Game meat is completely unlike any pair of beef or tender chicken familiar to us. Not every housewife will be able to cook it tasty the first time. Culinary experts call this type of meat a separate landmark in culinary art. It seems to many that delicious game can only be cooked at the stake. But in fact, at home, this task is quite feasible. It can be baked in the oven, fried in a pan and simmer in a slow cooker.
Today we will share with you some “hunting” secrets and cooking features, and at the same time we will tell you how to cook a tasty game without losing time and energy.
Game pickling
The main feature of the preparation of game is the pickling process. This procedure is always carried out, since meat by smell, texture, softness differs significantly from home. How to cook game, and what foods are best to use? You can choose any marinade, there are a lot of options:
- White wine (bird).
- Red wine (bird).
- Mayonnaise (hare).
- Kvass (moose).
- Beer (wild boar, elk).
- Cider (moose, boar meat).
- Berry juices (duck, partridge).
- Grape or apple vinegar (poultry, rabbit meat).
Before marinating, you should determine the age of the meat. Moreover, those who know how to cook game deliciously distinguish two product ages. The first is physical, that is, how many years or months was the animal when it was shot in the hunt. The second age is how long the meat was kept until it got into your kitchen.
The best tastes will, of course, be the younger animals. If you take, say, older rabbit meat, it will be tougher, the pickling time will be longer, and the cooking process itself will be more complicated. For older hare, you will have to use stronger spices and spices, which guests will not always like. Therefore, try to acquire young meat - there will be less trouble with it, and it will turn out to be more tender to taste.
Game Selection
If earlier such meat came to the tables only after hunting, today you can buy elk or rabbit in specialized stores. How to choose it? How to cook the game that fell into your hands from a store shelf? First of all, decide if you have the patience to cook the products in accordance with all the rules. If you are not sure that an expensive piece of elk makes a delicious dish, then it is better to pay attention to poultry meat or fresh beef. But if you have more than enough time and desires, then let's proceed to the recipes.
Capercaillie in the oven
Of course, capercaillie meat is a rare thing, and you won’t be able to buy it in a regular supermarket. But if there are familiar hunters, and in the season there was an opportunity to purchase this product, then by all means do it. How to cook game in the oven if you got a carcass of a capercaillie? We offer two simple and quick recipes.
Ingredients
- One carcass of a capercaillie.
- A pound of champignons.
- 200 grams of butter.
- A glass of sour cream.
- One tablespoon of brandy.
- Salt, pepper, spices (to taste).
Cooking process
Before cooking meat, it should, as we have said above, marinate. The choice of marinade is yours. The time of the procedure will depend on the age of the game (physical and “culinary”). After the meat is marinated, it should be salted, pepper and fry a little in a pan on both sides.
At a time when the main product will be fried, we proceed to the preparation of mushrooms. Mushrooms should be peeled and boiled a little in salted water. After cooking, wash the mushrooms in cool water and cut into slices.
How can I cook the game in the oven to make it juicy and fragrant? Here, the juice in which the carcass of a capercaillie languished while we roasted is very useful to us. In the prepared pan, pour the oil on which the meat was fried. We send the capercaillie to the oven until it becomes soft.
During this time, we need to mix the crushed toasted champignons, sour cream, cognac and aromatic spices. When the capercaillie is almost ready, remove the pan from the oven and pour over the mushroom mixture. Then we send it back to the oven. It takes only five to ten minutes to cook game meat.
Ingredients
- Carcass of a capercaillie.
- 200 grams of bread.
- 100 grams of butter.
- 100 grams of pork liver.
- Two chicken eggs.
- Salt.
- Pepper.
- Spice.
Cooking process
The carcass of a capercaillie should be washed under running water, remove the tips of the wings and lower legs. Now you can put it in your pickle.
While the meat of the game will be pickled, we proceed to the preparation of the "filling". Pass the pork liver through a meat grinder and mix with chicken egg, butter. Salt, pepper and add the spices you like. If you have mushrooms in your refrigerator, you can add them to the total mass of the filling.
After the meat is marinated, it can be stuffed and sent to the oven for an hour. Try to look into the oven more often and water it with the juice that stands out during cooking. The game will turn out more juicy and fragrant.
Many will say that it is rather difficult to get capercaillie meat. What to do if you want to know how to cook game? Duck in the oven will turn out no worse. The cooking process of this bird will be exactly the same as the carcasses of the capercaillie. The only difference, perhaps, will be in the form of marinade and pickling time.
Pheasant in a slow cooker
Everyone knows that pheasant meat is quite tough in comparison with other types of game. How to cook game if it is a pheasant? First it should be boiled. By the way, the broth turns out to be surprisingly light, tasty and rich. It is perfect for first courses.
Of course, boiled meat, even if it is a delicious pheasant, will not surprise anyone today. Therefore, we will use seasonings and spices for cooking. How to cook game in a slow cooker, what will it take?
Ingredients
- Pheasant meat.
- Three cloves of garlic.
- Two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.
- Three tablespoons of soy sauce (classic).
Cooking process
So, as we already said, before cooking pheasant meat in a slow cooker, it should be boiled in slightly salted water. After that, let the bird cool slightly, cut into portioned pieces and put the crock-pots in a pan. Add a little vegetable oil and turn on the frying mode. The meat will be grilled for 25-30 minutes. Do not forget to mix it periodically.
During this time, you need to prepare the sauce. It will consist of mashed garlic, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Mix all the ingredients in a small cup. Then we pour game with this sauce and set the mode “Stewing”. Stew for 10-15 minutes, and the dish is ready. By the way, in the same way you can cook a delicious duck or any other wild bird meat.
Hare in the slow cooker
The crock-pot is a real kitchen assistant, which allows you to quickly and tasty cook any dish, including game. In it you can make not only dishes from the meat of wild birds, but also animals. Let's cook the hare.
Ingredients
- Hare meat - one kilogram.
- Goose or duck lard (can be replaced with oil) - 200 grams.
- 100 ml sour cream.
- Two onion heads.
- 200 ml cream.
- Five medium sized potatoes.
- 100 grams of hard cheese.
- Salt, spices, pepper (to taste).
Cooking process
Like any other game, the hare should be marinated before the main preparation. It is better to do this at night, so that the meat is saturated with marinade, it is soft and tender. For this we need: a glass of water, two tablespoons of lemon juice, bay leaf, four to five peas of black allspice, salt, onions. We mix all the ingredients, immerse the meat in this mixture for at least 12 hours.
After pickling, we take out the hare, dry it with a napkin and send it to the pan. You can fry meat right away in a crock-pot, having previously added oil or lard. Try to fry the hare as quickly as possible on both sides. To delay with this process is not worth it, as overcooked meat will be dry and tasteless. We take out the fried hare and set it aside.
Next, you need to prepare a side dish. In the dishes where the meat was fried, put the peeled and stripped potatoes. Fry it, adding to it onions, cut into half rings. Salt the potatoes, add spices and pepper. Next, you can lay the meat on a substrate. Add a layer of chopped onion on top. The last layer is hard cheese grated on a coarse grater.
It remains to add cream to the dish (you can replace them with broth or plain water) and set the “Stewing” program. As a rule, thirty minutes to cook the game is enough.
Reviews
If you have ever tried quality and properly cooked game, then never refuse to experience this culinary euphoria again. Many housewives say they are ready to spend a day on pickling and a couple more hours on cooking, but to please home with a delicious dinner.
Someone like the game for its unusual and unusual taste. Other housewives are pleased with the fact that you can serve such a dish on the festive table with any garnish and any alcoholic drinks. The choice here is huge.
Delicious and rare species of game - surprisingly tasty and satisfying food. Connoisseurs say that eating a hare or partridge can be much faster than the usual rabbit or chicken from the supermarket. Try to please your loved ones with a culinary masterpiece. Believe me, it will be impossible to tear them from tasty game.