Tika's Stewed Woodchuck

Join me as I make Tika’s Stewed Woodchuck – From Tika’s Cookbook for the first time! This is a recipe from Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home sourcebook, originally released in 1987. The recipes are compiled by Tika Waylan Majere. You can buy Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/309152/Leaves-from-the-Inn-of-the-Last-Home?term=leaves+from+the+inn+of+the+last?affiliate_id=50797

From Tika’s Cookbook

Tika’s Stewed Woodchuck

These critters can be whistled up out of their burrows. Cursed with a kender’s curiosity, woodchucks will pop their heads out of their homes to investigate. Of course, it takes an elven sharpshooter to get one in the head. Woodchuck meat has the flavor and consistency of delicate turkey dark meat, although it is not as heavy. When properly prepared, it isn’t “gamy”, and it makes fantastic sandwiches with mushrooms and cheese.

1 woodchuck, cleaned (15 to 20 pounds)
Baking soda
2 pinches rosemary
2 pinches thyme
2 pinches oregano
3 juniper berries, crushed
3 large red potatoes
4 carrots
2 parsnips
3 medium onions
Palmful of parsley flakes
Sprig of celery leaves

Make sure all the fat pockets under the legs are scraped away from the carcass and discarded.

Fill large dutch oven ¾ full of water. Add handful of baking soda; bring to near boiling; remove meat, discard water, and rinse dutch oven well with hot water. Follow this procedure a second time to rid the meat of any additional fat.

Fill dutch oven ½ full of water. Rub woodchuck with salt and pepper, and gently put it in the pan (water should nearly cover meat). Add other spices, and stir gently to make sure all of the meat gets moistened with broth. Cover and cook over low heat for about 4 hours.

Peel all vegetables but potatoes. Scrub potatoes and remove any eyes. Cut vegetables into large chunks (bigger than bite-size). Add to stew and cook 1 hour, until woodchuck slides easily from the bone. Remove meat.

Serve hot, with broth, vegetables, and white and yellow cheese on the side. Serves 4 (unless Caramon is dining).

Transcript

Cold Open

With no woodchucks available, I turned to a familiar favorite.

Intro

Today I am making Tika’s Stewed Woodchuck from Tika’s Cookbook in Leaves from the Inn of the Last Home. If you have made this recipe, share your thoughts in the comments below!

Discussion

This recipe asked for 15 to 20 pounds of woodchuck. I am in a household of three people and that is way too much food, so I halved it. The recipe calls for one woodchuck cleaned, baking soda, two pinches rosemary, two pinches thyme, two pinches oregano, three juniper berries, three large red potatoes, four carrots, two parsnips, three medium onions, a palmful of parsley, and a sprig of celery leaves. After cutting down on the ingredients as I am only using 6 pounds of pork ribs, I skipped the first portion of the recipe, which was to cook the woodchuck with baking soda to remove the fat. I seasoned the ribs on the top and bottom, rubbing in the salt and pepper, then filled the dutch over with a few glasses of water, so the meat wasn’t quite fully submerged. Then I added all of the seasonings, replacing juniper berries, once again, with gin, and set the heat on low for two hours. Also, less time than suggested as the amount of the meat is half.

I checked the ribs every thirty-ish minutes to baste it with the water and seasoning. While waiting I cleaned and chopped up the vegetables into larger than bite sized chunks as directed. I did use fewer than suggested ingredients, starting with the small carrots, then cutting up the red potatoes and parsnip. I have never had a parsnip before, and I realized after cutting them all up that I was supposed to peel the carrots and parsnips, but, rather than mess with it, and knowing the majority of all vitamins in a vegetable resides in the skin, I left them on. Then I cut up one medium onion. After the timer for the stewed meat went off, I added the vegetables to the stew and let it cook for another hour as directed.

After an hour I removed the ribs and removed the meat from the bones. My dogs will enjoy these bones more than my family will, and the meat was still a bit tougher than expected, so I reintegrated it with the stew and let it cook for an additional thirty minutes. What I ended up with was a strange meat choice stew, lol. I should’ve just gone traditional with roast meat or the like. I served it with some Pepper Jack cheese and medium cheddar, as directed, and enjoyed it. I imagine woodchuck being even more tender, but I have no basis of comparison having never eaten woodchuck before. This is a liquidy, delicious stew, though if I am honest, not as good as past stews from this recipe book. I probably will never make this recipe again.