Traditional Muzzleloading Association

The Center of Camp => Camping Gear and Campfire Cooking => Topic started by: snake eyes on June 06, 2006, 08:17:07 AM

Title: Cooking Turtle
Post by: snake eyes on June 06, 2006, 08:17:07 AM

Have a friend that gave me 3 maybe 3 1/2 pounds of turtle meat.
 He has done this before and I always cut it up and made like
 a soup with it. Kinda like a veggie/beef soup but with turtle and
 red or port wine added at the end. I have two questions....
 #1 anyone have other rescipes?
 #2 how do you clean one of these puppies
 I can catch them but always let them go because I don't know
 how to clean them. My friend won't tell me because some of the
 big ones I get I give to him. Snappers at 8 to 10 #.
 Now when it comes to frogs I am the expert compaired to my
 friend.
 Help me embaress my friend.
                snake-eyes

Title:
Post by: Longhunter on June 06, 2006, 08:45:15 AM

It's been awhile since I've cleaned and cooked a snapper but this is how I did it. First kill it by cutting off the head, to do that you need to stretch out the neck with pliers. Hang the turtle by the tail until it stops moving, this may take several hours. I let them hang overnight.

With the turtle on it's back, follow the seam along the edges of the shell with a knife, a short bladed fillet knife with it's thin blade works good. When the shell is loose, lift and cut under the bottom to free it. You'll find several sections of meat light and dark that you'll have to cut out. Skin the legs and don't forget to save the claws they're good for decorating.

I soaked the meat in salted water overnight, parboiled, dip in batter or roll in flour and fry.

Another tip, the liver of the turtle is excellent flour and fry, it will amaze you. I learned that from an old turtle trapper.

Title:
Post by: makin meat on June 07, 2006, 12:15:35 AM

theres also a strip of meat in the top of the shell in a bone cage. use side cutters to cut the bone, an peel the meet out. good white meat.
i pressure cook it till its tender, then fry it.  good stuff.

Title: Turtle
Post by: snake eyes on June 07, 2006, 07:22:50 AM

Don't want to change the subject matter here too much...When
 I was in my early teens my dad took me to a tavern owned by
 a friend of his. The man was very pleasant and I enjoyed
 meeting him. I noticed he did'nt  have full digits  on any fingers
 of his right hand except his thumb. Being young and dumb I just
 assumed it was a war or work related thing. On the way home
 dad ask if I noticed Russ's right hand. I told him of course I did.
 Dad went on to explain that he lost those digits and parts of
 "noodlin". Seems dads friend would walk along stream banks
 and stick his right hand into suspected snapper dens and pull
 them out by the tail, hopefully. Seems they are supposed to go
 in head first, but some get turned around, hence the tail is the
 head of a very angry snapper, thus fingers come up missing.
 Anyone else ever heard of this  "noodlin" thing or was dad
 telling me a good story????
                                snake-eyes  to ask

Title:
Post by: Longhunter on June 07, 2006, 09:37:11 AM

Yes, I've heard of it, in fact on a local outdoor show they filmed a guy doing just that, reaching under the banks of a stream and pulling out snappers by the tail. Not something that the average person would do.

Title: Noodlin
Post by: snake eyes on June 08, 2006, 07:46:52 AM

Longhunter,
                    Maybe its just a Mid/Central states thing. Did they
 refer to it as "noodlin" on the  local outdoor show or just a
 really brave way to catch a turtle. I've caught more than a few on trot
 lines going after catfish, and they can be very unhappy when you
 bring them in. Some so much I just cut the line and let them go.
 The biggest I ever caught and kept was around 14+ pounds
 which I gave to my friend. I think he has told me the biggest he
 had heard of was just under 20#. I know what the disposition
 of my 14# was, don't think I would want to bring in a 20pounder.
 Be close to bringing in a small aligatorIMO.
                                    snake-eyes

Title:
Post by: Longhunter on June 08, 2006, 09:16:48 AM

It's been a while ago that I saw that show and I don't remember if they called it noodlin of not...I called it stupid.  

A trapper friend of mine used to catch a lot of them for the meat. He used turtle traps that were nets with steel hoops to keep them open. Turtles would swim in the slot at the end of the baited trap and couldn't get back out. I was with him once when he had two in one trap.

I haven't had turtle meat in a long time..now you've got me thinkin Mmmmmm.

Title: Noodlin'
Post by: LightSeeker on June 26, 2006, 12:45:29 PM

I have always heard of folks doing that for Catfish, but never turtles.  Be it catfish, or turtles, I ain't stickin' my hand someplace I can't see who is residin' in there.....

Title:
Post by: snake eyes on March 23, 2009, 07:10:34 AM

I know this is an old thread but just thought I would bring it up
again to see if anyone has a favorite recipe for turtle weather
it be a soup,stew,fried baked or whatever.I always make it into a soup but would appreciate other thoughts.
snake-eyes

Title:
Post by: Stryker on March 23, 2009, 09:27:53 AM

Quote from: "makin meat"

theres also a strip of meat in the top of the shell in a bone cage. use side cutters to cut the bone, an peel the meet out. good white meat.
i pressure cook it till its tender, then fry it.  good stuff.

Agreed,
fry it up like chicken. Taste great, much better than soup. Although we steam it to tenderize it, the pressure cooker is a great idea though.

Title:
Post by: david32cal on March 23, 2009, 09:38:36 AM

as a kid we used to walk the small creeks around here and noodle for turtles. we would find them with our feet,you could tell wich end to reach in and grab by the direction the ridges run on thier back. we cleaned them pretty much the way Longhunter stated but first we would take an air needle,you know like you would use to air up a basketball,work it into thier hide and give'um a blast of compressed air. sure made it easier to clean,we usualy nailed them to a tree so as to get some leverage,some of the bigger ones can be very tuff to clean. floured and fried is about the only way we ever fixed them,very good eat'in.

Title:
Post by: CowboyCS on March 23, 2009, 10:24:17 AM

This is a recipe my wife found online after my oldest son brought home a turtle last summer, it turned out really well and we've had it several times since then. Some times she adds a couple of diced potatoes to it.
 
   *  10 ounces (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
    * 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
    * 1 pound turtle meat, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
    * 1 cup minced celery (4 stalks)
    * 2 medium onions, minced (2 medium)
    * 1-1/2 teaspoons garlic, minced
    * 3 bay leaves
    * 1 teaspoon oregano
    * 1/2 teaspoon thyme
    * 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    * 1-1/2 cups tomato purée
    * 1 quart beef stock
          o NOTE: If turtle bones are available, add them to the beef bones when making the stock for this dish
    * Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, as needed
    * 1/2 cup lemon juice
    * 5 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped
    * 1 tablespoon minced parsley
    * 6 teaspoons dry sherry

Melt 8 ounces (2 sticks) butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the roux is light brown. Set aside.

In a 5-quart saucepan, melt the remaining butter and add turtle meat. Cook over high heat until the meat is brown. Add celery, onions, garlic and seasonings, and cook until the vegetables are transparent.

Add tomato purée, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the roux and cook over low heat, stirring, until the soup is smooth and thickened. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon juice, eggs and parsley.

Remove from heat and serve. At the table, add 1 teaspoon sherry to each soup plate.

On a side note, I told my sons not to bring home any turtles that were smaller than a basket ball, it's just to much work to get them apart and cleaned to mess around with the small ones.

Colin

Title:
Post by: PJC on March 23, 2009, 11:17:05 AM

I saw the noodling show. the funniest thing I ever saw. It still gets mentioned at our house once in a while and always generates a great laugh. The one comment when they were talking to the guy goes.

Question: Have you ever been bit by a turtle.

Reply. Not whilst I was sober.

Title:
Post by: snake eyes on March 26, 2009, 07:28:03 AM

CowboyCS,
        That is very much like the turtle soup I make except for the eggs. I have made it both with and without the sherry,and
IMO the sherry is a must. I use a bit more than you suggest,
maybe 3 tsp,(I probably use bigger bowls) but it is essential that it be added at the table and not while cooking IMHO. It makes
a difference. Trust Me!
snake-eyes

Title:
Post by: No Deer on March 26, 2009, 10:07:36 AM

Quote from: "snake eyes"

but it is essential that it be added at the table and not while cooking IMHO. It makes
a difference. Trust Me!
snake-eyes :shock:  

Title:
Post by: nobber on June 15, 2009, 11:38:35 AM

I used to hand fish when I was down home in Missouri some folks called it noodling, best way to catch the really big catfish. just find a nice hole in the bank were they bed down and reach in and tickle under their chin and they open up thinkin lunch has arrived . Then just grab the lower jaw and pull em out. some guys would reach down their throat and grab guts but I was always big enough to handle them by the jaw plus the blue catfish will spin on ya when ya grab their guts leavin ya with some nasty road rash on your arm. If ya find a nice size brush pile it might take a coupls guys to plug all the holes up but me and a couple buddies at work used to get all the fish for their dads Legion fish fry this way usually 4 or 500 pounds. would take a couple weeks to get that much but it goes well with beer drinkin so no problem.


Eric Davis

Title:
Post by: Adam Wetherington on February 19, 2011, 08:58:12 AM

I used to run a trot line for softshells when I was a kid. I'd make some money by selling some to the locals across the tracks but I'd always keep some for us too. We'd just fry it up like we did everything else we caught, gators, frogs, fish... You get a lot of meat off a big softshell but be sure to clean all that yellow fatty stuff off! I cleaned them basically the way Longhunter described it. You can do it without cutting the shell too, but it's a pain.

Adam

Title:
Post by: snake eyes on February 22, 2011, 08:07:16 AM

BPS,
      I always like to see folks post on old post! It rejuvinates
the issue and the forum.
     Anyone do crock pot turtle with white wine or sherry and
veggies and herbs and seasonings. Bit of tomoto juice.Serve over
rice.My choice wild rice or brown rice! Don't take a lot to turn this into a great soup.
John