How to Cook Snapping Turtle

Where I grew up in southern Louisiana, we saw a bunch of broken turtle, but most of us never think of eating one. Maybe it's because we have been blessed with having so many around lobster, which were much easier and less dangerous to catch and cook. However, occasionally one of my readers asked me how to cook a turtle. So if you find one of these creatures rather unsightly in his fishing net, or have one stored in the freezer, it's a great way to prepare. Indeed, the coupling of the turtle is quite delicious! Assuming you have a Snapper living in their hands, the first step, of course, is to kill him. Gloves, grab a sharp knife and cut the turtle's head quickly and cleanly as possible. There Will Be Blood, of course, should be allowed to run down the drain in your sink until the flow has decreased significantly. Now release the body of the turtle shell and all (except the head, of course) in a large pot of boiling water. Boil for 8 minutes. This is mainly to make it easier to clean. Remove the turtle from the pot and cool enough to be able to handle it. Take a sharp knife and cut the bottom shell or plastron. Remove the intestines and other organs. Now cut the good, the meat, away from the upper reservoir, be sure to include the legs and tail, they are the best tasting parties (the skin should come off easily after boiling). You can cook the turtle meat, if a snapper or some other species, in many different ways. My favorite is this temminckii stew: 1. Turtle meat cut into cubes. 2. Start browning the meat in a hot skillet with cooking oil. Add a chopped onion, one or two cloves of chopped garlic and continue cooking until meat is browned on all sides. 3. Remove oil from pan. Remove the meat, onion and garlic and place in a pan (one with a lid). Add 2 cans of tomatoes and 4 slices or chunks of potatoes, salt and pepper and enough water to cover everything. 4. Cover the pan and simmer 40 to 50 strong minutes. 5. Enjoy! Sarah Sandor is the food and entertaining columnist for Information Solid Gold Writers Consortium. Ever wanted to be able to exactly duplicate a favorite restaurant dish? Read Sara's article, which reveals her secret source of the most delicious recipes from restaurants in the U.S.: http://www.solid-gold.info/most-wanted-recipes.html