Baked Grouse - Rex Hoppie

6 oz box of Long Grain and Wild Rice, Uncle Ben's Original Recipe.
1 Can Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup, or Cream of Mushroom, or Cream of Celery. Campbells, all work equally well. Check them all out to determine your favorite.
1 or 2 Grouse.

Add soup to 6 by 9 1/2 inch baking dish. Add 1 1/2 cups water. Distribute rice evenly over soup. Distribute herb packet over rice (comes with the rice). Mix lightly and arrange Grouse on top and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

This is a brute force easy as pie recipe and in this case casserole is not a bad word. I have tried Campbells Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Garlic and can't recommend using it. I cut the breasts in half with cooking shears before baking but you don't have to.

2-3 grouse breasts, filleted into 4-6 strips.

Dunk in milk and roll in bread crumbs. Maybe even better would be to whip up a batch of Drake's beer batter and roll the strips in the batter.

In the oven, or on a gas grill, put strips in a baking pan (greased or, I use olive oil) and cover with foil.

Cook on Medium heat (300 - 350). Don't over cook.
Serve off the grill. Enjoy.

4 grouse, halved
salt and freshly ground pepper (coarse)
4 Tbsp butter
4 large apples, peeled and diced (3/4 inch)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup Calvados or other apple brandy
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
cinnamon
allspice

Season grouse halves with cinnamon, allspice, salt, pepper.
Melt 2 Tbsp butter on med high and brown grouse halves with a weight, such as a cast iron frying pan, on top of them. (This helps seal in juices/moisture) Fry until done, turning. (sorry no time. I just go by feel) Remove from heat and reserve.

In the same pan, melt remaining 2 Tbsp butter on med high and brown apples. Add brown sugar and 1/4 cup Calvados. Increase heat to high and cook, tossing, another 2 min.

Reduce heat to med high. Add cream and remaining 1/4 cup Calvados. Cook approx. 4 min until sauce coats back of spoon. Spice to taste with cinnamon and allspice.

Ladle sauce over grouse halves.

3 grouse breasted and chopped to 1 inch cubes
1 pound ham steak (use plain ham if you've got it)
1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (uncooked)
2 cups white rice
1 1/2 cups celery
1/2 cup green onion
1 large Green peppar chopped thick
2 large onions diced thin
4 cloves garlic
16 oz can of whole tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock (I like Kitchen Basics if not from scratch)
1 tablespoon bacon fat (or cooking oil)
salt
black peppar
cayenne peppar
tabasco

Add the bacon fat to large stock pot or dutch oven and cook the grouse until golden over a medium-high heat. Salt and Peppar to taste (1 teaspoon cayenne peppar). Make sure not to cook the grouse more than medium-rare or it will be tough later. Remove the grouse from the pot. If the bottom of the pot is watery discard excess liquid. Add ham to the pot and cook until browned on all sides. Remove ham to the same bowl as the grouse. Add the green peppar, onion, celery and garlic to the pot. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes stirring the bottom up to mix in the browned bits, then cover turn to low, and cook for about twenty minutes stirring occasionally. Add the soup stock and reserved tomatoe juice along with the grouse and ham, cover and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally. Crush the garlic cloves against the side of the pan. Add the diced up whole tomatoes, shrimp, rice, green onions and Tabasco (I love Tobasco and use 1/16 of a medium bottle, but most people couple go with about 2-3 tablespoons). Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low and simmer for around 12 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

This one takes while to make, but you don't really have to keep your eye on it closely until you add the rice and shrimp. It's perfect for watching football and drinking beer while you make it. Just make sure to set a timer

My favorite woodcock recipe is to fillet the breast meat, take the two little fillets and fry in oil and season while frying liberally with garlic salt. Don't tell many friends, lots of guys dont like to eat em. I use em for nibbles as the days of taking 5 woodcock are long distant memories. These have to be a little rare and eat em HOT.

Fry up some good thick bacon first, then toss the 'cock' breasts into the bacon grease with a few sliced garlic buds. And you're absolutely right about cooking 'em hot and fast so they're rare inside! Wrap the breasts in the bacon -- Mmmmmmm!

Use plucked woodcock (quantity depends on hunger and number of people to be served). I place a quarter apple in the stomach cavity with two bay leaves between the apple and the bird. Rub the skin with a mixture of salt, pepper, and tarragon (use whatever measures work for you). Brown in an oven proof pan with small amount of clarified butter/olive oil on high...probably no more than two or three minutes but stove temps vary. Place in preheated oven set for broil for maybe three or four minutes (keep it very rare to rare). Remove bird from pan, deglaze with a couple splashes of a cabernet sauvignon (I reduce to 50% - 75%), add a pad of butter for sheen and for smoothness, and a pinch of salt to taste. Plate bird (apple and bay leaves removed) and sauce with serve with whatever sides you like.

Breast out several Woodcock and cut the breasts in thirds. Wrap each piece in half a strip of bacon. Heat up a George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine. (can broil in oven too). Broil til bacon is just getting crispy. Put toothpick in each piece and serve. Broil the delicious little white meat legs too.

2 tablespoons butter (clarified is best)
1 - 2 medium shallots, finely chopped
6 woodcock breast medallions, skinned, washed, and patted dry
3 - 4 ounces brandy
4 - 5 tablespoons of heavy cream
3 - 5 dashes of worchestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

-Heat butter in heavy skillet. Saute shallots in the butter on low heat and discard the shallots while keeping the now flavored butter.
-Sear breasts in the same pan, medium to high heat, for 80-90 seconds on the first side and 35-45 second on the second, remove from skillet, and set aside.
-Deglaze the pan with the brandy, flame, add the cream, season with salt and pepper. Reduce to desired consistency, I usually go to 50%.
-Place breasts back in the sauce to rewarm for a minute or two at most and plate.
Some times I'll add it 8 ozs. or so of thinly sliced, butter sauted mushrooms if I have them around at the time. I like to serve this over wild rice with asparagus dolloped with bernaise sauce.
Serves - One to Two

per pound of woodcock (10-12 breasts)
1 lb butter
2 garlic cloves
1 tsb pepper
2 tbsp whisky

Melt butter, add garlic (crushed), add pepper.
Cook breasts until pink inside and throw all in the blender.
whip it up and put in ramakins to cool. Eat or freeze within 24 hrs.

My favorite thing to do is as little as possible. I pluck all of mine because keeping the fat is so important in making them succulent and tasty, and cook 'em whole or split because bones make 'em more succulent, too. I season with salt and pepper and either roast very hot for 5-7 minutes in an oven or on the grill, or, my new favorite way, slow roast at 250 for 20 minutes or so (just prick or cut to see if they're done). Done is a matter of taste, of course. I like 'em rare or, at the very most, medium rare. Slow roasting is great because it's almost impossible to overcook 'em. Then I like to make a sauce, particularly port wine sauce made with port, butter, currant jelly, salt and pepper. I like the legs best.

My favorite of all the birds that I've eaten, including grouse!

(You can sub any game bird, keep skin on, don't overcook.)
1 cup kosher or 1/2 cup table salt
2 Cornish hens, (each less than 1 1/2 pounds if possible), trimmed of extra fat, giblets removed, rinsed well
1 yellow onion - rough choped
1 bulb garlic – peel cloves
1 red bell pepper – rough chopped
2 large potatoes – chop in to “jo-jo” size pieces
some mixed vegetables
1⁄4 to 1⁄2 cup olive oil
1⁄2 to 1 cup chicken broth
1⁄4 cup flour
2 tbl spoons of butter.

1. Dissolve salt in 2.5 quarts cold water in small clean bucket or large bowl (you can add additional spices or different liquids to add flavors just becareful of the sugar content). Split and add hens’ breast side down; refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Remove, rinse thoroughly, and pat dry.
2. Adjust oven rack to an upper position and heat oven to 500 degrees
3. Add oil and seasoning (to taste I use Lowry’s, black pepper and garlic salt) to a plastic bag. Lightly coat birds and onion, garlic, potato’s vegetables in oil in the plastic bag. Spread meat and veggies across a large broiler or roasting pan. This should not be more then one layer deep use more then one pan if needed.
4. Put pan(s) in oven and turn oven down to 450*.
5. In a small bowl “nuke” butter until melted. Add flour and mix to a paste, this should be thicker then peanut butter add butter or flour as needed.
6. Roast until birds are brown registers 160 degrees or so, for the full kick of the gravy the veggies need to be cooked almost to mush. The potatoes and onions will probably be the only thing edible from the veggies and some of the veggies will be burned to the bottom of the pan. This will probably take about 45 minutes. Remove birds from oven and transfer birds and veg to a large serving plate and loosely cover with foil.
7. Set roasting pan over 1 or 2 burners set to medium. Add chicken broth and “deglaze” (cook off all of the stuff stuck to the pan) the pan. Once you have the pan is deglazed add flour mixture to thicken. Just do this a little at a time thicken to taste. Once thick add gravy to bowl and you are ready to go. Serves 4

de-boned pheasant breasts and thighs
Old Bay seasoning
flour
butter
olive oil
good French creme de cassis (black currant liqueur)
chablis or sauvignon blanc

Cut the breasts into strips about 1" wide, the thighs into 1" chunks.
Mix about 1 part Old Bay seasoning to 3 parts flour and dredge the pheasant pieces thoroughly.
Put a walloping dose of butter and olive oil in a pan over high heat. Brown the pheasant pieces quickly (only a few minutes). Put the thigh pieces in first, as they take a bit longer to cook.

When meat is lightly browned, turn the heat low.

Pour creme de cassis generously over the meat, to mix with the oil/butter. Simmer, turning the meat to glaze it with the mixture. The meat should not be overcooked! I prefer it on the rare side, with the center of the meat still slightly pink. Cut through a piece to check as it simmers.

Remove meat from the pan, pour in white wine to deglaze pan and mix with cassis and oil/butter to form a sauce. Use the sauce over white rice as a side dish. Serve with green vegetables and what's left of the wine.

Too many pheasant recipes call for marinating or stewing it to death, and folks complain about the meat being 'dry'. IMHO, game birds should always be cooked hot and fast to seal in moisture and preserve flavor. You'll find this recipe is quick (less than 15 minutes) and results in a tender, moist and delicious treat!

1⁄4 Cup Brandy
3⁄4 Cup Red Wine
2 Pheasants – cut into serving size pieces
Flour
Olive oil
1⁄4 tbsp Marjoram
1⁄4 tbsp Rosemary
1⁄4 tbsp Basil
2 tbsp butter
1⁄2 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp granulated beef broth
1⁄2 lb baby bella mushrooms – sliced
1 small onion - sliced

Clean pheasant – brown in large heavy skillet by dredging pheasant pieces in flour and browning in hot olive oil (or butter if preferred.) Once all pieces have been browned and remain in skillet – remove from heat, pour warm brandy over pheasant pieces and flame by igniting. Set aside.
In sauté pan – sauté onions and mushrooms in olive oil. Add to pheasant.

In separate medium size sauce pan – make a red wine roux. Melt butter – stir in flour until milky – DO NOT BURN. Add Marjoram, Rosemary, Basil, Chicken stock, granulated beef broth and red wine. Bring roux to a boil. Once it has boiled to desired consistency, pour over pheasant.
Cover the skillet with pheasant and sauce leaving a slight crack for ventilation. Cook for roughly two hours on stove top over low heat – or until fork tender.

Birds: 4-6 depending on size, eg, 4 doves, 6 woodcock.
Should be plucked as the crispy skin is the best part
Marinade: 3 tbsp. real soy sauce, (Kikkoman is good)
1tsp salt, 1/2 tsp. grnd black pepper
1tsp. minced fresh ginger
2tbsp red wine, or scotch or rum, or whatever
1/2 tsp of Chinese 5 spice powder (*)
Glazing mixture: 3tbsp honey
3 tbsp vinegar
2 oz. boiling water

Mix vinegar and honey together and then pour in boiling water to integrate. Reserve.

Mix all marinade ingredients together, add birds and marinade 3-4 hours or overnight.
Remove the birds from the marinade, put them in a collander and pour a cup or two of boiling water over them to tighten the skin. Drain and let air dry (half hour), then brush with honey mixture. Air dry again (you can use a hair blower for drying). Preheat deep fryer to 350 degrees and fry birds till the skin is golden brown.

Check for doneness, don't over cook, and serve with any stirfried veggies, bed of lettuce, saute'd mushrooms, rice, etc.
5 spice powder is highly redolent of licorice or star anise which is one of the 5 constituents. You can purchase 5 spice powder at any good spice shop or Asian store. Remember, a little goes a long way.

Serve with wild rice casserole, green salad and dry white wine
4-5 whole pheasant breast, halved, skinned and boned
1 cup flour
2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
butter
shortning
1 cup cream (half and half)
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sherry
salt/pepper

In a paper bag coat pieces with flour, salt, pepper and paprika mixture. In a large, heavy skillet brown in equal portions of butter and shortening. Place in shallow baking dish. Add cream and sour cream to drippings in skillet bring to a boil to form a slightly thickened gravy, add sherry, salt and pepper to tast; pour over pheasant. Bake covered in slow moderate oven (300 - 325) for 1 1/2 - 2 hours; remove cover towards the end of the cooking period.

(Wonderful!) De-bone the pheasant. Grind in food processor or blender, removing any tendons that come to the surface. You can than mix in an egg and bread or cracker crumbs, but I usually don't. Make into patties (they will be very, very soft). Dip in flour, than in beaten egg and last in crackers crumbs. Fry in butter. Serve with either a bernaise sauce or a light mustard sauce. I usually make a mustard sauce. You can use a bernaise type base with mustard or yogurt or sour cream mixed with a little lemon juice and mustard. An apricot jam and mustard mix go well also.

Pre made Pie crust (top and bottom)
Butter
1 3/4 cup cooked pheasant
1 bag of frozen stew veggies
1 pkg of chicken gravy
1 cup of frozen peas (optional)

Cook pheasant in skillet with olive oil until almost fully cooked. Set aside when cooked.

Cook stew veggies as directed on package. I use the microwave method. If you are adding peas - cook as directed. Set veggies aside.

Prepare chicken gravy as directed in saucepan. Simmer while adding veggies and pheasant to the gravy.

In 9 inch pie plate - rub butter on pie plate prior to forming the crust. Fill crust with pheasant and veggie mixture that is in the gravy. As directed - top with second pie crust. Cover edge of pie crust with foil (you may want to consult the war department on the art of working with a pie crust.)
Put pie in preheated 350* oven until 1) top of pie starts to brown 2) gravy begins to bubble out of slits in top pie crust. Roughly 30 min.

Cut Pheasant in pieces for serving.
Roll in seasoned (S&P) flour ; sauté in butter till well browned.
Slice onions, saute' in butter too.
Put everything in a covered roasting dish/pot/pan.
On the stove:
Add 1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer covered until tender (1/2 - 3/4 hr) add milk if necessary - and turn occasionally.

Or bake:
Add 1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper to taste, placed covered in Moderate (350 oF ) oven for 1/2 hr. Serve with gravy made from cream in pan.
I think we served this over egg noodles. It's a nice change from hot dish dontcha know.
With any luck, I'll be providing the ingredients for this dish yet again over the next Christmans holiday. Boner appetite'!

Breast out the chukar, and pound the breasts out with a kitchen mallet. Dredge the pounded breasts in seasoned flour, pepper, season salt, garlic, whatever else you like. (save the rest of the chukar to render down for soup stock later).

In a pan, heat olive oil, and some butter. Brown up the chukar. Mean while, dice up some onion, mix the diced onion with mushrooms in a measuring cup or bowl, add a few dashes of worchester sauce to the onions and mushrooms.

After the chukar is brown on both sides, add the mushrooms and onions, then pour in as much marsala wine as you would like. Turn the heat back, cover, and allow to cook until the wine and olive oil (used to brown the chukar) has rendered it's self into a thicker sauce, and the chukar are completely cooked.
Enjoy with garlic bread, veggies, and buttered red potatoes on the side and a chilled glass of the white wine.

Take a McCormick's chicken bag, 1 can of golden mushroom soup, 1 can of water, and 2-4 cups of potatoes (sliced thin).
Mix the water and soup, season the chukars with season salt and poor everything in the bag including the potatoes. Follow instructions on the bag. This is "dinner in a bag".

(Chukar, quail, ducks, and dove.)
Onions, jalapenos, bacon, season salt, toothpicks, Zesty Italian salad dressing, aluminum foil, and a disposable aluminum-baking dish.

Stuff pieces of onions in the breast cavity. Slice in half and remove seeds from jalapenos. Place a jalapenos slice on each side of breast. Wrap with bacon and secure with toothpick. Add season salt. Place in aluminum dish. Poor salad dressing over birds until you have 1/4 - 1/2 inch in bottom of pan. Place on grill for 1-1 1/2 hours and cook with in-direct heat.

I usually smoke mine with hickory chips on a Webber grill for about 20-30 min then cover with foil. I’ve even cooked this way in the oven - 350 for about an hour.
The juice in the bottom goes great over wild rice or Spanish rice.

Chukars don't need a lot of spices or marinades. Just get about a 10 inch fry pan, iron preferably, preheat it on medium heat for about 15 minutes, melt about 2 tablespoons of real butter in the pan, get some all purpose flour, put it in a plastic bag along with some salt and pepper, filet the chukar breasts and cut the legs off at the hip and shake them in the bag of flour. For one chukar brown on both sides for 3 minutes then turn the heat down to low and put a top on and steam for about 10 minutes per side for young tender birds and about 15 to 20 minutes per side for older tougher birds. Oh and be sure to stand over the pan when you take the lid off so you can get a good whiff of the most savory bird on the planet. Or maybe they just seem like it because they are so hard to come by!

Mix 1/4 soy sauce and 1/4 heinz 57 steak sauce and 1/2 beer, enough liquid to cover dove breast in a plastic bag. Marinate in fridge 12 to 24 hours.
Then place a chunk of onion in the rib cavity of each breast, wrap breast with roasted/skinless green chile, then wrap with slice of raw bacon, secure in place with tooth pick.

Cook on grill, don't overcook and dry out breast.

A recent modification to this is I am no longer mixing soy and heinz but still marinate in beer. Green chile is replaced with fresh jalepeno cut in 1/2 that is place on the meat side of the breast, sort of a cap on the meat. If you dont want it to be hot, scrape out the vein that the seeds are attached to on the inside of the jalepeno. I am now cooking this version in a smoker with oak and pecan wood, I dont like hickory myself but use your favorite. I think this reciepe is fast becoming my favorite.