Need tips on cooking wild game (opossum, raccoon, beaver)?

The old Joy of Cooking had an extensive section on game including squirrel, muskrats, opossum etc.

The best recipe I ever read for possum went as follows: Procure a possum and a cedar board. Roast the possum on the cedar board until well cooked. Throw out the possum and eat the board. The recipe was in a book of old fashioned Appalachian recipes. Your mileage may vary.

Ask the vendors how they'd cook whatever you're buying.

http://groups.google.com/group/bit.listserv.bgrass-l/browse_thread/thread/acb2ee94b74576af/7964fc073c267836%3Fq%3D%2522Valerie%2BWaltz%2522%237964fc073c267836&ei=iGwTS6eaOpW8Qpmqic0O&sa=t&ct=res&cd=10&source=groups&usg=AFQjCNERzQXr4EXhfCWnEbDbKZ79mA2Qow is the best possum recipe ever.

My grandmother (1905-2011) grew up on a farm in rural Oklahoma and she loved opossum in her younger days. According to Grandma, you had to catch them live, keep 'em in a cage for a week or so while you fed them a diet of corn meal or they didn't taste good at all. SHe liked opossum 2 ways, either in a stew or roasted in a pan with onions, carrots and potatoes. She also said opossum always tasted better the next day as leftovers.

Besides grilling, you find game is often made into sausages, burgers and other dishes where the meat is ground up and mixed with spices, veggies, etc. Traditionally, this was for food preservation, but it also balances the "gamey" flavor and can add fats to super-lean game meats. This is why venison sausage is more popular than, say, straight-up venison steak. Also, look for rabbit recipes, which are more common, and consider substituting the game for the rabbit.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0394511913/metafilter-20/ref=nosim/.

I once heard someone describe the cooking time for roast possum as "until him grinnin' ", which has stuck with me.

I grew up eating a lot (relatively speaking) of wild game, and generally the way to go either involves 1). covering with bacon to add fat and cover the flavor, or 2). stewing to make the meat tender. Occasionally jerky as well. Usually, though, my family stuck to birds and herbivores. Omnivores were pretty gamey, and generally carnivores weren't worth it. I also question the wisdom of eating raccoon, as I've heard they are fairly common rabies carriers and probably not so hot on the parasite front either, unless raised entirely by the seller.