Woodcock in the kitchen - Preparing & Recipes

johnk123

I was doing some searching, and while I have found many great tips for preparing game here on boards, it's often hard to remember where everything is. I've taken to jotting down any pointers lads post up about recipes etc, but wanted to start a thread about woodcock.

I have 4 myself that I shot on Sunday and wanted to hear your tips and tricks.


For Preparing the bird, my standard would usually be:

1. Remove wings with a sharp knife in tight to the body.
2. Pluck carefully to not rip skin.
3. With a small cut down the bottom, I 'draw' the bird and give it a wipe down.
4. If you've managed to keep the head intact, I take the beak and thread it through the two legs. You may need to split the tissue with a knife. Someone showed me this once and said they had seen it done in Wales and had done it since. If you've lost the head, or don't want it, a bit of string would work.

Do you guys gut before you leave them for a few days, or not? I have heard people doing both.

I'd also love to hear from people about freezing woodcock? Whole birds, or do you prepare and then freeze?

As for cooking, what are your favorite recipes??

My mother has a few ancient old cookbooks with various recipes that I'll post when I have it in my hands tonight.

I'd love to hear what everyone else does. I always search boards for recipes, and I know that the ones I've noted down and tried have been tasty, but I know theres more that I can't find and don't appear directly in a search! Maybe we could put a few woodcock ones here for a start?

fiestaman

Most of the time i just take the crown off. Rub butter & salt and black pepper on the breasts and cover with streaky bacon. Roast in the oven and then cut a thick slice of bread loaf and toast it. Put butter on that and place crown on top. Might have a little bit of cranberry jam or marmalade on the side & have a little bit with each bite.

Ive also used cookiemonsters reciepe for ducks, the long slow low heat poaching in gravy and added the woodcock breast with them and they were nice. I put them all into pies then after that cooking process.

I hang all game for about 3days with innards in.

sniper83

I used to always pluck and gut mine before this year, now i just pluck the breast and legs and take them off way quicker job if ya have a lot of them to do..
Season them with plenty of black pepper and some salt, i pan fry them with garlic and onions for a minute each side on a high heat and then into the oven for about 7-8 minutes again on high heat. If i have a drop of red wine il put that with them into the oven too..
Like all game trick is not to over cook it !;)

cookimonster

If your hanging birds never gut prior, this will encourage spoilage. Most game birds really don't require more than a few days hanging to promote tenderness anything after that will just add to the gamey flavour. I hang mine for a day or so, prep and then cook or vacuum pack for the freezer, this processing / storage time adds to the flavour development.

The only birds I freeze complete with feathers are those for decoys or birds of prey. Not saying you can't do so for human consumption but I would be wary for various reasons.

Domestic freezers are not designed to freeze more so maintain frozen food. So you are now slowly freezing something that is insulated in feathers and contains a decaying, bacterial brooding mass.
The opposite is true for the thawing stage, remembering that cold induces bacteria to become dormant not extinct, hence you may have ticking biological time bomb on your hands (or plate) if not handled carefully and properly defrosted.

The traditional way of cooking them is to leave them un-gutted and trussed with beak as you said, roasted, served whole and the diner consumes the meat and intestine with equal relish, once done it was not something I wished to repeat. Even this practice is being scrutinized by the boffens as to its level of safety.

Just on a personal note my favorite bird this season was snipe, which I quickly roasted whole simply seasoned and ate just as quick, minus the entrails. I find them sweet and very tasty.

johnk123

Thanks cookie monster! I would usually hang my woodcock for a day or so too. All they need really. I'll take them in tomorrow evening and tidy them up. I think I'll roast these 4, so will leave them whole, but thanks to sniper83 for that picture, they look delicious! Making me hungry!!

Does anyone have any recommendations for roasting? I usually follow the recipes given in an old Aga cookbook. The old Aga books are great for game recipes.

I actually had 2 snipe today cookiemonster! They were delicious! I shot them on Saturday and they weer so so tasty. Literally just had them very basic with a few simple sides.

Most people on boards are very good at using the game they shoot and hopefully anyone here that is daunted by the task will be reassured that it's nowhere near as tricky as you think to prepare the birds. I think we owe it to the birds to use them