What to do with Woodcock?!

If you've got the patience, boned out and stuffed with a nice strip of black pudding and some venison sausage is my personal favourite. With a gravy made from the carcasses.
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Or if you've got a glut, breasts off and put aside.
Carcasses roasted well, pick off some of the meat for sandwiches if you like, chuck all into big stock pot with root veg, simmer for 3 hours, strain and add some red wine and reduce to a thick, thick! Gravy.

Pan fry the breasts with whatever other game you've got on the go or by themselves.

Line a loaf tin with bacon, layer with pan fried breasts and thin layers of nice sausage, I like pork just for the extra fat and moistness it gives, sometimes i add a thin layer of apple, or a drizzle of cider......... drizzle with some of your treacle thick gravy then repeat till the loaf tin is full. Fold bacon over, tinfoil on top and bake in oven till done. Serve with new potatoes, cold butter, and drizzle with any leftover gravy.
or serve with thick crusty bread.

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Or if you fancy something a bit lighter.

Tomato passatta in pot with oregano, basil, garlic, black pepper, good sea salt, pan fried breasts and mushrooms, added and cooked.
Mixed through, or plonked on top of, pasta. Yum yum!
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On toast with friend bacon, mushrooms and poached eggs.
 
I don't really fancy the idea myself.......it's just the thought of the slimy, blue, worm-filled guts.......they may well taste fantastic but it just doesn't seem right

The guts are empty. Woodcock feed at night. By the time you shoot 'em, the guts are empty.

I put them (complete) on a thick slice of buttered white bread. Roast in a hot oven (200'C) for 12-15 minutes, so they are just pink. The bread will have turned to crunchy toast, the butter soaked in. Spread the guts on the toast and enjoy. Devine! Then devour the bird's breasts. (Ohh er, Missus!)

-JMS
 
Sorry for saying it but... seems like such a waste of a delicate bird to be used as a bulk stuffing of a pie.
I was thinking that I could make a pie, eat some of it for my dinner, then take the cold slices to work with me for lunch.

If you've got the patience, boned out and stuffed with a nice strip of black pudding and some venison sausage is my personal favourite. With a gravy made from the carcasses.
---------------------------
Or if you've got a glut, breasts off and put aside.
Carcasses roasted well, pick off some of the meat for sandwiches if you like, chuck all into big stock pot with root veg, simmer for 3 hours, strain and add some red wine and reduce to a thick, thick! Gravy.

Pan fry the breasts with whatever other game you've got on the go or by themselves.

Line a loaf tin with bacon, layer with pan fried breasts and thin layers of nice sausage, I like pork just for the extra fat and moistness it gives, sometimes i add a thin layer of apple, or a drizzle of cider......... drizzle with some of your treacle thick gravy then repeat till the loaf tin is full. Fold bacon over, tinfoil on top and bake in oven till done. Serve with new potatoes, cold butter, and drizzle with any leftover gravy.
or serve with thick crusty bread.

--------------------------
Or if you fancy something a bit lighter.

Tomato passatta in pot with oregano, basil, garlic, black pepper, good sea salt, pan fried breasts and mushrooms, added and cooked.
Mixed through, or plonked on top of, pasta. Yum yum!
--------------------------
On toast with friend bacon, mushrooms and poached eggs.
That second recipe sounds excellent, thanks

The guts are empty. Woodcock feed at night. By the time you shoot 'em, the guts are empty.

I put them (complete) on a thick slice of buttered white bread. Roast in a hot oven (200'C) for 12-15 minutes, so they are just pink. The bread will have turned to crunchy toast, the butter soaked in. Spread the guts on the toast and enjoy. Devine! Then devour the bird's breasts. (Ohh er, Missus!)

-JMS
sounds good; devouring plump breasts is a favourite pastime of mine!
also relieved to hear of the emptiness of the guts, although I'm not much keener to eat them!
 
I shot my first woodcock in ten years on saturday going to have it for dinner tonight.

I still don't know if im going guts in or out.
 
"so you can use the beak as a straw for the gravy" You forgot the elastic band to wrap around and keep the two bits of the beak together, or do you poke a hole in the head, suck out the brains and use it that way?
 
"so you can use the beak as a straw for the gravy" You forgot the elastic band to wrap around and keep the two bits of the beak together, or do you poke a hole in the head, suck out the brains and use it that way?

The beaks kind of got round bits either side that look like a straw. Ever seen the pin feathers stuffed in the tip of the beak?
 
pluck- draw- spatchcock -rub with salt- roast over an open fire until the skins crispy golden brown.... you wont taste better
 
Well, I've got to start clearing them off my ground, there's too many and the farmers are complaining about them churning up the grass in this wet weather,
I've decided to eat a few and I'll put the rest through the blender to make a kind of nourishing soup for the dog, which can be bottled up, stored in the freezer and used when needed.
 
Well if you find yourself in Tavistock with a few in the boot, let me know! atb

I don't think I'll be headed that way any time soon unfortunately but there are probably just as many round near Tavistock at the moment I would have thought if you get the chance for a walk round with a dog and shotgun.
 
Haven't seen any on my 2 perms, got the habitat for them, so not sure why, will just have to get out more and have a better look about! cheers atb
 
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