Wild Game Wednesday - Stewed Pheasant with Sage Dumpings

Here we are, Wild Game Wednesday's, presidential election edition.  I'm looking forward to us making this soon.  I reckon I need to get out pheasant hunting.  It's been a couple of years since I chased pheasants, but I love hunting them.

Stewed Pheasants With Sage Dumpings

Pheasants
2 large pheasants, cut up as for frying	1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 carrots, thinly sliced	1/2 tsp. pepper
2 medium onions, thinly sliced	1/2 tsp. mace
1 rib celery with leaves, chopped	2 tsp. mushroom catsup or Worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. savory	1/2 cup white wine
1/2 tsp. marjoram
Dumplings
2 cups flour	1 tsp. rubbed sage
3 tsp. baking powder	2 eggs
1 tsp. salt	2/3 cup milk

1. Place pheasant pieces and the remaining pheasant ingredients in a casserole and add just enough boiling water to cover. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 1-1 1/2 hours.
2. When pheasant pieces are tender, remove them but keep warm in a pot with a little sauce. Make the dumplings while the broth continues to bubble. Thicken broth, if you have decided it needs thickening, with flour and cold water paste.
3. Stir the flour, baking powder, salt, then stir in the sage, being sure to distribute it evenly.
4. Beat the eggs with the milk and stir into the flour mixture. Drop spoonfuls of the dough into the boiling broth. Cover and cook gently for 15 minutes. Do not lift lid to peek.
5. Arrange pheasant pieces on a platter, surround with the dumplings, pour over some of the sauce, and serve remainder in a sauceboat.

Inheriting Ducks

We just got asked last night if we would like to keep the 4 ducks that are currently living on the pond at our new property.  After thinking about it for a while, we decided that we would.  Some quick research showed that they are good at eating bugs like mosquito larvae.  The previous owner said they don't require any housing either, which I find amazing considering the pond will freeze in the winter and it gets awfully cold in western PA.  So we'll see how it works out.  I have to find out what kind of ducks they are.  I'm guessing Pekin at this point, but don't know for sure.

There is something pleasant about seeing a farm with ducks on the pond.  I had thought about buying ducks for the last couple of years at our old house, but didn't know how they would do in the creek.  Hopefully we can get some nice duck eggs to supplement our current eggs.

Speaking of eggs, we can no longer keep up with demand.  If I delivered 1 dozen eggs to everyone that wanted them, just at my office, we'd have to buy another 6-12 birds.  We're talking about going from our current 7 birds to 12-18 birds in the spring.  I'm leaning toward 18 since the 7 we have now would be 2 1/2 years old next summer when the new ones start producing, and from our experience with Rhode Island Reds, they will be about at the end of their quality egg production cycle.  It is great hearing the feedback from people on our eggs.

"They are so much bigger than store eggs."
"Your eggs taste so good."
"The yolks are so much brighter."

Maybe we'll see a similar demand for duck eggs.

Wild Game Wednesday - Fennel and Tarragon Stuffing

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I thought I would share a stuffing recipe that we tried one year.  Despite the amount of fennel seed and tarragon, there is only light faintest aroma of licorice and no taste of licorice.  When we first tried this recipe at Thanksgiving, my mom and wife bought a box of Stove Top stuffing, just in case it didn't turn out.  To their surprise is was really good and started the trend of "never doubt the L.L. Bean Cookbook".  To stuff our Thanksgiving turkey, I quadrupled the recipe below to make 6 cups of stuffing.

This recipe comes from The L.L. Bean Game & Fish Cookbook by Angus Cameron and Judith Jones, printed in 1983.  We happened to find a copy at our local Barnes and Noble about 10 years ago and have used it extensively.

Fennel Seend and Tarragon Stuffing

A subtle stuffing with a faint licorice aroma that's particularly compatible with delicate birds like quail. Also good for fish.  Makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Ingredients
1/2 tsp fennel seed
2 Tb. chopped fresh tarragon or 1 tsp dried
6 Tb. butter, melted
about 1 1/2 cups roughly torn fresh bread crumbs
1 Tb. chopped parsley
salt and black pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together, tossing lightly.