Who's Eaten Coot ???

Not being a regular poster here in the hunting forum I am curious about the term "Coot".

I know of the bird in the rail family properly called a Coot by ornithologists. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Coot.html

However on my native Long Island, where waterfowl hunting (Before Hilly and Chucky) was once common, old timers who hunted ducks referred to any sea duck as a "Coot" and avoided them like they would a game warden.

"Hey boy, you shoot one of them coots ya gotta eat it". They also refer to someone as an "Ol Coot" as a mild pejorative.

So just what are you folks discussing here? Coots or coots?:p
 
As is often the case, those who don't like eating coot never had one prepared properly.
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That sentence gave me terrible flashbacks of every one of my relatives telling me that I would like liver "the way they made it"...:barf:

No offense to those that eat it, but I would rather eat my rubber boots after mucking the barn........
 
Since I don't believe this is a reference to my crazy college days, I'll say no, have not eaten coot.

davlandrum - ditto on liver. I've heard people say "I hate cow liver but love deer liver" - well acting on that info, I tried some of my deer's liver a couple months ago, fried in butter, and while not as offensive as cow liver, it was highly offensive. Dog's enjoyed it immensely though. :)
 
An eatery in Shreveport called Bubba's and Budreaux's speciallizes in cajun and coonass cuisine. Nah, coonass isn't racist. Most coonasses refer to themselves as such. I know quite a few coonasses, as well as cajuns.

Davis
 
When I forst moved to SE Texas in 1976 the old timers used to refer to armadillos as 'Hoover Hogs"....lol.
 
I have never tried coot, but I have learned while raising 3 daughters that with enough ketchup and beer, anything can be made ok to eat:D
 
Which coot, y'ol' coot??

K 80 Jeff--
Not being a regular poster here in the hunting forum I am curious about the term "Coot".I know of the bird in the rail family properly called a Coot by ornithologists.
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Not being a sea duck hunter, I was referring to the rail-family bird, Fulica americana. Assumed (perhaps erroneously,) that everybody else was as well.

Have heard the term "old coot" all my life to slightly pejoratively reference an elderly, perhaps crotchety, gentleman. May I live long enough to qualify as an old coot myself!

And BTW, Davlandrum and First Freedom, the secret to cooking liver is to fry it in butter--or bacon fat--until it is just barely done and not one second more. Most people cook the stuff to death, whereupon it becomes tough and inedible. Liver and bacon and onions...I'm salivating just typing it!

Couple of my hunting buds hate liver, so I always have a supply in the freezer. And that is a Good Thing! (The same ones also hate mushrooms in any cooked dish. There is just no accounting for taste.)
 
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Why, some.......

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-Coonasses? Did you say Coonasses?? Why, boy, some of my best friends is coonasses!!

I would like to know the origin of that name. I lost the web address for a site that listed every conceiveable racial, ethnic or otherwise slur along with the origin of the name. Many were commonly used terms that were not thought of as derogatory until the term fell from common use. Generally by that time the origin and the original meaning was lost or not commonly known.

It is interesting and useful to know and understand this stuff.

Wolf Lies Down
 
Smokey Joe - apparently I am like your hunting buddies - no way, not now, not then, not even after several helpings of adult beverages...
 
MMM...Liver & onions!

No, SavageSniper, you are not in error, we are speaking of the non-seagiong member of the rail family.

This is great stuff guys! I am also enjoying the history of the term "Coonass". It has been a learning experience.

Also, here in Montana the catfish we have is mostly Channel Cats, and they too taste like poop no matter how you fix 'em. It tastes bad like the farm raised commercial variety tastes bad.
 
I think the only reason that they let you hunt them is to control the population. I have a golden lab and some cats that might eat them but they are kind of welfare critters theyll eat anything.
 
Also, here in Montana the catfish we have is mostly Channel Cats, and they too taste like poop no matter how you fix 'em. It tastes bad like the farm raised commercial variety tastes bad.
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samsmix, you guys are just plain sick up there. The channel cat is one of the best fish there is. You sure you aren't talking about the mud-cat? They look similar to the channel (yellow-bellied), but smaller. They are nasty.
 
Nope. We have honest to goodness channel cats, but I'd rather eat trout, walleye, bluegill, bass, salmon, ling (burbot), sauger, perch, crappies, whitefish, sucker, carp, or even lick me own bum than eat one.
 
I ate them in the old days. No more!
There right in there with artichokes, water moccasins, and scrambled snapping turtle eggs as something I do not eat anymore.
 
davlandrum - ditto on liver. I've heard people say "I hate cow liver but love deer liver" - well acting on that info, I tried some of my deer's liver a couple months ago, fried in butter, and while not as offensive as cow liver, it was highly offensive. Dog's enjoyed it immensely though.
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FF, that's down right hilarious...ever see a dog eat poo...I guess if they'll eat poo, then they'll eat coot, poo, or liver for that matter...:barf: Just another $#@% eating dog...LOL...
 
Coot recipe for two;

2 skinless coot breast fillets
1 medium yellow onion
1 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove
1 cup bread crumbs
2 cups of cut green beans
1 slice of soft-cooked bacon
1 cup of white rice
2 cups of white wine

In a pot, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add rice. Stir and return to a boil. Remove from heat, cover. Stir before serving. In another pot, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil with the slice of cooked bacon in it. Add cut green beans, cover and reduce heat to medium-low for 3 minutes. Drain water and add about 1/2 tsp butter, stir until melted.

Rinse coot breast in cold running water and then cut into 1" x 1/2" strips. Combine spices and bread crumbs in a bag, then add cut strips to bag. Shake for 30 seconds to coat. Dice onion and garlic clove.

Add a little oil to a skillet and heat to medium heat, add onion, garlic and coot breast. Cook approximately 4 minutes, stirring occasionally or until golden brown.

To serve, spread rice on the plate, top with buttered green beans and chopped bacon. Pour a cup of wine into glasses, serve the coot to the dogs then eat the rice and green beans with the wine.
 
I have ate tons of waterfowl and my mother was an excellent cook. We breasted some of the coots and soaked them for 2 days before cooking. When mom cooked them we could barely stand to go in the house!!! HOWEVER, An oldtimer brought some into a marina where I worked as a boy and they were delicious.....it took him 3 weeks to convince me they were coots. To this day I always have regretted not getting that recipe. All I know is that he breaded them and deep fried them. Doug
 
Bill..

I was wondering who is going to be the second person eating your cooking. It look very good from the begining. Told me exwife about it and she was really into it until the very end. LMAO! heheheh
 
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