Rattlesnake rattle - required equipment or accessory?

[Scott Tichenor]

Mountain Oysters must be boiled first, membrane removed then breaded in corn meal and deep fried. Then they are said to be delicious but the one time I tried them they were not prepared correctly which is why it was the one time I tried them...ever.

Boiled first? Not this cook.

As a youngster I grew up harvesting and dining on these delicate edible pairs. There's a valid reason on the farm to remove these from a large herd of young bulls--you can figure that one out. On occasion I still prepare and consume them as any Kansas farm boy would be proud to own up to. Downloaded these images from my iPhone to show their proper preparation. Originally texted those to my teenage daughter and her boyfriend and got the reaction I hoped for. She swore she'd try them for dinner with us. Chickened out initially, then finally ate one, was unconvinced they were anything special but didn't try a second one.

This pair is from a young buffalo. Yes, they were large. Slice and remove the outer membrane (see second image). Some cultures eat with the membrane attached. I tried it once and won't be doing that again. Each to their own. The inner meat is very tender like liver. Cut into bit size chucks. Dip in an egg wash and dredge in flour and cracker crumbs (optional) with plenty of salt and pepper, fry. They're delicious.



I value cultures that eat the entire animal and don't waste anything and have been known to engage in a bit of snout to tail cooking. It's just another part of the animal and it happens to be quite delicious in fact. The world would be better if we got back to that.

Guess I can derail a thread as well as anyone. Also a card carrying member of a rattlesnake rattle in my Nugget. I've eaten rattlesnake but that's a lot of work for the meat you get in return.

[hank]

The Cajuns down in south Louisana have a saying" There's a meal in every ditch." I don't know if they also keep any animal remains in their fiddles but it sure wouldn't suprise me if they did.

[B. T. Walker]

That's the way my old girlfriend used to prepare them. It is a lot of work, very time consuming, right up there with shelling black-eyed peas, but the final product is delicious.

I read that they are finding rattlesnakes that do not have rattles, and they theorize this is because the noisy rattlers die, but silent rattlers live to hunt another day. Darwinism in action?

I'm rattle-free.

[brunello97]

Jeff, what book/story is the source for your Chekhov quote? I love it.

Mick

[JeffD]

what book/story is the source for your Chekhov quote?

I'll have to look it up. I read it long ago and it struck me and I never forgot it, but I forget which story its from.

[Mike Bunting]

I'll have to look it up. I read it long ago and it struck me and I never forgot it, but I forget which story its from.

The Notebook of Anton Chekhov
http://www.amazon.com/Notebook-Anton.../dp/0880011459

[Nelson Peddycoart]

I have always had one in my mandolin. My little girl even has one in hers, and it was her idea.

Tradition is what connects us to those that are long gone from the Earth. I like that.

[Mike Bunting]

I have always had one in my mandolin. My little girl even has one in hers, and it was her idea.

Tradition is what connects us to those that are long gone from the Earth. I like that.

Like that.

[greg_tsam]

Scott those pictures were huge. lol.. I think boiling them was to cook them in the membrane prior to removal. Then breaded and deep fried for crispy yummyness. I hated the membrane version.

I wonder if they have ratlesnake fries?

[MikeEdgerton]

I just wanted to say that I keep a Rocky Mountain oyster (dried of course) in my mandolin as well.

[JeffD]

I just wanted to say that I keep a Rocky Mountain oyster (dried of course) in my mandolin as well.

I am glad you had the opportunity to say that.

[Cheryl Watson]

Guys might like 'um like turkey beards and such. I am so grossed out by them so I would not want one in my mandolin. I've had a lot of friends try and get me to eat reptile too, but no one has succeeded. ; )

[brunello97]

Guys might like 'um like turkey beards and such. I am so grossed out by them so I would not want one in my mandolin. I've had a lot of friends try and get me to eat reptile too, but no one has succeeded. ; )

Reptiles? Well, we used to stew up some armadillo now and then back in my 'teens and I still enjoy gator when then the situation calls for it. I'm back and forth between Houston and LC a couple times a year so Floyd's in Beaumont is a regular stop.

Somehow Scott's Mark Bittmanesque take with los cojones both removed the mystery and confirmed my dread. I didn't know they were prepared in 'bite sized nuggets' which I suppose makes them almost look like fried chicken livers. Another relic of my hard-eating past.

Mick

[hank]

I'm with you Cheryl, something about dead animal parts used to make instruments or put inside your mandolin or fiddle is not for me. I'm not superstitious so believing a rattler would do anything besides a little interior dusting is out of my realm of understanding. If a rattler is so cool why not put a shrunken head in there as well?

[Markus]

I always thought you needed to get a rattle from a tall stranger in black clothes at the crossroads around midnight for them to be effective.

'I ordered one on EBay' just lacks something, so my mandolin is rattle-less. At some point in life's travels I will run across the one for my mandolin, someone will send me one ... I guess I just don't consider mojo something one can order online.

[brunello97]

If a rattler is so cool why not put a shrunken head in there as well?

I think they would rattle against one another.


Mick

[Mike Snyder]

Those intent upon frying nuts might try this; Place them in the freezer just long enough for them to become firm, not frozen. Take 'em out and peel off the membrane quickly, then slice thin with a VERY sharp knife, no thicker than a quarter inch or so. Dredge or batter as you like and fry, preferably deeply in p-nut oil. My little home-town fire dept. had an annual nut fry after the bull testing at the local feedyard. As fried foods go, this is very good, although very rich. Wash down with liberal amounts of good German lager. Hey, this WAS northcentral Kansas, Germans everywhere.
After six years my rattle is getting ratty, think I'll order up a new one.

[MikeEdgerton]

I just wanted to say that I keep a shrunken head in my mandolin as well.

[Scott Tichenor]

Those intent upon frying nuts might try this; Place them in the freezer just long enough for them to become firm, not frozen. Take 'em out and peel off the membrane quickly, then slice thin with a VERY sharp knife, no thicker than a quarter inch or so. Dredge or batter as you like and fry, preferably deeply in p-nut oil. My little home-town fire dept. had an annual nut fry after the bull testing at the local feedyard. As fried foods go, this is very good, although very rich. Wash down with liberal amounts of good German lager. Hey, this WAS northcentral Kansas, Germans everywhere.
After six years my rattle is getting ratty, think I'll order up a new one.

I'm there.

Addenum: a week from tomorrow I'll be dining with friends at Takashi in NYC. Plan on ordering the Testicargot (cow balls escargot style with garlic shiso butter).

[hank]

"I just wanted to say that I keep a shrunken head in my mandolin as well." Mike you'd be cool no matter what you got under the F holes.

[brunello97]

...Plan on ordering the Testicargot (cow balls escargot style with garlic shiso butter).

Unsurprisingly found in the "Bites" section of the menu.

Mick

[greg_tsam]

I'm with you Cheryl, something about dead animal parts used to make instruments or put inside your mandolin or fiddle is not for me. I'm not superstitious so believing a rattler would do anything besides a little interior dusting is out of my realm of understanding. If a rattler is so cool why not put a shrunken head in there as well?

What about hide glue, bone nuts and leather straps? Don't use any of that on your mando either?

[hank]

Good point Greg but I still don't want any dead snake tails in my mandolin. Knock yourself out, each to his own.

[greg_tsam]

BTW, someone tell the Japanese guys at Takashi NYC that Bull's have balls, steers used to have balls but COWS never had balls.

[Bertram Henze]

I just wanted to say that I keep a shrunken head in my mandolin as well.

And what did you do to his banjo?

BTW the dishes presented in this thread go right in line with any road kill stew. Bucket, please.
And what I also don't quite understand is how you get all of this into a fiddle, through those narrow F-holes?