REPTILES and AMPHIBAINS This is a sample recipe page from Recipe Girl. View ALL RECIPES Spice Up Your Recipes With Uncle Steve's:  Dried Chiles     Chile Powders     Grow Your Own Hot Spice With Uncle Steve's: Hot Chile Pepper Seeds Frog Legs by Jacqueline E. Knight While people who are familiar with frogs' legs only on high-priced menus or in specialty markets may not think of getting them as sport, there's little doubt that a "leg man" -- or woman -- considers them good eating. Getting them in the wild is great sport, as anyone knows who has gone out with a gig and tried spearing them! Some people do it bare-handed at night using a light; that way they do absolute minimum damage to the edible meat, which includes the body meat of large frogs -- just as good as the legs. Assuming you have the whole, undamaged animal, the first thing is to kill it by slapping its head sharply on something hard. The head is then cut off; this is best done by holding the forelegs back along the body, putting the blade of a hatchet on the spot to be cut, then hitting the hatchet with a hammer -- a two-man job. The feet are cut off in the same way, with a heavy blade and a hammer. With a knife or scissors slit the belly open and remove the viscera. Peel the skin off, using pliers or pincers. The back legs are cut off above the joint with hatchet and hammer. Frogs' legs are usually served by the pair, but there is no reason why they should not be cut apart if so desired. The size of the legs -- jumbos, small, or in between -- will determine how many you will need for a meal for your family. Frogs' legs freeze well, but even commercially frozen ones have a spooky tendency to twitch when they are in the hot pan. Let nervous cooks be forewarned!

================================ Snapper Turtle Soup Amount Measure Ingredient Preparation Method 5 pounds Turtle 2 Celery stalk with leaves 2 medium Carrots 1 large Onion 2 Bay leaves 1 Garlic clove Fresh thyme sprigs Fresh parsley sprigs Salt to taste Freshly-ground black pepper to taste 4 tablespoons Butter 2 tablespoons Flour 1/2 cup Sherry 3 Hard-boiled eggs Cut off the turtle's head and stand it upside-down to drain. After it has bled well, scrub with a stiff brush. Drop into a kettle of boiling water to cover, and cook until the skin and upper shell peel away easily. Discard this water and cover turtle with fresh water. Add the vegetables and herbs, and salt and pepper. Simmer gently for two hours then strain, reserving the broth. Remove shells and skin and pick out the meat, being careful not to break the gall sac (located in the liver). Cut the meat into small pieces and brown in butter. Blend in the flour, then the strained stock and simmer it until tender. To serve, pour into a tureen with the sherry and garnish with sliced eggs. If you prefer, float a few slices of egg on each plate of soup. This recipe yields 6 to 8 servings. ================================= Texas Rattlesnake Chili Recipe By: Dave Sacerdote Amount Measure Ingredient Preparation Method 2 tb Vegetable oil 1/2 c Onion chopped 1/2 c Green pepper chopped 1 cl Garlic minced 1 lb Lean ground beef 1 c Rattlesnake meat cubed - chicken can be substituted 2-3 tb Uncle Steve's Chile powder 2 ts Salt 2 cn (14.5 oz) tomatos undrained 1 cn (6 oz) tomato paste 2 c Water 2 c Pasta small shells In 5-qt saucepan, heat the oil and cook onion, green pepper and garlic until tender. Add meat. Cook until done, about 5 minutes. Stir in seasonings, tomatoes and tomato paste. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and simmer 2 hours. Before serving, add water and return chili to boiling. Stir in the uncooked pasta; continue boiling, stirring frequently, 10 to 15 minutes or until pasta is done.