Recipe: Baked Coon and Sweet Potatoes

Early this morning the birds called me out of my bed. The crows reminded me to go check my e-mail. The important letter about the important business I’d been spending my important time worry about, dreaming about, and anticipating was not there as it was supposed to be.

I made a cup of peach tea, threw a jacket over my pajamas, and walked, cup of tea in hand, down to the collard patch. It’s cool this morning—56 degrees—cool and pleasant. Looking through the sweet gum trees with raindrops glistening on their branches, I can focus on what is truly important in life. "This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalms 118: 24)

My collards are not quite ready to eat, but I found some at the grocery store. They were pre-harvested, pre-washed, pre-chopped, and pre-bagged in Georgia. Those Georgia collards were so tender that I didn’t need to add a pinch of baking soda; actually they were so tender that I used them for salad after pouring just a little fresh hot bacon grease over them to wilt them.

Terry Chrisman shared her mother’s recipe for baked raccoon. Since I can’t find any raccoons, I have not tried this recipe. Although it is my policy to try recipes whenever possible—my freezer door is propped closed because of all the food I’ve cooked and stored—I will make an exception in this case. Terry is a distinguished cook, and I trust her. She called her mother to verify the recipe. Because you may find a raccoon you need to cook, I’ll share the recipe with you.

Baked Coon by Ann Webb

Dress the coon.
Remove all the glands, especially from under the arms.
Quarter it.
Cover it with pepper sauce.
Lay thick slices of peeled sweet potatoes around the edges.
Pour a little bit of water in the pan.
Sprinkle a cup of dark brown sugar over the sweet potatoes and coon.
Cover the pan.
Bake at 350° until tender.

Terry told me that her mother cooks coon two or three times a year only in cold weather. Her father kills them when he goes squirrel hunting. She said, “He’s supposed to be squirrel hunting, but if he sees a coon, he kills it.”

Baked coon would be a gourmet meal with collards and cornbread on the side.