The Cookery Game
Submitted by Bruce Buck on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 6:25pm.
“And if you get any, don’t you dare throw out the legs. They are the best part.” These were the words of our guide in Millinocket, Maine, when we were setting forth to ambush some woodcock.
Yes, I know that they eat worms and that you are what you eat, but I love the dark-meat livery taste of woodcock breasts anyway. My Canadian hunting pals serve the breasts on toast points with bacon and goose-liver pâté on top. That’s not for the arterially challenged, but it is sinfully good. I never much thought about the woodcock legs.
Later I got a little lucky and collected some woodcock drumsticks to sample. Woodcock breasts may be fully flavored dark meat, but the legs are mild white meat, just the opposite of the way domestic chickens and turkeys work. Perhaps it is something to do with flying versus running. I dusted the tiny woodcock drumsticks with spices and sautéed them quickly. Then I served them as appetizer finger food along with that first Beefeater’s Martini before dinner. Try it; you’ll like it. And you’ll never ignore those tiny little drumsticks again.
Cooking grouse is a different story. Everyone has his/her favorite approach. Here’s mine: Cook a few strips of bacon in a frying pan. Leave the fat in the pan. Eat the bacon. It’s your right. You’re the cook. Dust the grouse breasts with salt, pepper and flour. Sauté the breasts in the bacon fat. Do not chicken out and use butter. Bacon fat is what you really want. Remove the breasts when they are cooked but not overdone. Pour out most of the remaining bacon fat, if any. Add 3/4 cup of vermouth (note previous reference to Martini) and a few tablespoons of those small expensive capers to the pan. Deglaze the pan and cook down the vermouth a bit. Pour this sauce over the grouse breasts. Trust me: It will make all that walking up and downhill worthwhile.
I’ve never really figured out what to do with pheasants, so I rely on my betters. When hunting in Montana, we found a Chinese restaurant that would cook our birds for us. That was the best deal in life. They really knew what to do. I guess you’d expect that after a few thousand years of practice with their native bird.
Any favorite gamebird recipes or techniques you’d care to share before the season opens? How on earth do you cook doves? What about other gamebirds?
That’s it until dinnertime. Boots off. Beer open.
Yes, I know that they eat worms and that you are what you eat, but I love the dark-meat livery taste of woodcock breasts anyway. My Canadian hunting pals serve the breasts on toast points with bacon and goose-liver pâté on top. That’s not for the arterially challenged, but it is sinfully good. I never much thought about the woodcock legs.
Later I got a little lucky and collected some woodcock drumsticks to sample. Woodcock breasts may be fully flavored dark meat, but the legs are mild white meat, just the opposite of the way domestic chickens and turkeys work. Perhaps it is something to do with flying versus running. I dusted the tiny woodcock drumsticks with spices and sautéed them quickly. Then I served them as appetizer finger food along with that first Beefeater’s Martini before dinner. Try it; you’ll like it. And you’ll never ignore those tiny little drumsticks again.
Cooking grouse is a different story. Everyone has his/her favorite approach. Here’s mine: Cook a few strips of bacon in a frying pan. Leave the fat in the pan. Eat the bacon. It’s your right. You’re the cook. Dust the grouse breasts with salt, pepper and flour. Sauté the breasts in the bacon fat. Do not chicken out and use butter. Bacon fat is what you really want. Remove the breasts when they are cooked but not overdone. Pour out most of the remaining bacon fat, if any. Add 3/4 cup of vermouth (note previous reference to Martini) and a few tablespoons of those small expensive capers to the pan. Deglaze the pan and cook down the vermouth a bit. Pour this sauce over the grouse breasts. Trust me: It will make all that walking up and downhill worthwhile.
I’ve never really figured out what to do with pheasants, so I rely on my betters. When hunting in Montana, we found a Chinese restaurant that would cook our birds for us. That was the best deal in life. They really knew what to do. I guess you’d expect that after a few thousand years of practice with their native bird.
Any favorite gamebird recipes or techniques you’d care to share before the season opens? How on earth do you cook doves? What about other gamebirds?
That’s it until dinnertime. Boots off. Beer open.
- Bruce Buck's blog
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