bird on ice

[long-a-coming]

a co-worker friend of mine was leaving work yesterday afternoon as I was arriving. He handed me a pheasant and took off in his Jeep. He told me he got it early yesterday morning in PA. Now the bird is on ice in my garage. This is a whole bird that still needs to be de-feathered, cleaned etc.
Any suggestions from the hunters or others as to how to prepare it?

 

[Badfish740]

Is it on ice as in the freezer or the refrigerator? I've never frozen an entire bird, but I suppose if you just thaw it out it would be fine. What you want to do is boil some water in a stock pot large enough to fit the entire bird into. This will soften/weaken the feathers and allow the bird to be plucked fairly easily. After that it's off with the head/feet. Gut the bird as you normally would a turkey at Thanksgiving. Prepare any way you like. If it's a farm raised bird it will more than likely taste like the proverbial chicken since they are fed chicken feed-at least all the birds I ever shot on state land did.

 

[long-a-coming]

thanks I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[grendel]

You can pluck it if you want But it is alot work for a small bird. we used to skin them, wrap them in bacon and bake them.The bacon keeps them nice and moist, my brother used to cook at the 1841 house in marlton the bacon was one of his tricks. 80% of the meat is in the breast.A lot of folks just cook the breast,but if it is a good size bird it is worth it to cook it whole.

 

[long-a-coming]

thank you grendel that does sound pretty good.

on another subject does your handle "grendel" have anything to do with the beast from the Beowulf epic.

 

[Lorun]

You may want to wrap the legs with tinfoil. They tend to overcook. Bacon is the way to go. I also stuffed one once and it turned out good.

 

[grendel]

long-a-coming
yes Grendel was one of the bad guys in the epic. I always thought maybe he got a bad rap, after all the Danes were on his turf. Grendel is referred to as a march-stepper, literally meaning a "boundary-land walker," a walker in outlands or desolate places. I liked this aspect of the name best.

 

[MikeBickerson]

Did you ever read the book Grendel? It's from his point of view. Beowulf is a jerk...

 

[Lorun]

I loved that book. For some reason I thought the title was "She". I think the author is Gardner but I am not sure.

 

[LARGO]

Well..............

It's Friday night, you've gotten suggestions, and a book review.
Did you cook it?

G.

 

[RednekF350]

I usually breast out most game birds.
Pluck just enough over the breast to grab some skin and slice and peel exposing the breast.
Use a thin, flexible fillet knife and follow both sides down the keel and off.
Bake the breasts with a slice of bacon over each with a little salt, pepper and a touch of sage.
Mmmmm. Dem's good eatin'.

 

[wis bang]

We always skinned them. Now I would 'filet' the breast same as a turkey, no dealing w/ the internals that way...skinnin' them means you have to get them...It will tend to dry out easy unless you keep it moist

 

[long-a-coming]

I'm cooking the bird Wed night. Thanks for all the great suggestions I learned a lot.