Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Pheasant Valley

There I was, hunting pheasant. Who would have guessed? I had the privilege of attending one of the last hunts of the season at Pheasant Valley Farms in Robesonia, PA. And, I actually hit a few. Although there is a good-mannered controversy over who shot one of the birds, I claim credit for hitting two pheasant and two chukars.


Here would be an ideal place for a longer discussion on hunting in general. Yet, I hesitate to. I just want to eat what was shot.

I first made the barbecue sauce from Tyler Florence's rib recipe. Instead of peach preserves, however, I used orange marmalade. Why? That's what I had on hand - and it turned out delicious. I have the luxury of using a gas grill with an attached rotating spit, a gift from my step dad. I put two of the chukars back-to-back on the spit, as seen below, then tied the legs around the middle. Pushing together the legs in this fashion helps prevent the legs from drying out before the breast meat is done.


I also tossed some squash and mushrooms in a quick dijon vinegrette for the grill as well.


Here we go for a spin on the spit . . .


And after is all said and done . . 


The breast meat was nicely done after about 25 minutes on medium low heat. I turned the burners on high at the end, hoping to caramelize the sugars in the sauce and add a depth of flavor . . . but the gas ran out. Not ideal timing, but at least everything was cooked through! True to form, my first bite had a bit of shot in it.

Meat Chuk the chukar. And Meat Mt Airy.

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