Chukar Stock
Cooking these little birds doesn't take long, but I would suggest brining them first, which is going to add time to the process. Not only does it impart flavor and moisture into the birds, but it'll help protect them from drying out during the cooking process. Place them in the brine for about 4 hours, in the refrigerator. After that, remove them, dry them off and place them back in the fridge for another hour, on a plate to air dry. I seasoned my birds with a generous amount of salt and poultry seasoning, inside and out. If you want, you can stuff your birds with things like Lemons, Limes, Apples or Cranberries, and/or herbs like Thyme, Sage or Basil. For smoking these birds, I'd use something like Pecan, Hickory, Apple, or Cherry wood. Soak your wood chips for at least 30 minutes before starting to cook your birds. You can fill your drip pan with water, beer, or a juice ... like Apple or Orange juice. Get your smoker to a constant temp of around 225 degrees, then place your birds on one of the higher racks. Allow the birds to cook for 1 to 2 hours, until the internal temperature of the birds reaches 150-160 degrees. Remove from smoker and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. If you don't have a smoker or would prefer to roast your birds instead, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place all your vegetables in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place seasoned birds on top of the vegetables then place in the oven to 30-40 minutes.
If youre in a pinch and want to save time, you can cook these birds in the stock while you make it. Its just not going to be as flavorful and itll have a paler color. If you want to cook the birds at the same time youre making the stock. Place the seasoned uncooked birds in the bottom of a stock pot, add with vegetables, other seasonings and the rest of the ingredients then cover with water. Set the heat on high, allow to reach a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Check the temperature of your birds after 18-20 minutes, if they are between 150-160 degrees, remove them from the stock. Set them aside and allow to cool.
When cool, remove the meat from the birds, shredding it by hand and save for whatever recipe you'll be cooking. Add the cooked Chukar Caresses to stock pot and cover with your raw, grilled, or roasted vegetables. Add water, seasoning, bay leaves and other ingredients and bring to a boil on high heat. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer to 4 hours or more, skimming any fat off the top of the liquid while it cooks. Your house will smell amazing while this cooks!! When you're ready, turn off the heat and allow to cool. Place another stock pot in your sink then place a colander over top of it. Line the colander with a bunch of paper towels to catch any small particles, then pour your stock through it, into the new stock pot. Discard everything the colander catches, what you'll be left with is a dark amber looking stock to use in your recipes. I divided mine out into small, 16-ounce, mason jars and placed what I wasn't going to use in the freezer to use later.
About the Author : Jeff Davis
Visit authors website | View more articlesYou may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.
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