Upland Game Bird Recipes
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Pheasant, snipe, quail, wild turkey, partridge, grouse. These are the chicken of wild game birds. Pheasants being the semi-wild cousins of chickens, and quail, partridges and chukars all being accessible from a taste standpoint. The notable exception is the ruffed grouse, which has a strong flavor that, in my mind, makes it far superior to pheasant or quail, which can be bland.
To those of you who do not hunt, pheasants and quail are easily obtainable; our local high-end supermarket has them all the time. They will have even less of a wild flavor than their country cousins, but they are still a fair piece better than your average chicken. And yes, chicken can be subbed in for any pheasant dish.
One thing all these birds have in common is that they should not be served rare and they can all dry out in a heartbeat. Fun, huh? Makes them more of a challenge. You do, however, want a blush of pink on them, like a good-quality pork loin. If you know what you are doing they are great roasted or grilled, but do not walk away or they will dry out. Pheasants are especially good poached, whether in butter or broth.
Quail are delicate little birds best served whole but partially deboned. I intend to post a step-by-step tutorial on deboning birds soon. Believe me, it’s not real easy.
All these birds make superior stock, and the legs, thighs and wings of all are excellent made into confit.
NOTE: Most of these recipes are interchangeable, i.e., if you like a pheasant recipe but have partridges or sharptail grouse or wild turkey or a domestic chicken, it’ll work.
Jump to: PHEASANTS | PARTRIDGES | TURKEY | GROUSE | SNIPE & WOODCOCK | QUAIL
BASICS
- How to Pluck a Pheasant
- On Hanging and Aging Pheasants and Other Game Birds
- How to Break Down a Game Bird, cutting it into serving pieces
- The Relationship Between Wild Game Fat and Flavor
- Substituting Domestic Meat for Wild Game
- Using Bird’s Necks for Sausages
- Making confit with pheasants, grouse, partridges or quail
- Wild Game Dirty Rice, made with gizzards and livers from any game bird
PHEASANTS
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Whole Birds
- Simple Roast Pheasant
- Glazed Roast Pheasant, basted with prickly pear syrup, maple syrup or honey
- Beer Can Pheasant, done with a Red Bull can on the grill
- Pheasant and Dumplings, a wild take on the classic chicken and dumplings
Breasts
- Classic Pheasant Piccata, with capers and lemon
- Chinese Dong’an Pheasant, a signature dish of Hunan Province
- Kung Pao Pheasant, a classic recipe from Sichuan in China
- Circassian Pheasant or Chicken, a cold pheasant salad with paprika and walnuts (hosted on Simply Recipes)
- A cooling summertime Pheasant Salad with Fennel
- Poached Pheasant, with spring flavors and wild mushrooms
- Pan-Roasted Pheasant Breasts with Pomegranate Sauce
- Pheasant with Parsley Sauce
Stews and Braises
- Pheasant with Mushrooms, Brandy and Cream
- Classic, Retro Saturday Pheasant (or Chicken)
- Pheasant Cacciatore, or Hunter’s Style
- A French Version of Pheasant Cacciatore, from Chartreuse
- African Pheasant Peanut Stew (hosted on Simply Recipes)
- Braised Pheasant, Turkey or Chukar legs, French style with verjus and mushrooms
- A Rustic Pheasant and Pork Pie
- Greek Pheasant Spaghetti, with a sweet-sour-savory sauce
- Matt Wright’s Pheasant Pasties
- Fiona’s Pheasant Pot Roast, Gypsy Style
Other Pheasant Recipes
- Fresh Pheasant Sausages with herbs and garlic
PARTRIDGES (CHUKAR, HUNS, ETC)
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
- Classic Spanish Pheasant or Partridge Escabeche
- Roast Chukar or Hungarian Partridge, brined with an apple brandy sauce
- Partridges Baked in Salt
- Hungarian Partridges Montana, with spaetzle and a sweet-sour sauce
WILD or DOMESTIC TURKEY
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
- Wild Turkey Carnitas
- Wild Turkey Risotto, with sage and pecorino cheese
- Classic Marsala, with Wild Turkey or Pheasant cutlets
- Wild Turkey Liver Creme Caramel
- Turkey Broth, for either wild or domestic birds
GROUSE
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
- Roasted Ruffed Grouse
- Ruffed Grouse Northwoods, with wild mushrooms and cranberry sauce
- Roast Sharp-tailed Grouse, with a berry or rose hip glaze
- Poached Sharp-tailed Grouse, with the flavors of the Great Plains
- Grouse Risotto, made with giblets and tenders
- Grouse Soup with Acorns, Wild Rice and Porcini Mushrooms
- Nordic Grouse Soup, with rye, root veggies, peas and smoked salt
SNIPE and WOODCOCK
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
- Classic Roast Woodcock
- Woodcock Michigan, with a crabapple-red wine vinegar sauce
- Snipe Breasts Gilded Age
- Basic Roast Snipe
QUAIL
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
- Simple Roast Quail
- Grilled Quail, stuffed with fennel and wrapped in grape leaves
- Braised Quail with Mushrooms, from my friend Casey at Good Food Stories
