Grilled Squirrel

First, make your marinade. In a mortar and pestle, mash one bunch of thyme leaves with a couple cloves of garlic (depending on how much you like garlic) and some salt. When it forms a paste, thin it with some fresh lemon juice and olive oil to make a pesto-like sauce.

Butcher your squirrel: Once it is skinned, cleaned, and halved (by someone who's handled whole squirrels, or at least rabbits, before), detach the front and back legs from the body. This is a similar procedure to butchering a chicken—feel for the joints where the legs meet the body and cut there.

Cut out the ribs and backbone, so you just have a nice meaty loin piece. You will now have four legs and two loins.

Prepare the meat for the marinade by putting it in a non-reactive dish and stabbing each piece several places with a fork. This lets the marinade in...

Coat the squirrel pieces evenly with the thyme marinade and squeeze some lemon juice over the top. Cover and marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight.

Grill the squirrel: Here at Spooning central we grill apartment-style, on a heavy cast-iron grill pan. Whether you are using a stovetop grill or a real one, heat only half of it. Place the marinated squirrel pieces on the unheated half and cook them slowly, turning occasionally, until they are just cooked through. This should take about 40 minutes. Finish them quickly on the hot half, to brown them and get nice grill marks.

Serve your thyme-marinated grilled squirrel with roasted potatoes, grilled vegetables, or anything you might serve with grilled chicken. Enjoy!