Recipes for Hare and Wild Game Birds
Red-Legged Partridge Roasted with Bacon and Pears
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Rub partridge lightly with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Fill cavity of bird with 2 sprigs rosemary, 2 tsp juniper berries, and 2 wedges of orange.
Wrap bird with strips of bacon and pin together with toothpicks.
In a sauté pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tbsp olive oil and sear bird on all sides until bacon begins to crisp.
In a roasting pan, place cored, peeled, and thickly sliced pears in a pile.
Place partridge on top of pears and roast for 15 minutes.
Serve over pears and top with juices from roasting pan.
Balsamic Pan-Roasted Wood Pigeon (great with roasted root vegetables)
Salt pigeon to taste and rub with melted butter.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Stuff cavity with thyme sprigs, 1 lemon wedge, 3 cloves of smashed garlic, and 2 bay leaves.
In a sauté pan, heat 2 tbsp butter and sear all sides of pigeon.
Coat pigeon with 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp brown sugar.
Place pigeon in a roasting pan and cook in oven, breast side up, for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and pan.
Add 1/4 cup blueberries to roasting pan and 2 tbsp cold butter. Whisk until butter is all incorporated.
Pour pan sauce over bird and serve.
Scottish Pheasant with pancetta, garlic and tomatoes
Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
Coat pheasant with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Squeeze juice of one lemon over top of pheasant and stuff the spent lemon into the cavity.
Place pheasant in a roasting pan.
Dice 1/2 cup pancetta into 1/4"-sized pieces and render in a sauté pan until they begin to crisp.
Sprinkle pancetta over top of pheasant and retain rendered fat.
Slice 2 roma tomatoes into eighths and smash 4 pieces of garlic.
Toss garlic and tomatoes with pancetta fat and pour over top of pheasant.
Roast for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.
Remove from oven and strain off fat.
Spoon pancetta, tomatoes and garlic over pheasant.
Wild Hare Hassenpheffer
Separate hare into 6 pieces: 2 front legs, 2 hind quarters, and breast split into two halves. Then marinate hare in the following for 24 hours:
2 cups red wine
1 cup rice wine vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup gin
2 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp juniper berries
1 tbsp black pepper
2 bay leaves
2 tsp allspice berries
2 cloves garlic - chopped
3 sprigs thyme
combine all ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil
cool and fully submerge hare for 24 hours
To braise:
Remove hare from marinade and pat dry.
Strain marinade, saving liquid.
In a pot, chop and render 1/4 cup bacon. Remove bacon pieces.
Add 2 cups chopped onion, 1.5 cups peeled and chopped turnips, 2 cups halved white mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes.
Add 1 cup chopped cabbage and sauté until it starts to soften.
Add hare pieces and brown.
Add strained marinade and 1 cup chicken stock.
Make sure hare pieces and vegetables are completely submerged. If not completely submerged add more stock.
Reduce heat to low and cover with a heavy lid.
Slowly cook for 1 hour.
Remove hare and vegetables from pot and increase heat. Reduce braising liquid by half.
Removed braising liquid from heat and whisk in 1/2 cup sour cream.
Spoon sauce over hare and vegetables.
Garnish with fresh dill.