Simple Grilled Chukar with Lemon, Savory & Thyme
This simple grilled chukar recipe will give you moist and flavorful partridge that you will keep coming back for more.
Count yourself lucky if you still have wild birds in the freezer by the time grilling season rolls around. In fact, if you’ve still got chukar meat in the freezer, throw yourself a party! Fire up the grill, ice down the cooler, and toss your dog a treat.
This chukar recipe, like most of my favorites, is all about letting the ingredients shine through. It requires skin-on, plucked-birds that have done their time in a 6-7 percent simple brine.
And do not forget to add that summer savory.
Simple Grilled Chukar with Lemon, Savory & Thyme
This simple grilled chukar recipe will have your mouth watering and your guests asking for more.
Ingredients
- 2 whole chukar or grouse plucked with skin on and brined
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 3 tbsp fresh thyme chopped
- 1-2 tbsp summer savory chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix lemon zest, olive oil, salt, pepper, and roughly-chopped herbs in a Ziploc bag or non-reactive dish. Add to the mixture two spatchcocked chukar. Allow the birds to marinate at least 30 minutes, preferably overnight.
- Just prior to cooking, add the lemon juice.
- On a cleaned, oiled and very hot grill (above 500 degrees) place your birds bony-side down and cover for 5 minutes. We’re shooting for a good char on the underside. Baste the breast and legs with remaining marinade. Once the edges of the bird begin to crisp up, flip the birds and cover for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the skin of the breast and thighs start to become crispy.
- A great indicator of a perfectly done partridge is when you can tear a leg off at the hip joint with relative ease. When this is the case, plate them and let them rest for five minutes.
- Serve with grilled veggies or a spring salad.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
