[moonwolf]

Thanksgiving Day in Canada October 12. Not a thread meant
to wish or not, but it's all good either way.
The question is what bird choice to cook for the occasion
since I raise a variety.....duck....goose....pheasant....partridge
.....chicken or wild hunted grouse? ??? I make jerky from
the turkeys I raise , so baked turkey is out of the question
though that's what most would do. Uncommon as moonwolf
is .....we'll, what do I do?
Who votes for pheasant??

 

[Raeven]

When I cooked for a crowd on holidays, it was easy: Turkey for Thanksgiving, goose for Christmas, prime rib for New Year's Day, lamb for Easter. But left to my own devices, I'd pick goose every time. Is there ANYTHING as nice as potatoes roasted in goose fat?? Oooohhh!!!

 

[light rain]

DH said AMEN to goose fat! :thumb:

 

[moonwolf]

We'll, I figure it could go down like this.
I got one nice young pheasant hanging for the day to
'ripen' as the old English do. In the meantime I'm
thawing a grand broad breasted duck at 7 lb.... Almost a
goose . Potatoes roasted with the duck sounds great.
Though I might be inclined to have that pheasant....
Or, should I make pheasant jerky?

 

[hawgsquatch]

When I do a turkey I soak it for 24 hours ahead of time in a brine made with sea salt and apple cider. Its nummy.

 

[Tommyice]

Since it's nearly impossible for me to get pheasant since my brother moved north (he's a hunter), I vote for the pheasant.

 

[Oxankle]

LOL, Moonwolf:
Turkey here, Turkey with dressing and giblet gravy.

Now the story: While I was widowed, one day a friend went up into Kansas and came back with some pheasant. He gave me one, a cock with spurs--a tough old bird for sure.

Now pheasant did not grow where I lived--that was my first, but I'd seen pictures of them hanging in French farmhouses, and I'd read that they did not cook them until they could pull the heads off. So---I hung that bird in the barn--weather was cool to cold. Grands came that weekend and wanted to know why the dead chicken was hanging in the barn.

After about a week I took that bird down and did pheasant under glass---Doggoned good eating, but too much trouble for a small bird.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

I know it's a turkey/pheasant question, but in our family there is usually a ham in the mix with a turkey. Quail is good too, but you never see them any longer around here.

 

[moonwolf]

Slight change of bird plan.

The big duck thawed and to soak for the day in a smoky
cidery brine in a Dutch oven. The pheasant will be filleted
and stuffed inside the duck after poaching the duck ( this
Reduces the fat content) . The baking of this version of
turducken with potatoes still have enough fat to do the job.
.......pheasducken. Will add a few juniper berries crushed for
the subtle seasoning. Wild plum/cranberry sauce to complement.
Oct 13 is thanksgiving here, but the dinner today.going to
work tomorrow anyway.

 

[newfieannie]

would be interesting to see a pic of that meal on Singletree Kitchen! ~Georgia.

 

[doingitmyself]

As uncommon as you are the only sensible answer to your dilemma is as easy as it is difficult. You need to de-bone one of each of the birds and stuff one inside the other and so on, and so on until you run out of birds!!

Kind of a "Grouchicktridgegooseahsant". Just gonna need a some csooking time to it like about 24 hours. Honestly i think it would be excellent! Just make sure you have leftover Tupperware containers to send some home with everybody, that's going to be a lot of fowl on the table!!!

I would use wild goose last as in on the outside with bacon on the breast, and cook on 225 grill or oven for (just a guess) but I try 18-20 hours, if I were you I'd add a touch of cherry smoke flavor at just the beginning on the grill, then I would honestly put the beast into a large covered roasting pan to be sure i caught all the drippings. I would break it apart, drop it on the platter and serve, no way it could be bad!!

This very well could be one of those toss in the oven or grill and get out the play horseshoes or go hunting part of the day kind of things!! Just make sure someone is monitoring the "Frankenbird" near the endas nothing worse than a dry "Grouchicktridgegooseahsant" LOLOLOL

 

[homefire2007]

Lamb for us...once a year because it can lighten the wallet for sure. But well looked forward to. Goose...heaven!

 

[newfieannie]

Lamb is indeed very expensive but so good! I priced a leg for 40.00 or so lately. I'm planning a crown of lamb for Christmas and decorating it with ruffles etc. I haven't invited anyone yet but that's a mere trifle. actually I'm planning that for dessert. English trifle. some people don't eat lamb so i'll have several choices. I had pheasant in my backwoods but not sure if there are any there now. back to the thread topic. ~Georgia.

 

[arcticow]

Goose, duck, pheasant in that order... Too bad you don't have a guinea...

 

[whiterock]

only birds i come across are turkey and chicken, so i vote turkey.

 

[WhyNot]

I'd pick the pheasant. I actually obtained a farm duck that is now happily chillin in my freezer for my thanksgiving. I feel really good about that one she drove a hard bargain, a knitted poncho. I also got 2 rabbits and 2 chickens as well with the trade. I need to make more ponchos...that was the last one

 

[Oxankle]

To those of you who eat duck and goose; I ate wild goose as a boy but have no experience with fat, pen-raised domestic geese. Wife bought me a duck once and we cooked it, but it was so fat and greasy that we did not like it.

What's the secret to cooking these; I'll try again when I get settled as I know there will be the occasional duck in the market.

 

[Raeven]

When I do a turkey I soak it for 24 hours ahead of time in a brine made with sea salt and apple cider. Its nummy.

I'm always torn about brining. On the one hand, I love it for the juiciness it imparts to the bird, but on the other hand, it can ruin gravy made with the drippings because they can (obviously) become too salty. My solution has been to dilute the drippings with a ton of unsalted broth and that works pretty well, especially for a crowd that has a little dinner with their gravy.

Still, I worry about it every time.

 

[Raeven]

To those of you who eat duck and goose; I ate wild goose as a boy but have no experience with fat, pen-raised domestic geese. Wife bought me a duck once and we cooked it, but it was so fat and greasy that we did not like it.

What's the secret to cooking these; I'll try again when I get settled as I know there will be the occasional duck in the market.

What I have always done with any fatty bird is to prick the skin early and often and drain off the excess fat regularly as it cooks. Both duck and goose pair well with fruit stuffing and/or conserves, which helps to cut the overt fattiness of these dishes. Cherry, orange or plum with duck, apple or prune are good with goose.

 

[DEKE01]

There is no doubt I would be quite happy with two things, any of the above and a dinner invitation.

:bow: