mentioned last night, except for the dipping in boiling water part. Probably need to finish “cleaning” the meat as well, to be sure all the fat is off. Cleaning wasn’t too bad, not as easy as chicken though!
I know this is late — just found your blog from a card at Suzy’s Farm.
For future reference— Snapping Turtle is GREAT fried!!
Every summer when I’d go to Knoxville, Tenn. to visit my Aunt, she’d have the neighbor boys catch a snapping turtle and she’d kill it and dress it. She would cut the meat into cubes and fried it like chicken and serve with mashed potatoes and brown gravey!! Ohhhhhhh – that was the best eating!! Aunt Armendie didn’t like snappers since they would eat her baby ducks.