doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Odd pairing...

Got my first Sharptail while up in the North Country last week. Beautiful birds indeed, but extremely dark meat when compared to Ruffed. Any suggestions for prepping for the table?

I shot some earlier this season. First I soaked the bird in salt water for a few hours to draw out some of the blood. Then, using an idea I got from Martha Stewart, I wrapped the bird in cheese cloth soaked in butter and then baked it breast down in a glass baking dish (the kind used for a small loaf of bread) for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. The bird was tender and delicious! Now I need to begin experimenting with different spices.

Steve

Keep it simple....as with most all wildfowl, don�t over cook it. Keep sharptails medium rare and it�s filet mignon. No soaking, spices or marinade needed. Pair your sharptail with a nice strip of center cut bacon, roll up the filet with the bacon, skewer, and grill over charcoal until the bacon is done. Couple the finished filet with a good porter or chocolate stout and your good to go. I�ve been eating them this way for the last month. A perfect side would be oven roasted rosemary-garlic potatoes. I�ve got several more ways that I make sharptails, another family favorite is creamed sharptail (very similar to beef stroganoff), fajitas, etc.

As for gamebirds cooked done instead of rare and exotic soakings of meat, Stephen Bodio wrote on his blog:
"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.' "

I do them similar to Dustin. I cut them into small cubes and wrap them in bacon, stick a bamboo skewer through them and stick them on the grill. I serve them on a bed of batsmati rice. No seasoning other that salt, pepper and butter needed.

"Don't overcook" is excellent advice with all gamebirds. Especially, I think, those that have dark breast meat. Sharptail or chicken breast, fileted off the bone and fried very quickly, is my wife's favorite--and she isn't big on wild game. I only told her woodcock--which I fix the same way--tastes like liver because I want to eat all of those myself.

I thought you, myself, and the dog ate that one already Lloyd.

Funny how many people cook grouse the same way your FIL does.

I still believe I'd need a jet-pack to hunt them in that part of the world.

Best,
Ted

Ted: I believe that one was a sprucie.

If that was the case, I can't understand the complaints about their eating qualities.

Pretty sure Louie wouldn't, either. We both thought he was just fine.


Best,
Ted

I don't remember the particulars about why that sprucie was cooked and served with the big plate of ruffies that night. There were so-many people milling about in a fairly small space and with seemingly...much goings-on. Moreover, I believe that I was medicating my poor, sore back with distilled spirits. Sadly, those finer details escape me now, but I distinctly remember being quite pleased with the net-effect. AS far as the sharptails are concerned, I know that many of the locals up there hunt them vigorously, and with some success. I doubt that they have much access to jet-packs