The Whole Bird—The Easy Way
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
The Whole Bird—The Easy Way
Eileen Clarke
Rifles and Recipes
So many people complain that it’s hard to bake whole wild upland birds, that I included several whole-bird recipes in the all-upland cookbook I wrote for Ducks Unlimited: Upland Game Bird Cookery. This one is my favorite since it’s so easy to cook, and the ingredients vary from region to region and house to house. I was treated to this version while hunting ruffed grouse in UP Michigan several years ago, came home and was telling Dawn Scoffield about it and she said she makes the same thing but pairs the onion soup mix with apricot jelly and Mrs. Lynch’s dressing.
One thing that should not be changed in the recipe though, is the moist cooking. Dry-roasting wild birds is problematic because of the lack of fat in wild birds, their diminutive overall size, as well as the skimpy amount of meat on the legs. One part may be cooked perfectly, while another is either too dry to choke down or too raw to eat. And then there’s the plucking. In this recipe, the birds can be skinned and the sauce will keep the meat moist anyway.
You don’t even have to have ruffed grouse. Any pale-meated bird will work as long as you have enough sauce. So you could use 4 pheasants, split them up the backbone so they’ll lie flatter in the roasting pan, or Hungarians if you found some this year. Just fit the pan to the birds and baste them several times during the cooking.
Let’s get started and you’ll see just how easy this elegant dish is.
America’s Team Ruffed Grouse
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
2 cans whole berry cranberry sauce (16 ounces each)
2 bottles (8 ounces each) Catalina salad dressing
2 pouches Lipton Onion Soup mix
8-9 whole ruffed grouse, plucked or skinned
2 ounces salted pecans, chopped
Cooking
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a covered roasting pan, just large enough for the birds to nestle cheek to cheek in a single layer, mix together the cranberry sauce, dressing and soup mix. (Heat the cranberry sauce a bit to liquefy it a bit, in a microwavable bowl if you want.)
2. Place the grouse in the roasting pan, breast side up, and ladle the sauce over them. Cover and place in the center of the oven. Roast about 40 minutes, basting 3 or 4 times during the cooking.
3. Remove the grouse from the roaster and arrange on a heated serving platter. (It helps to have a lip on the platter to avoid spilling.) Pour the sauce over the grouse and sprinkle with the chopped pecans. Serve immediately with rice or pasta, whichever you prefer.
Eileen’s doves-to-turkeys all Upland Game Bird Cookery is available at https://www.riflesandrecipes.com for $20. $5 less if you live in Townsend and she doesn’t have to mail it. 406-521-0273.
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
Image 1 Caption: America’s Team Ruffed Grouse
Photo Credits: Eileen Clarke
