One of the unpleasant sides to raising critters, is you have to protect them from danger. Rattlesnakes can cause a lot of harm. They are removed or dispatched depending on location around the farm. I decided not to let this one go to waste after dispatching, and cooked it up for supper. This was a Prairie rattler.
After removing a rattler's head, bury it so no one will get hurt. The severed head is still dangerous!
Skin and clean the snake.
I soaked the meat in salt water overnight and stretched and salted the hide.
After rinsing the meat, I divided it into smaller portions so I could try a few different recipe ideas..
I made jalapeno stuffed, bacon wrapped rattler... and blackened rattler with scallions..
I chickenfried a few pieces... used an egg/milk wash and seasoned flour..
Fried til golden and set on the lower side of the heat to keep warm..
Made a caper, lemon, scallion, garlic butter sauce....
Grilled a few pieces for color before adding to the caper sauce to simmer...
The blackened rattlesnake with scallions...
Supper is ready!
Rattlesnake in caper, lemon, garlic, butter sauce. Chickenfried rattler, blackened rattler with scallions and jalapeno stuffed, bacon wrapped rattler.
The meat runs in strips along the back. Think of it as a small backstrap.
First bite was the blackened....
then the chickenfried....
next the bacon wrapped, jalapeno stuffed rattlesnake...
and lastly, the caper, lemon, garlic butter simmered rattlesnake...
I'll have to say, I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I've had chickenfried and grilled rattlesnake plenty of times, the blackened, bacon wrapped and caper sauce variations were pretty darned good!
The lemon, caper, garlic butter sauced rattlesnake was my favorite. Second came the bacon wrapped with jalapeno, Third was the blackened. I went too heavy on the blackened seasoning and it was a bit spicy for my taste buds. Next time I'll go easier on it. The flavor was good, just too hot for me.
Lastly was the chickenfried. Anything chickenfried is good in my book but I enjoyed the flavors of the others better this time.
Things are looking up here. I have the wildfire damaged pasture fencing rebuilt, received a small amount of rain (which is better than no rain), and the animals are all healthy and happy.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Thanks for stopping by!
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12 comments:
I'd never heard of a Prairie rattler before, I'd never actually seen anyone cook rattlesnake either.
The food again looked delicious!
Thanks!
Thanks Rob!
Prairie rattlers are pretty thick around here. This one was a little over 3 ft. It wasn't the biggest I've ran across.
The flavor is kind of a cross between frog legs and chicken. It takes on the marinade and other flavors well. Hope you give it a try sometime.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope you have a great weekend!
I've eaten copperhead before, but never rattler. You fix it fit for a gourmet! We recently had to dispatch a couple of egg-eating opossums. We were delighted to discover that it tasted better than chicken!
That sounds interesting Leigh! I've not tasted copperhead. Wonder if it's about the same as rattler. They remind me of a cross between frog legs and chicken. Kind of mild but have that reptilian taste going on. lol I bet it was tasty!
Darned opossums! Great to hear that they are edible. I'll keep that in mind!
I've got a chicken eating raccoon visiting my coop. I'm trying to deter it, but might end up cooking the coon if I catch it. I've had coon before and it reminded me of wild goose. Kind of a dark greasy meat but tasty.
Thanks so much for stopping by Leigh! Hope you're having a nice weekend! :)
Absolutely......shaking my head!!!...Great post as USUAL!!!!!!!!.....I’ve always heard snake could be prepared to be very good.......awesome!
KB
Whenever they cook snake on "Naked and Afraid", it's always tough and chewy. Did you do anything to make it more tender?
Thanks so much Keith! Very kind of you! It came out better than I had hoped. I've had fried many times but wanted to try something different. I'll make this again, if the need to dispatch a rattler arises.
Hope you're doing well. Hope all is going well with your new home plans too. Thanks for stopping by! :)
Steve, I've not watched that show. I bet they don't do much to the snake before cooking. I soak the meat in salt water overnight. It changes the texture a bit.
Not sure about other snakes but rattle snake meat isn't really tough. There's just not much of it. I pull the meat off each side of the back... almost like backstrap on a deer. There are so many bones, you have to eat around them.
It reminds me of frog legs crossed with chicken.
Hope you're still cookin' up a storm! Good to see ya, thanks for stopping by!
I've never eaten snake before. It looks good, but I'm glad I live where they dont!
Keep up the good work.
Been away for a while, good to see you are still alive and kicking. Great post as always.
TJ
Thank you Oneye! Sorry for the delay in replying to you. For some reason your message and Tjus77's did not appear in my comment section! I will see if I can find the problem.
The snake was pretty tasty. I won't go out of my way to cook one but it's nice to know that they are edible. lol
Hope you're having a nice spring. Great to see you!
Great to see you TJ! It's been awhile! Hope you are doing well and life's treatin' you good.
I'm still cooking up a storm. Thanks so much for stopping by!
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