Gamebird prep?

[lloyd3]

Just got back from the North Country with a few goodies for my larder. I know how to deal with the ruffed grouse, what I need is a good woodcock recipe (& perhaps a good sharptail recipe). Anybody here play in the uplands as well?

[Bee]

heck, you have taken out the birds I was going up there for day after tomorrow!!

Im a simple game bird cook and use simple recipe. Breast two breast filets off the larger birds , then cut the breast pieces long ways. Use whole breast with bone in for woodcock. Skin out legs on the birds . Debone thighbone above knee joint. Bacon wrap a la barber pole with toothpicks with thin cheap bacon. Salt and pepper to taste over the bacon. Charcoal or gas, hot . I place birds on the HOT grill, douse the bacon fire with water or the budweiser in my hand, and cook very hot and very fast, and turning maybe once or twice in about a five minute cook time. and serve hot. Did I mention the hot part? The sharptail will rival any fine beef cut, as it appears to be young bird. The woodcock may not take a five minutes and all birds should be rare and NOT over cooked in the least --particularly the woodcock . I find that many recipes cover the distinct taste of each species. I like just the bacon to keep the cooking moist, and the unique flavor of each bird is preserved. .

[jhuskey]

I could never enjoy the taste of timberdoodles - tried and tried, but never enjoyed them.

Partridge, skin the breasts but leave on the bone (whole with backbone and ribs) - other parts can be cooked for the dog(s)
350 degrees F in a glass bread/meat loaf pan (perfect fit) uncovered
Butter, salt and pepper to taste
Baste once or twice while cooking (maybe 30 mins, +-) press to determine doneness - just a slight give to the breast meat, then remove from oven and let it sit 5 mins. loosely tented and it will be perfectly cooked through but juicy
Serve immediately!

[BrownBear]

Only had the opportunity to cook woodcock once, and sad to say I didn't shoot them myself. But they turned out great using the same recipe I use for dove and for common snipe, formerly called Wilson snipe. Seeing you're from CO, it might be just right for your Western sensibilities, but Easterners are likely to fall over in a dead faint.

Put a fresh jalapeno up against the back of the breast, then wrap it in a slice of raw bacon and secure with a skewer or toothpick. Put it on the BBQ grill for indirect heat till most of the fat has dripped from the bacon (to avoid flares while mostly cooking the breast and jalapeno. Then move them over the heat to crisp the bacon. The meat is practically falling off the breast bone, while the crisp bacon and sweet flavor and zip of the cooked jalapeno are perfect accompaniments. That is, of course, if the jalapeno doesn't send you screeching for the cold beer bottle. Of course just the right beer goes well with the tastes, whether or not the jalapeno is too much for your gene pool.

[cdmoore]

Nice feathers.

[lloyd3]

Thanks! A young man I work with wanted some grouse pelts for him to use at his tying desk. He's getting a gallon ziplock stuffed pretty full with a nice selection. Not sure what patterns he's planning on, but it will be fun to see what he comes up with.

[jhuskey]

Lloyd, that is one lovely little double you have!!!
Just kidd'n= I should have never had kids= just kidd'n.
I have clearly not allocated enough money to a smooth bore gun.

[lloyd3]

Thank you Sir! Just a Plain Jane 16-bore brummy boxlock that's pushing 115-years old now. It's interesting how many fine-tackle folks like double shotguns as well.

[doloresboy]

Nothing Plain Jain about a classic British SXS in the correct bore!

Well done Lloyd!

Matt

[lloyd3]

Thank you Matt. Hard to choose what I like to do better, swing a fine gun on a departing grouse or cast a fly rod on a lovely stream. Very grateful that I can still do both.....

[doloresboy]

I love fly fishing enough that I learned how to build my own rods. But, now is the time to chase desert quail around with my 16 ga. William Powell & Son!

Yeehawwwwwww!

Matt

[bassman]

Boy I miss those birds from up north. Primarily Ruffed Grouse (we called partridge) and woodcock. I got fairly good at knocking down grouse but no so much so the woodcock. For grouse we had a particular way we usually cooked them and it was nothing really fancy, even involved opening a can.

I would my whole birds, and the ones friends just ripped the breasts out of and would have thrown away, and at home I pulled skin off (they were field dressed). I would carefully carve out the two sections of each breast and then set aside. Then I would go to work with a sharp, small knife and carve every bit of meat I could cut off the rest of the bird in small chunks. I'd end up with a big pile of chunks of meat many throw away to save breasts. When ready to dine like the rich people we'd simply saute in hot butter with garlic and seasoning salt and pepper. After browned all around I'd cut heat, add a can of mushroom soup and stir things together. The breasts (if using them at this time) would go under the broiler just basted with butter until cooked through.

The breasts would be centered on a plate of either wild rice or brown rice, the mushroom soup and browned chunks would be poured over the plate of rice and breasts and the feed was on.

Oh my gosh, I almost shorted out my computer by drooling on it.

ps...I did skin bird and cook whole like squab (pigeon?) a few times and even tackled pulling feathers off a couple and left skin on but the easiest and best was the way we did the above.

[jhuskey]

"I got fairly good at knocking down grouse but no so much so the woodcock."

Those little buggers always surprised/scared the crap out of me! Got used to Partridge (Ruffed Grouse) flushing, but the noise of a woodcock just unnerved me

[lloyd3]

They unnerve me too. This is my 1st one in nearly 10-years.



I am told that this is a big hen.

[Arctic-Grayling]

I too prepare ruffed grouse the way bassman does. Even a poor cook gets gourmet results. Any left over wild rice gets mixed in with the morning sourdough hotcake batter.
.......A-G

[lloyd3]

Bassman is right-on about the "tidbits". I waste nothing on a ruffie. We wrap the non-breast bits in what we refer to as a "package" using two strips of bacon and grill them alongside the breasts. They are spectacular.

[jhuskey]

They unnerve me too. This is my 1st one in nearly 10-years.



I am told that this is a big hen.

That is bigger than any of the few woodcock I shot in Michigan's UP years ago.

[lloyd3]

I thought it was pretty big too, & I missed one a day or two later that was comperable.

[jhuskey]

Steroids probably - better put an asterisk in the hunting journal next to that one.

[gt05254]

A friend (incredible fly tyer Mark Waslick) made an incredible snack with woodcock. He just sliced the breasts in about 1/8" slices, seasoned them with a blackened seasoning, and did them up in a cast iron skillet for maybe 30 seconds per side. They were so good.
Gary