|
Favorite Woodcock Recipes:
Woodcock Almandine
Ingredients:
6 woodcock split down back
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup white table wine
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
Directions:
Dust birds in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a heavy skillet or electric frying pan and sauté birds until nicely browned. Add wine and lemon juice. Cover and continue cooking slowly for 15-20 minutes. Add almonds and cook for 5-10 minutes longer or until birds are fork tender. (Allow 2 woodcock per serving.)
Woodcock in wine
Ingredients:
4 woodcocks
1 small cup of butter
2 onions
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 small cup of red wine
4-5 ripe tomatoes
salt and pepper
3-4 slices of bread
extra butter for frying the bread
Directions:
Prepare the woodcocks, salt and pepper them, and secure the beaks between two legs (this is the most impressive presentation). Melt half the butter in a pan and when hot, fry the woodcocks. Remove from the pan and place in a saucepan. To the butter in the frying pan, add the finely chopped onion and sauté.
Next, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until golden. Add the wine; when it comes to a boil remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents into the saucepan containing the woodcocks. Add half a cup of water, return the saucepan to the cooker and simmer for another half hour. Finely chop the livers and sauté in the remaining butter. Add crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook the sauce for 20 minutes. Pour the sauce into the saucepan and allow the dish to cook a few more minutes.
Serve the woodcocks on a platter, garnished with bite-sized pieces of bread that have been fried in butter, and pour the sauce over.
Roast Woodcock - Method 1
Ingredients:
1 Woodcock
Fat bacon
3 slices White bread; crusts removed
1/2 oz Foie gras
S&p
1 pinch Grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon Cognac or Armagnac
8 Grapes; peeled, seeded
Directions:
Pluck the woodcock but do not gut it. Truss it, bard it with fat bacon, and spit-roast it over or next to a hot fire for 18-20 min. Remove the entrails and discard all but the intestines.
Meanwhile, fry the bread in the dripping pan or else separately in butter.
Mince the intestines with foie gras and season this with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and brandy. Spread 2 of the slices of bread, halved, with this mixture and sprinkle a little more pepper over. Gratiner this in a very hot oven for a few minutes.
Serve the woodcock atop the third piece of fried bread, with the 4 half-slices of bread around. Garnish with grapes and serve.
Roast Woodcock - Method 2
Ingredients:
4 Woodcock
Salt; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper; to taste
4 tablespoons Butter
4 pinches Dried marjoram or thyme; (generous pinches)
4 slices Bacon
Directions:
Sprinkle birds inside and out with salt and pepper. Put 1 tablespoon butter with 1 pinch of herb in each cavity. Wrap each breast with bacon and tie it on. Put on a rack in a roaster and roast at 400 degrees, basting frequently with melted butter, until tender. If they are plump birds, it should take 20 to 25 minutes.
Braised Woodcock
Ingredients:
4 Woodcock
Salt and pepper
4 slices Bacon
1/4 c Butter; melted
1 tablespoon Parsley; chopped
4 slices Toast; buttered
Directions:
Sprinkle woodcocks inside and out with salt and pepper. Wrap each with a slice of bacon and fasten with string or a wooden pick. Place woodcocks in broiler pan about 6 inches from heat. Broil 8 to 10 minutes on each side, or until tender, basting frequently with butter. Remove string or wooden pick. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve on buttered toast.
Canadian Pimiento Woodcock
Ingredients
6 Woodcock; quartered
1/4 cup Flour; seasoned
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Freshly-ground black pepper
1/2 cup Cooking oil 6 small Onions; peeled, whole
2 Garlic cloves; mashed
1/8 teaspoon Ground saffron
3 medium Green peppers; seeded, and cut into strips
1/2 cup Sherry
3 Pimientos; minced
2 cups Chicken stock
Dredge birds with seasoned flour. Heat oil, add onions, garlic, and birds, and cook, turning often, to brown evenly. Put in a deep casserole, and add saffron, green peppers, sherry, pimientos, and stock. Cover and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
New England Baked Woodcock
Ingredients
6 Woodcock; split
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Flour
3 tablespoons Sweet butter
1 cup Fine dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Freshly-ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1 cup Sour cream
Dip birds into milk, then roll in flour. Melt butter and brown birds in it. Remove birds, dip again into milk, then dredge with bread crumbs. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika, and place in a casserole. Add sour cream and cover dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until tender.
Stuffed woodcock
Ingredients:
2 woodcocks, cleaned and wiped dry
Salt and pepper
2 slices bacon
3/4 cup crushed potato chips
Dressing:
2 T butter
2 T chopped onion
2 T celery
2/3 c fresh chopped mushrooms
1/4 c chopped toasted almonds
1/8 T salt
1/8 T pepper
2 t lemon juice
Directions:
Sauté onion, celery and mushrooms in butter. Add lemon juice and almonds, and salt and pepper. Stuff cavities of birds with dressing.
Salt and pepper the birds, roll in 1/4 cup melted butter, then, in the crushed potato chips. Place in a shallow baking dish, covering with bacon. Bake at 350 degrees F. for one hour or until fork tender. Garnish with paprika and a few toasted almond slices
Woodcock Stew
Prepare the breasts by dusting them with flour and your favorite spices (I used a 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, rosemary, thyme, garlic powder, minced onion, chile powder, and just a pinch of cayanne (sp?) pepper). Let them sit over night.
Put 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet and let it get good and hot. Slap down the breasts and let them cook just long enough to sear the outside (let them get a little brown, but you don't want them to cook through).
Take out the breasts and set them aside for a minute. While the pan is still hot, add one onion rough-cut, and two cloves of chopped garlic. Add just a pinch of brown sugar to help them caramelize. As the onions turn brown, add in one 12oz bottle of Guinness EXTRA Stout. Reduce the heat and let this simmer for about 5 minutes.
Take your seared breasts and cut them into 1/2" to 1" cubes. Put them in a crock-pot and pour the Guinness/Onion mixture on top of them. Add at least 12oz of beef broth and two bay leaves. Let cook on low for 8-10 hours.
At this point, I throw in some big chunked up veggies: Carrots, potatoes, turnips and parsnips. You may have to add more liquid to cover them (equal parts beer & broth). If you like firmer veggies, wait to add them until the last 1-2 hours of cooking.
If you want a thicker stew, try adding a roux (sp): equal parts flour and butter, melted in a saucepan until it takes on a nutty smell. Add one or two tablespoons towards the end of your cooking.
Woodcock Legs Sautéed in Garlic Butter
12 Woodcock legs
1 cl Garlic, pressed
2 tb Butter
1 tb Oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Melt butter and oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet and sauté garlic for one minute, stirring so it won't scorch. Add woodcock legs and cook two to three minutes on each side, turning once to brown evenly. Don't cook for much more than five or six minutes in all.