Three Great Bird Recipes from Chef Trey Zingelmann

Written by: Jennifer Miller, Greystone Castle

Southern-Style Fried Quail
Photos courtesy Greystone Castle

Summer is upon us! And what better time to enjoy all the game you harvested last hunt season than with a tried-and-true recipe from Greystone Castle’s Executive Chef, Trey Zingelmann? Below, he shares some of his favorite recipes, as well as some tips on preparing your game.

First off, he would like to remind you that you harvested this game. It did not come from the store. Therefore, make sure you thoroughly check it for birdshot BBs. No one wants to bite down on that!

After cleaning and rinsing the game, place it in a shallow dish and soak it for several hours in buttermilk. This will help tenderize the meat. Rinse well before following the recipes.

Southern-Style Fried Quail (Serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 quail
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 3-4 dashes tabasco sauce
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp. Cajun seasoning

Directions:

1. Place quail in a bowl or Zip-loc bag. Add buttermilk and Tabasco sauce. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
2. Beat eggs together and set aside.
3. In another bowl mix flour, salt and pepper, and Cajun seasoning together.
4. Take quail out of Zip-loc bag and coat with flour mixture, then egg, then flour again.
5. Deep fry quail. It usually takes about 5-8 minutes for quail to reach proper cooking temperature.

*A healthy option: Leave out the buttermilk and eggs. Lightly dust with flour and place in a pan. Drizzle meat with olive oil and bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes until crispy.

Pheasant meat makes for great kabobs.

Pheasant Kabobs

Ingredients:

• 2 whole pheasants, meat de-boned from breasts and thighs, cut into chunks
• 1 package of thick-cut bacon
• 2 onions, cut into 2-inch chunks
• 2 bell peppers, cut into 2-inch slices
• 1 package medium mushrooms
• Glaze or marinade of your choice

Directions:

1. Place pheasant and marinade in Zip-loc in fridge for four hours.
2. Place a chunk of pheasant, slice of onion, or pepper together and wrap one slice of bacon around them.
3. Skewer 3 or 4 combos onto a kabob stick.
4. Skewer left over veggies and a separate stick. Brush left over marinade on veggies.
5. Place tinfoil on the areas of grill you will be cooking on, spray with non-stick spray. Ignite grill and heat to high and bring back down to low.
6. Cook kabobs on foil, on low heat for 10 –12 mins. Or until kabob meat is done. Veggie kabobs will finish before meat kabobs.

*Add jalapeños to the kabobs for a fiery kick!

Stroganoff is a hearty way to use your game birds.

Pheasant Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1 pheasant, cut into pieces
• Buttermilk
• 7 slices of bacon
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2.5 tsp dry mustard
• 3/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 cup chicken broth
• 8 onions, chopped
• 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced, or 1 small can drained
• 3 tsp butter
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup sherry

Directions:

1. Fry the bacon in a nonstick pan until crisp. Remove and drain. Crumble when cool.
2. Drain bacon grease from pan and save.
3. In a bowl, mix the flour, mustard, thyme, pepper, and salt.
4. Heat 2 tbsp. of the bacon grease in the skillet. Roll the pheasant pieces in the flour and add to the grease.
5. Brown the meat in batches, using 2 tbsp. of the bacon grease each batch, and wipe skillet out between batches. Drain meat on paper towels.
6. When all the meat is browned, wipe out skillet and add all the meat to it.
7. Add the broth, bring to a boil, cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer until meat is tender.
8. While the meat is simmering, melt butter in a skillet and sauté the onion and mushrooms until tender. When meat is tender, stir the onion/mushroom mixture and sour cream into the meat/broth mixture. Warm through for 5 minutes but do not boil.
9. When warmed through, stir in the sherry and crumbled bacon. Simmer until heated again.
10. Serve over cooked noodles.

*You can use Quail, Pheasant, Chukkar, or Hungarian Partridge for any of these recipes.