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Smoked Chukar White Lasagna

We live on a small acre sized lot, in the middle of town, not a lot of room to have your own garden. It takes me about fifteen minutes to cut the grass. I wanted to plant my own garden, but I lived to far from the family's farm to do it there, so I built a small, raised bed garden in the backyard. It's three beds, roughly eight foot by ten foot each. In the beginning, I justified building it, thinking that I'd easily be able to get enough groceries out of it to justify the cost ... man was I wrong. Somehow, I keep finding new ways to put money into it. I have the lumber cost and all the dirt that I moved in to fill up the beds, plus I installed an irrigation system, so it'd self-water itself. I even installed a solar panel to charge some batteries to power a camera to take still images of the garden while it grows, so I could create a time-lapse video at the end of the growing season. Plus, I installed the world most boring live web cam, so I can remotely check the garden any time I wanted. I'll soon be adding temperature sensor for the air and soil, a humidity probe, and I plan to add a weather station to record rain fall amount and wind speed. To say that I've gotten carried away with my little garden project would be an understatement.

To get the most out of my garden year-round, I looked up what would be good a winter crop to plant in my area. Things like Onions, Radishes, Pleas, Carrots, Beets and Garlic were all listed, but the thing that popped up at the top of the list was Kale. I not a salad type of person, but let me tell you, I love some Kale. The reason I like Kale so much is probably because of this Zuppa Toscana Soup ( https://gundogcentral.com/recipes/3216/Zuppa-Toscana-with-Mushroom-and-Pheasant-Stock ), one of my all-time favorite meals. I could probably eat this every day of the week and not get sick of it!! So, seeing Kale at the top of the list, you can bet that's what I planted in my little garden. They weren't joking about it being a winter crop. The Kale I planted did awesome, we even had one of the coldest spells here in Tennessee in a long while. We had snow and ice on the ground for at least a week, if not longer, which is unusual. In fact, our heat even went out, and we had to run space heaters the entire week before we could get someone out to fix it. The little heaters struggled just to get our house even to sixty-degree. Somehow my little Kale plants managed to survive the freezing temperatures, but they didn't grow much during those winter months. With the arrival of spring however, these little kale plants took off!! It's now May and one might say I have a small Kale problem on my hands, it's literally growing faster than I can use it. I've been trying to find some new things to do with it, beside making soup or putting it on my burgers. What I came up with are a few recipes that I'm going to post to Gundog Central, starting with this Chukar and Kale White Lasagna, which turned out awesome by the way!

For this Chukar and Kale White Lasagna, I first smoked these little Chukar Partridge in my smoker until they reached the temperature I wanted. I then allowed them to cool, before I shredded the meat off the bone and used the smoked bird carcasses to make a Chukar Stock, I add some carrots, celery and onions that needed to be used before they went bad. If you don't have a smoker, you can cook the birds in the stock, while you make it, the stock just won't be as flavorful. Just season the birds as you normally would, add them to the bottom of a stock pot, add your vegetable, broken into large pieces, add any other seasoning you want, then fill with enough water to cover everything up. Cover the pot with a lid, then bring it to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Allow the birds to cook at least 20 minutes, then remove one and check its temperature. If it's around 150 to 160, remove all the birds. Allow to cool, then shredded the meat from the bones, adding the carcasses back to the stock pot. I used this Chukar stock to create a cream sauce as a filling for the Lasagna layers. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

Chukar and Kale White Lasagna

Poultry seasoning

Smoked Chukar

Chukar Stock

Chukar Brine

Cream and Kale Sauce

Instructions

Poultry seasoning

Step #1 Combine all the ingredients in a small mason jar and give it a good shake.

Chukar Brine

Step #1 To make brine, combine all the ingredients for the brine in a stock pot and bring to a boil on the stove.

Step #2 Allow to boil for 15 – 20 minutes, then reduce heat and allow to cool.

Step #3 Once cool, place birds in a gallon size bag or bowl and pour mixture over birds.

Step #4 Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Remove birds from brine and pat dry with water towels.

Step #5 If you have time, place them back in the fridge for another hour.

Smoked Chukar

Step #1 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 you want to cook your birds in the stock while you make it, you can skip these steps.

Step #2 Spray outside of Chukar with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.

Step #3 Fill smoker drip pan with water or juice, then get your smoker to a constant 225 degrees.

Step #4 Place seasoned Chukar on top rack and smoke for 1 to 2 hours, until temperature reaches around 150-160 range.

Step #5 Remove from smoker and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes

Step #6 Shredded the meat from the bones and place in bowl until ready to use. Save the Carcasses to make your Chukar Stock.

Chukar Stock

Step #1 Start by washing your vegetables and removing skin from onions. Break vegetables in half with your hands or cut with a knife, do not dice, or cut into small pieces. You want these pieces to be large, so they’ll be easy to filter out when the stock is done.

Step #2 Take Smoked Chukar Carcasses and place them in the bottom of a large stock pot.

Or add your whole, uncooked Chukar if you plan on cooking them in your stock.

Step #3 Add your vegetables and other ingredients to stock pot, then cover with 16-18 cups of water.

Step #4 Add lid and set heat to high. Allow to reach a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Step #5 If and only if you plan on cooking your Chukar in the stock instead of smoking or roasting them. Check the temperature of the Chukar after about 20 minutes or so. Once the temperature reaches 150-160 range, remove the birds from the pot and allow to cool, but allow the stock to continue to simmer without the birds in it. Once cooled, shredded the meat from the bones and then it’s up to you if you want to add the Chukar Carcasses back to your stock pot.

Step #6 Allow stock to simmer, covered on low heat for at least 4 hours, the longer the better. Use a slotted spoon for skim fat from top of cooking stock.

Step #7 When done, place another empty stock pot in sink and place colander over top of it.

Step #8 Line the colander with paper towels, this will help filter out small particles in your stock.

Step #9 Pour the contents of your stock pot through the colander and discard everything that the colander catches.

Step #10 Allow the stock to cool

Step #11 Before ssing a ladle, ladle the stock into mason jars to store and stick in the freezer to use again later.

Cream and Kale Sauce

Step #1 Prepare your ingredients by chopping Kale, then dicing Onion and Garlic.

Step #2 Add one tablespoon of Olive oil to Dutch oven and turn heat to medium high

Step #3 Add diced onions and allow to cook 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Step #4 Add diced garlic and cook for another minute.

Step #5 Add Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning, stirring to coat onions with seasoning.

Step #6 Add 3 tablespoons of butter and allow to melt.

Step #7 Add 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour, stirring to combine. Allow this to cook another 2-3 minutes.

Step #8 Pour in Chukar stock and Half and Half. Continue to stir, scraping the bottom of the pan while you stir. This should begin to thicken up after a few minutes.

Step #9 Once it’s starts to thicken, add chopped Kale, then remove from heat.

Step #10 Taste and add additional Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning as needed.

Chukar and Kale White Lasagna

Step #1 Bring a large pot of well salted water to a bowl.

Step #2 Add Lasagna noodles and cook 8-10 minutes. You don’t want your noodles to be cooked all the way through, so subtract a couple of minutes from the package directions and remove them early. They’ll finish up in the oven.

Step #3 Drain noodles and run cold water over them to keep them from sticking and to stop the cooking process.

Step #4 Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place one rack so that it’s in the middle of oven.

Step #5 Add a thin layer of Cream and Kale sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. This will prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Step #6 Place three of your partially cooked Lasagna noodles down to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.

Step #7 Scoop out some Ricotta cheese onto this layer and spread with a spatula, until you have a solid thin layer of Ricotta.

Step #8 Sprinkle this with a layer of Shredded Mozella Cheese

Step #9 Then Sprinkle that will a few sprinkles of Parmesan Cheese

Step #10 Evenly spread about 2 cups of your Chukar meat on top cheeses.

Step #11 Sprinkle this with Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning.

Step #12 Pour half of your Cream and Kale sauce over this, using a spatula to smooth our this layer.

Step #13 Add three more Lasagna noodles.

Step #14 Cover with another layer of Ricotta Cheese

Step #15 Sprinkle with another layer of Mozella Cheese

Step #16 Add some additional Parmesan Cheese

Step #17 Add the rest of the Chukar meat

Step #18 Season the meat with another sprinkle of salt and pepper

Step #19 Then pour the rest of your Cream and Kale sauce over top of this.

Step #20 Add three more Lasagna noodles

Step #21 Sprinkle with remaining Mozella Cheese

Step #22 Add some more Parmesan

Step #23 Sprinkle with top with Black Pepper

Step #24 Cover with Aluminum Foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes

Step #25 After 45 minutes, remove the foil and turn the broiler on. Place back in oven and use the broiler to brown the top of the lasagna. Watch this step carefully, leaving to long will burn your lasagna.

Step #26 Allow to cool for a few minutes. Cut up some parsley to sprinkle on top.

Step #27 Use a spatula to cut into equal size squares.

Step #28 Enjoy

Recipe Card

Smoked Chukar White Lasagna

Written by Jeff Davis Visit : Visit authors website

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Prep Time: 5 hours - Cook Time: 5 hours

Ingredients

Chukar and Kale White Lasagna

4 cup(s) Shredded Chukar Partridge

9 Lasagna Noodles

1 Large Yellow Onion

4 Garlic Gloves

8 oz Shredded Mozella Cheese

3 oz Parmesan Cheese

16 oz Ricotta Cheese

1 bunch Fresh Italian Flat Leaf Parsley

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Poultry Seasoning

Ground Black Pepper

Salt

Poultry seasoning

6 tbsp Rubbed Sage

4 tbsp Ground Thyme

2 tbsp Marjoram

2 tbsp Ground White Pepper

1 tbsp Ground Rosemary

1 tbsp Ground Nutmeg

Smoked Chukar

5-6 Whole Chukar Partridge

Poultry Seasoning

Ground Black Pepper

Salt

Cooking Spray

Wood Chips ( Pecan, Hickory or Applewood )

Chukar Stock

5-6 Smoked Chukar Carcasses

16-18 cup(s) Water

6 Carrots, broken in half

4 Celery Stalks, broken in half

1 Large Yellow Onion

2-3 Bay Leaves

1 bunch Thyme Sprigs

2-3 Sage Leaves

1 tbsp Whole Black Pepper Corns

1 tbsp Salt

Chukar Brine

8 cup(s) Water

1/2 cup(s) Kosher Salt

1/4 cup(s) White Sugar

1/4 cup(s) Light Brown Sugar

2-3 Sage Leaves

6 sprig(s) Thyme

1/2 tbsp Whole Black Pepper Corns

1 Bay leave

Cream and Kale Sauce

1 Large Yellow Onion

4 Gralic Cloves

3 tbsp Unsalted Butter

1/3 cup(s) All Purpose flour

2 1/2 cup(s) Chukar Stock

1 1/2 cup(s) Half and Half

4 oz Kale Leaves, shredded

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Poultry Seasoning

1 tsp Freshly cracked pepper, to taste

1 tsp Salt

Instructions

Poultry seasoning

Step #1 - Combine all the ingredients in a small mason jar and give it a good shake.

Chukar Brine

Step #1 - To make brine, combine all the ingredients for the brine in a stock pot and bring to a boil on the stove.

Step #2 - Allow to boil for 15 – 20 minutes, then reduce heat and allow to cool.

Step #3 - Once cool, place birds in a gallon size bag or bowl and pour mixture over birds.

Step #4 - Place in the refrigerator for 4 hours. Remove birds from brine and pat dry with water towels.

Step #5 - If you have time, place them back in the fridge for another hour.

Smoked Chukar

Step #1 - 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 you want to cook your birds in the stock while you make it, you can skip these steps.

Step #2 - Spray outside of Chukar with cooking spray. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.

Step #3 - Fill smoker drip pan with water or juice, then get your smoker to a constant 225 degrees.

Step #4 - Place seasoned Chukar on top rack and smoke for 1 to 2 hours, until temperature reaches around 150-160 range.

Step #5 - Remove from smoker and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes

Step #6 - Shredded the meat from the bones and place in bowl until ready to use. Save the Carcasses to make your Chukar Stock.

Chukar Stock

Step #1 - Start by washing your vegetables and removing skin from onions. Break vegetables in half with your hands or cut with a knife, do not dice, or cut into small pieces. You want these pieces to be large, so they’ll be easy to filter out when the stock is done.

Step #2 - Take Smoked Chukar Carcasses and place them in the bottom of a large stock pot. Or add your whole, uncooked Chukar if you plan on cooking them in your stock.

Step #3 - Add your vegetables and other ingredients to stock pot, then cover with 16-18 cups of water.

Step #4 - Add lid and set heat to high. Allow to reach a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Step #5 - If and only if you plan on cooking your Chukar in the stock instead of smoking or roasting them. Check the temperature of the Chukar after about 20 minutes or so. Once the temperature reaches 150-160 range, remove the birds from the pot and allow to cool, but allow the stock to continue to simmer without the birds in it. Once cooled, shredded the meat from the bones and then it’s up to you if you want to add the Chukar Carcasses back to your stock pot.

Step #6 - Allow stock to simmer, covered on low heat for at least 4 hours, the longer the better. Use a slotted spoon for skim fat from top of cooking stock.

Step #7 - When done, place another empty stock pot in sink and place colander over top of it.

Step #8 - Line the colander with paper towels, this will help filter out small particles in your stock.

Step #9 - Pour the contents of your stock pot through the colander and discard everything that the colander catches.

Step #10 - Allow the stock to cool

Step #11 - Before ssing a ladle, ladle the stock into mason jars to store and stick in the freezer to use again later.

Cream and Kale Sauce

Step #1 - Prepare your ingredients by chopping Kale, then dicing Onion and Garlic.

Step #2 - Add one tablespoon of Olive oil to Dutch oven and turn heat to medium high

Step #3 - Add diced onions and allow to cook 5-7 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Step #4 - Add diced garlic and cook for another minute.

Step #5 - Add Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning, stirring to coat onions with seasoning.

Step #6 - Add 3 tablespoons of butter and allow to melt.

Step #7 - Add 1/3 cup of all-purpose flour, stirring to combine. Allow this to cook another 2-3 minutes.

Step #8 - Pour in Chukar stock and Half and Half. Continue to stir, scraping the bottom of the pan while you stir. This should begin to thicken up after a few minutes.

Step #9 - Once it’s starts to thicken, add chopped Kale, then remove from heat.

Step #10 - Taste and add additional Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning as needed.

Chukar and Kale White Lasagna

Step #1 - Bring a large pot of well salted water to a bowl.

Step #2 - Add Lasagna noodles and cook 8-10 minutes. You don’t want your noodles to be cooked all the way through, so subtract a couple of minutes from the package directions and remove them early. They’ll finish up in the oven.

Step #3 - Drain noodles and run cold water over them to keep them from sticking and to stop the cooking process.

Step #4 - Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place one rack so that it’s in the middle of oven.

Step #5 - Add a thin layer of Cream and Kale sauce to the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole dish. This will prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Step #6 - Place three of your partially cooked Lasagna noodles down to cover the bottom of the casserole dish.

Step #7 - Scoop out some Ricotta cheese onto this layer and spread with a spatula, until you have a solid thin layer of Ricotta.

Step #8 - Sprinkle this with a layer of Shredded Mozella Cheese

Step #9 - Then Sprinkle that will a few sprinkles of Parmesan Cheese

Step #10 - Evenly spread about 2 cups of your Chukar meat on top cheeses.

Step #11 - Sprinkle this with Salt, Pepper and Poultry seasoning.

Step #12 - Pour half of your Cream and Kale sauce over this, using a spatula to smooth our this layer.

Step #13 - Add three more Lasagna noodles.

Step #14 - Cover with another layer of Ricotta Cheese

Step #15 - Sprinkle with another layer of Mozella Cheese

Step #16 - Add some additional Parmesan Cheese

Step #17 - Add the rest of the Chukar meat

Step #18 - Season the meat with another sprinkle of salt and pepper

Step #19 - Then pour the rest of your Cream and Kale sauce over top of this.

Step #20 - Add three more Lasagna noodles

Step #21 - Sprinkle with remaining Mozella Cheese

Step #22 - Add some more Parmesan

Step #23 - Sprinkle with top with Black Pepper

Step #24 - Cover with Aluminum Foil and place in the oven for 45 minutes

Step #25 - After 45 minutes, remove the foil and turn the broiler on. Place back in oven and use the broiler to brown the top of the lasagna. Watch this step carefully, leaving to long will burn your lasagna.

Step #26 - Allow to cool for a few minutes. Cut up some parsley to sprinkle on top.

Step #27 - Use a spatula to cut into equal size squares.

Step #28 - Enjoy

About the Author

Jeff Davis

You 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.