Perfectly Roasted Woodcock Recipe
Unlock the secrets to achieving a succulent roasted woodcock.
Ingredients
The Bird
- 2 Woodcock skin on
- Coarse sea salt
- Pepper
- Olive oil to coat the bird
- 2 tbsp grape seed oil
Mushrooms, Ramps, and Bacon (Start 10 minutes before woodcock)
- 5 to 6 fresh ramps
- 10 oz shiitake mushrooms cleaned and sliced 1⁄4-inch thick
- 3 thick slices of bacon (non-flavored) diced
Instructions
Mushrooms, Ramps, and Bacon
- Clean and trim the ramps. To keep the leaves green, blanch them for 15 seconds, and then put them into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Once they are cool, slice the bulbs like you would a scallion, and mince the leaves.
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium high heat until almost done but not overly crisp. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon to a small bowl.
- Lower the heat, place the mushrooms and ramps in the same skillet with the remaining bacon fat, and sauté them, stirring gently until the mushrooms begin to release their own moisture.
- Add the bacon and minced ramp leaves to the skillet, and give it all a stir to incorporate. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
- When the mushrooms have reclaimed their moisture, place the mixture in a serving dish, place the woodcock on top, and serve.
The Bird
- Crank up your oven to 500°F and let it heat up for a good 30 minutes. In the meantime, take your birds out of the fridge, pat them dry, coat them with oil, salt them well, and let come to room temperature. That should take around 20 minutes. While you’re waiting, start preparing the mushrooms, ramps, and bacon.
- In a small cast iron pan, heat the grape seed oil and brown the woodcock on all sides. Then put the birds breast side up in the cast iron and roast them for seven to 10 minutes depending on their size. Ten minutes will get you a medium to medium-well, while seven minutes will be medium rare. I think most people will like medium. Take them out of the oven and let them rest. Resting after cooking is a step not to be skipped because cutting in too early makes all the juices run out, leaving you with a dry bird.
Notes
If you don’t have ramps you can substitute scallions. If you forage your own ramps
in the spring, you can freeze some to save for the fall. Or save some woodcock from the fall hunt to cook when the spring arrives with wild mushrooms and ramps. The choice of what type of mushrooms is yours.
in the spring, you can freeze some to save for the fall. Or save some woodcock from the fall hunt to cook when the spring arrives with wild mushrooms and ramps. The choice of what type of mushrooms is yours.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!