Vera's Recipes

Meats – Poultry

The Sportsman's Cook Book: Wild Turkey, Quail & Woodcock

Meats – Poultry
1 ingredients
Print 3″×5″ card Print 4″×6″ card

Ingredients

  • see individual game-bird recipes in the steps below

Method

  1. ROAST WILD TURKEY — Ingredients: butter; 1 cup finely chopped shallots or scallions; 6 cups fresh bread crumbs; salt; 1 cup finely chopped parsley; 1 cup pistachio nuts or pine nuts; 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 10-pound wild turkey; white wine; 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves; celery leaves; 1 sprig parsley; beurre manie; 1/3 cup sherry or Madeira. Melt 1/4 pound butter in a skillet and saute the shallots until just limp. Combine with the bread crumbs, 2 teaspoons salt, parsley, nuts and pepper; add more melted butter if too dry. Stuff the turkey loosely, fasten the vent and rub well with butter, salt and pepper. Place on a rack in a roasting pan and roast in a 325 degree oven allowing about 22-25 minutes per pound. Baste often with equal parts of melted butter and white wine. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, cook the neck and giblets in 3 cups water with the onion, celery leaves, parsley and 1 teaspoon salt; simmer 1 hour and strain. Skim the fat from the roasting pan, add the strained broth and bring to a boil. Cook down until reduced 1/3. Thicken with beurre manie and correct the seasoning. Add 1/3 cup sherry or Madeira. Serves 4-6.
  2. BROILED QUAIL — Split the birds and broil them quickly, basting with butter or oil or a mixture of both. Do not overcook. The bone side needs a little longer; the breast needs only to be browned delicately. Season and serve.
  3. SAUTEED QUAIL — Split the birds and dust lightly with flour. Saute in butter or oil or a mixture. Cook quickly on the skin side, turn and cook on the bone side; turn again. When nicely browned, reduce the heat and continue cooking until tender, 12-18 minutes depending on size. Salt and pepper to taste and serve on fried toast with the finely chopped giblets sauteed separately in butter.
  4. ROAST QUAIL WITH VINE LEAVES — Ingredients: 12 quail; butter; salt, pepper; juniper berries; 12 slices barding pork, cut very thin; vine leaves; 1 cup white wine; 1 cup seedless grapes; 12 pieces fried toast spread with quail giblets sauteed in butter. Rub the quail with butter, salt and pepper and place juniper berries in the cavities. Wrap each bird with barding pork and then wrap in vine leaves. Secure with twine. Roast on a rack in a shallow pan in a 400 degree oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove the twine and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Cook 5-6 minutes more. Arrange the quail on a hot platter. Skim the fat from the pan juices and add wine and grapes. Cook 4 minutes over a brisk flame. Serve on the giblet toast; pass the sauce separately. Serves 6.
  5. QUAIL WITH SHALLOTS AND MUSHROOMS — Ingredients: 8-10 shallots, peeled and chopped fine; 12 tablespoons butter; 1/2 pound mushrooms, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire; dash of Tabasco; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 6 quail, split and dredged in flour; 1/3 cup cognac; broth if necessary. Saute the shallots in 8 tablespoons butter. Add the mushrooms and cook slowly 25 minutes, stirring. Add the seasonings and cook 5 minutes more. Heat 4 tablespoons butter and the oil in a large skillet and add the garlic. Add the quail and saute until browned on both sides. Flame with cognac and reduce the heat. Add the mushroom-shallot mixture (and a little broth if too dry). Cover and simmer 6-8 minutes. Serve with sliced buttered polenta. Serves 3.
  6. QUAIL WITH JUNIPER BERRIES — Melt 1/4 pound butter in a large skillet. Quickly brown 6 split quail, lightly dredged in flour, on both sides. Add 8-10 crushed juniper berries and reduce the heat. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Flame the birds with 1/3 cup gin and cook gently another 5 minutes, basting with the pan juices. Season with salt and pepper and serve on toast with chopped sauteed giblets. Serves 3.
  7. ROAST WOODCOCK — Cook woodcock without drawing. The head with its long beak is often skinned and the beak skewered through the bird before roasting. Cover the breast with fat back and roast in a 400 degree oven for 15-17 minutes. Baste once or twice with a little red wine and melted butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve on toast without removing the barding pork. Garnish with watercress. Allow 1 or 2 per serving. Variation: Roast the woodcock on pieces of fried toast that are not too well browned; the juices run onto the toast during cooking. Remove the birds and flame them, using 1/4 cup cognac for each woodcock. Or top the toast with a slice of foie gras and then with the woodcock.
  8. PATE DE BECASSE EN CROUTE — Ingredients: 4 woodcock; 6 tablespoons butter; salt, pepper; 1/4 pound chicken livers; woodcock giblets; 1/2 pound fresh pork, ground; 1/4 pound veal, ground; 1/2-3/4 teaspoon thyme; 1/2 teaspoon Spice Parisienne; 3 ounces cognac; 1 large or 2 small truffles, chopped; 8 thin slices ham; about 1 1/2 pounds puff paste; 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons cream. Bone the birds and halve the breasts, then divide each half into two pieces. Keep the leg and thigh meat intact as far as possible. Saute the meat very gently in butter to color it slightly. Season well with salt and pepper. Chop the chicken livers and giblets and season with salt and pepper. Blend with the pork and veal and add the thyme, Spice Parisienne and cognac. Add the chopped truffle. On each slice of ham place a piece of breast meat, some of the ground meat and a bit of leg and thigh meat, then top with a second piece of breast meat. Fold the ham over and roll securely. Roll out the puff paste 1/2-inch thick. Cut 8 large pieces that will encase the ham rolls and fold over them completely. Fold each roll in a piece of paste. Place on a baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg yolk and cream. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes, reduce to 400 degrees and cook 10 minutes more, then reduce to 350 degrees for the rest of the cooking, about 8-15 minutes. The rolls should take about 25-35 minutes in all. Serve hot or cold. Serves 8.

Notes

Two facing pages (225-226) of "The Sportsman's Cook Book" (House & Garden, October 1964) on cooking wild game birds. Several recipes on one clipping.

Original card

The recipe above was transcribed from this scan of Vera’s original card.