I admire people like Andrew Zimmern and Anthony Bourdain. Now, to start making a baked possum quiche, obviously, the first thing you need is a possum. You aren't too likely to find possum at your local supermarket or deli counter. That means you best be prepared to go out into the woods and fetch yourself a possum on your own. Possums are nocturnal, so in the daytime they'll be sleeping and you can find them usually hanging upside down by their tails in trees. I think, getting them when they're sleeping might seem like cheating, but you'll have better luck if you can catch them unawares. Be a nice buy though, and if it's a possum hanging with her babies, spare her until another day.
Possums are scavengers, and they frequently eat dead, rotting animals and rubbish. If you live out in the sticks, like I used to, you could often see a possums rooting through the garbage cans, and now there becoming even more bold and moving into more populated areas. Because of that, an even better choice than going out and hunting a possum down, as to trap one and feed it yourself, so you know what it's been eating. You just have to plan your baked possum quiche at least a month ahead of time.
too, to keep him in while you're getting him ready for the cook pot. Just be aware, that skunks and 'coons and other nocturnal varmints might be attracted to the same kind of food. So, now once you've caught yourself a nice possum that is worthy of being et, feed him some healthy vegetables, some cornbread, and fresh water for long about a month or so. If you do that, it should flush out any of the rubbish he et before you caught him. Now, when it's time to get him all gussied up and prepared to go to the cook pot, obviously the first thing you have to do is put an end to his life. A small caliber bullet between the eyes should do this nicely and quickly. Don't use nuthin' much bigger than a .22 for this procedure. Possums are kinda fatty, so the longer you feed him a healthy vegetable diet, the less fat you'll have to skim off the top of the cook pot. But, trim as much fat as you can off after you got him skinned.
After you've kilt him, cut off his head, tail, remove his innards, and skin him. For excellent instructions on how to clean a possum go to HOW TO SKIN AND GUT YOUR POSSUM. I suggest you place the all the stuff you removed in an air-tight bag until trash day. Or if you live in the boonies, you can just take the stuff out back into the forest and let the other animals pick it clean.Alternatively, you can bury everything deep enough that it will be out of nose range of other animals. Now, that you've got him all cleaned and ready for the cook pot, first rinse him off real good with lots of fresh water. Then soak him overnight in salt water in a refrigerator. Prepare your salt water solution as per the directions found under "How to Skin and Gut Your Possum." Find a nice big stew pot that he fits into good, and first boil him up on the stove for about 20 minutes. Skim any fat that floats to the top, and dispose of it. Now, fill up the cavity where his guts use to was with some good spices and garlic as per the recipe, and transfer him to a roasting pan.
Take your possum out of the stew pot and dry him up a bit, with gentle patting. For seasonings, mix 5 to 10 fresh crushed garlic cloves, fresh ground black pepper corn, salt, and onion powder. Rub all this stuff all over the outside of the body and inside where the innards used to been. Don't let any go to waste. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Pour a can of chicken or beef broth over the possum and cook covered for round a bout 45 minutes. Add some whole celery,whole broccoli,whole cauliflower, and whole carrots,Some sliced onion, and some sliced musrooms, and return to oven, covered for another 45 minutes. Take the lid of the roaster and allow to cook for 15 minutes more until possum is brown. Pour off liquid, remove vegetables, allow to cool and cut them until small pieces. Remove possum from pan, and pull meat from bones into small pieces. He should be pretty tender by now. Mix all the possum pieces together in a large bowl with cut vegetables.
Photos by JJ Harrison (jjharrison89@facebook.com), Wikipedia:User:Cody.pope
"The opossum was once a favorite game animal in the United States, in particular in the southern regions which have a large body of recipes and folklore relating to it.[23] Their past wide consumption in regions where present is evidenced by recipes available online[24] and in books such as older editions ofThe Joy of Cooking.[25] A traditional method of preparation is baking, sometimes in a pie or pastry,[26] though at present "possum pie" most often refers to a sweet confection containing no meat of any kind."Quoted from WikiPedia
There's lots of ways to cook up a possum, and you can find plenty of examples in "The White Trash Cookbook", but Possum Quiche is uniquely my creation. How many people would think "Quiche-Possum, flavors that were made to go together!!" You can make a so-so quiche with other kinds of meat, but to have an extraordinary quiche, you need need to have some properly prepared red-neck rodent meat. (well, there not really rodents, they're marsupials, but they've got the look).
Now, for the easy part, the quiche. You can make a quiche in a pie crust, but I'm not going to go through making a pie crust, We're gonna make a simple and quick possum quiche. Grab your self a decent sized bowl, and crack 7 or 8 eggs into it. Add about 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Grate up about 1 cup of cheese of your choice. I like Mozzarella, Swiss, or Pepper Jack, but you can use nearly any kind of cheese ya'll might want. Add 1/2 cup milk, and a bit of salt and pepper, plus any other spice you might like. Beat until of a uniform consistency. Dispose of any liquid from the possum and vegetables, and add into your quiche mixture. Mix up thoroughly. Get yourself some quiche pie tins, and divide the mixture equally among them. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. After 30 minutes, check for doneness by sticking a knife in the center. If knife blade comes out clean, dish is done. If not return to oven until knife comes out clean. Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving. />
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