Wild game!

[Sweaty Paul]

Hey it's hunting season. I've been bird hunting and am always looking for something new to do with pheasants. Looking for any recipes. Thought that given it's hunting season posting ideas/recipes about cooking wild game would be appropriate.

Sweaty Paul

[Jerod Broussard]

I guess we need a wild game sub-forum.

Never had any pheasant.

I'd cook that sucker like everything else. Hang it in my Pit Barrel.

I put this one with the turkey and chicken and duck since they all got wings, then Huskee pointed me to the Wild Game. I'm used to being in bed by 8 pm CST, forgive me.

[Huskee]

I guess we need a wild game sub-forum.

You mean this? http://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/for...gram/wild-game

[MrSkimo]

I'd like to see some pheasant recipes too if anyone has them. I went to SD this fall and have quite a few whole birds in the freezer.

[Sweaty Paul]

Mr. Skimo wil be trying some next weekend and will keep you apprised. Sweaty

[godric]

We had pheasant for both Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners this time around (storebought, unfortunately -- my hunting buddy was laid up this season), and I pretty much followed Meathead's Ultimate Turkey recipe, elsewhere on this site. There were two differences between the meals: for Thanksgiving I cooked the birds intact on my own charcoal grill, and at Christmas I spatchcocked the birds and cooked them on a gas grill with which I'm not very familiar. In both cases I applied liberal quantities of Simon and Garfunkel rub with some olive oil to release the flavors in the herbs and help the skin crisp up a bit, then sprinkled on a bit of Tajin (lime/red pepper combo, powdered) and some garlic salt. The spices percolated in the fridge for a few hours, then the birds were cooked on indirect heat at about 325 degrees until the inner temperature hit about 160 degrees and the outside was crisp and golden brown. A bit of quick carving with the trusty Rapala knife, then the carcasses went into the soup pot and the meat went onto the serving tray from which it promptly disappeared.

Soup the next day was also magnificent, with pheasant stock and shredded meat and wild rice, carrots and onions and celery, and whatever magic spices our resident soup wizard brought to bear. It didn't last very long either .

I should note that cooking the birds on the grill was viewed with considerable skepticism, since the traditional family approach is to cook the birds in a roasting pan, slathered in wine with chunks of onion, covered with strips of bacon and stuffed with wild rice, then the top and bottom of the pan are sealed together with a flour dough to trap the moisture. It tastes fine that way, but I prefer both the flavor and the presentation of the grilled bird, and I've never had a problem with it not being moist enough.