GLS
Classic Southern Gentleman
I cooked woodcock this afternoon in the traditional method in accordance with Scott Rea's video instructions.
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It's labor intensive and produces good results. I believe alternative methods such as sauteeing the breast medallions and intact thighs and legs for a 1.5 minutes per side is easier and results in medium rare meat which is best. I also vertically roast intact, plucked birds minus guts at high heat for 6-8 minutes with nothing more than olive oil, salt and pepper applied to the skin side. Both techniques are described more fully below. A word about the traditional method: guts are left inside. It sounds rough, but consider this: Ever smell the insides of a gutted quail? Pretty bad regardless of how fresh. Woodcock have no smell when gutted. Maybe it's because nothing stays in the intestines for any length of time. Anyhow, the only complaint I had was the gravy was gritty. The gizard is not utilized, but perhaps sand is passed through the digestive tract and that's where I picked it up. The brain? Okay, not anything to write further about. The flavor of the meat was very good and the gravy not overpowering. I may do it again in the future, but I've done it once and don't see the immediate need to do it again.
As mentioned earlier, I cook them two ways. First way is a plucked and gutted bird coated with olive oil, salt and pepper. I have a small 4 bird vertical roaster made from a coathanger. With birds in place, I roast them at high heat 400-500 degrees in the oven or on my grill used to bake, not broil, at high heat. About 7 minutes is all it takes. Rare to medium rare as depicted. If well done, you might as well serve liver on a stick. I smothered them with chanterelles I picked in the summer. I saute them in butter/olive oil and freeze in vacuum bags for winter use. Note the chunky legs and thighs.
From Steve Bodio on cooking woodcock:
"Also notice the color of the cut flesh. Like all good Woodcock (and snipe) cooks, he
sort of passes them through a very hot oven. I get tired of hearing how dark- fleshed birds “taste like liver”- good LIVER doesn’t taste like liver when it is cooked rare, turned over quickly in hot bacon fat and butter. My disgusted French- born gourmand friend Guy de la Valdene, after he read an American recipe for woodcock that involved two cans of cream of mushroom soup and an hour and a half in the oven, wrote (in Making Game in 1990): “As this recipe negates the whole reason for killing the birds in the first place, why not take it a step further and poach the Woodcock overnight in equal parts of catsup, pabulum, and Pepto- Bismol.”
The other way I do them is to breast the bird and filet the meat off the bone into medallions. I remove the intact thigh and drumstick from the back bone. My shooting partner Floyd's favorite part is the drumstick thigh meat. They are excellent with plenty of meat. Don't just breast the bird and throwaway the legs and thighs. In a medium hot skillet, with olive oil and butter hot, I dredge the meat on each side in the hot oil/butter mix and saute the meat and salt and pepper in the pan. I don't see the need to coat with batter, etc. A minute and a half on each side is all that is needed to cook the meat medium rare. If a little on the rare side, it won't kill you. It's a great tasting bird and worth pursuing for sport and the table. Gil
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It's labor intensive and produces good results. I believe alternative methods such as sauteeing the breast medallions and intact thighs and legs for a 1.5 minutes per side is easier and results in medium rare meat which is best. I also vertically roast intact, plucked birds minus guts at high heat for 6-8 minutes with nothing more than olive oil, salt and pepper applied to the skin side. Both techniques are described more fully below. A word about the traditional method: guts are left inside. It sounds rough, but consider this: Ever smell the insides of a gutted quail? Pretty bad regardless of how fresh. Woodcock have no smell when gutted. Maybe it's because nothing stays in the intestines for any length of time. Anyhow, the only complaint I had was the gravy was gritty. The gizard is not utilized, but perhaps sand is passed through the digestive tract and that's where I picked it up. The brain? Okay, not anything to write further about. The flavor of the meat was very good and the gravy not overpowering. I may do it again in the future, but I've done it once and don't see the immediate need to do it again.
As mentioned earlier, I cook them two ways. First way is a plucked and gutted bird coated with olive oil, salt and pepper. I have a small 4 bird vertical roaster made from a coathanger. With birds in place, I roast them at high heat 400-500 degrees in the oven or on my grill used to bake, not broil, at high heat. About 7 minutes is all it takes. Rare to medium rare as depicted. If well done, you might as well serve liver on a stick. I smothered them with chanterelles I picked in the summer. I saute them in butter/olive oil and freeze in vacuum bags for winter use. Note the chunky legs and thighs.
From Steve Bodio on cooking woodcock:
"Also notice the color of the cut flesh. Like all good Woodcock (and snipe) cooks, he
sort of passes them through a very hot oven. I get tired of hearing how dark- fleshed birds “taste like liver”- good LIVER doesn’t taste like liver when it is cooked rare, turned over quickly in hot bacon fat and butter. My disgusted French- born gourmand friend Guy de la Valdene, after he read an American recipe for woodcock that involved two cans of cream of mushroom soup and an hour and a half in the oven, wrote (in Making Game in 1990): “As this recipe negates the whole reason for killing the birds in the first place, why not take it a step further and poach the Woodcock overnight in equal parts of catsup, pabulum, and Pepto- Bismol.”
The other way I do them is to breast the bird and filet the meat off the bone into medallions. I remove the intact thigh and drumstick from the back bone. My shooting partner Floyd's favorite part is the drumstick thigh meat. They are excellent with plenty of meat. Don't just breast the bird and throwaway the legs and thighs. In a medium hot skillet, with olive oil and butter hot, I dredge the meat on each side in the hot oil/butter mix and saute the meat and salt and pepper in the pan. I don't see the need to coat with batter, etc. A minute and a half on each side is all that is needed to cook the meat medium rare. If a little on the rare side, it won't kill you. It's a great tasting bird and worth pursuing for sport and the table. Gil
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