Braised rattlesnake

Ingredients

Directions

The delicacies of ratlesnake meat was introduced to us at an early age by my father, the youngest son of John Bowen, the Founder of Pleasanton, Tx.

As a cowboy on the old Judge Noonan Circle Dot ranch, with his 44 Colt six-shooter now in the Ben Parker Atascosa Museum, he'd blast the head off a sizeable diamond back and supper was practically in the pot.

Cut 5" sections of the dressed rattler till you have about 2 pounds. Salt and peppepr; dip pin milk and roll in flour. In 2 or 3 T. of hot fat sizzle in a heavy skillet till golden brown on both sides.

With slices of onion on top of the meat, add a scant cup or so of hot water, cover tight and simmer. Don't boil. Very slowly on low heat for about an hour until it's tender as your heart. A sprinkle or two of milk for the last fifteen minutes is all to the good. Add a little garlic and, if you want your spurs to really jingle, throw in, as your conscience dictates, a grab of chili-petines.

It's larrupin' good all right; but if you're feeding a dude tell him it's flown-in breast sections of baby French pheasants or hind legs of a new breed of frogs and he'll CHUPAR LOS DEDOS!! SUBMITTED BY JOHN BOWEN, IV

SOURCE: "Brush Country Cookbook, Pleasanton's Bicentenial Cookbook", 1976 NYC Nutrilink: N0^00000