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Hi all

Well the new game season has been in now for a while and I have been picking up on a partridge shoot for the last 4 weeks and taking my fair share of the little brown wonders, but these in my opinion are too delicate a bird to go into sausages. However last night I got 6 ducks and next week sees the start of the pheasant shooting season for me and I know there will be a glut of pheasants to turn into sausages, pies etc. I was wondering if anyone had a good game sausage recipe that incorperated pheasant. I have tried Franco's game mix but I find the salt content too high, so anyone got any ideas?

Cheers WW

Try these:

Duck, Sage and Garlic

Roast 5 whole heads of garlic at 160 C in a quarter inch of water and a covered pan. Cool slice in half squeeze out pulp.

1.5 kg raw duck meat
675 g back fat, domestic duck fat or chicken fat
40 g kosher salt
60 g roasted garlic paste
65 g fresh sage, minced
15 g cracked black pepper
125 ml ice water
125 ml red wine

hog casings

grind all solid ingredients trough a small plate, add wine and water, mix well. Stuff, link, let bloom overnight. Excellent when grilled.

Pheasant and Apple Sausage (or turkey, or chicken)

2 cups apple cider, or apple juice
1/4 cup calvados, or sweet white wine (sauternes, tokay etc.)
3 1/2 lbs pheasant meat, coarsely chopped
3/4 lbs pork back fat
4 oz dried apples, chopped, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes, drained
2 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. rubbed dried sage
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp. each of cinnamon, and fresh grated nutmeg

Reduce cider over medium heat until 1/4 cup remains. Cool, add calvados. Grind pheasant and fat together through a 3/8 inch plate. Add dry ingrediants, mix well. Add cider/calvados mixture, and mix well until tacky in consistency. Suff into casings.

This is a great surprise to substitute this for bangers on breakfast morning.

NOTE: When I make any poultry sausages, I gently poach them (after trying steaming, and having them burst) in 170 degree F water, for about 20 minutes, until an internal temp of 165 F is reached. I then rinse in cool water, and freeze until ready to use. They can then be reheated and colored on a grill, a griddle or however. I do this since a lot of my sausage goes to friends and family, and I don't want them undercooked.

Fantastic Vinner

Many thanks

Cheers WW

PS Can you tell me the difference between Kosher salt and normal salt?

As I undersatnd it, regular salt (table salt) can have additives, such as iodine. Kosher salt is pure. Another important difference is the volume versus weight. As Kosher is usually thickly ground, it weighs less per volume. If you can, always go by weight, and not measure.


For the record, I always use kosher when I cook, and I don't measure.

And WW, let me know how it goes. I haven't hunted pheasant since university days (30 years ago). My room mate's mum used to make pheasant pie (cooked in cornbread), a West Texas treat. MMMM-M-M!

Kosher salt is 100% sodium chloride made into tiny pellets of a very consistant size. Chefs in the US like it because it is easy to add precise amounts of salt by hand. It's just salt, tho'. I'd use Maldon, and get used to adding a little less than is called for in recipes using kosher, because Maldon tastes better.

Thank you both, most educational.

Cheers WW

Hi
paid �2.75 a brace fpr partridges a couple of days ago in Suffolk

Was that a fair price?

I was asked that EACH for french packaged ones at a farm shop on the A1

George

Hi GB

�2.75 is a very reasonable price for a brace of Partridge. I assume at that price they were not dressed?

Around here the shoots are getting c�3 a brace in the feather (early season) for partridge and c�1.50 a brace for Pheasant. Wild ducks are selling out at c�5 a brace and believe it or not a brace of pigeon made �1.85 at Hereford auction last week!

Prices of game will drop by some way after Christmas when 50p a brace for Pheasant and �1 a brace for partridge would not be unheard of. Ducks around here tend to maintain their price irrespective of time of year.

Cheers WW

Hi WW
dressed. Why are partridge dearer than pheasant?
George

Hi GB

If you paid �2.75 for a brace of dressed partridge you did very well.

Partridge command a higher price because some people prefer the flavour of the meat also they are no where near as easy as pheasants to keep on your land and get over the guns. Also Pheasants are put down in huge numbers compared to partridge therefore supply and demand rules apply.

Game dealers pay a premium for Partridge as they command a higher price when sent over to France. So really there are a number of reasons why the little brown wonders are a bit more expensive.

There are two forms of partridge in this country, they are the grey and the red. The grey is indigenous to these shores and the red are often called french partridge. YOu can tell them apart quite simply as the colour red and grey applies to their legs. Aslo the grey is a much smaller bird and a lot, lot less common. I personally would hate to see greys for sale, but their numbers are increasing so hopefully in the not too distant future we will see good heads again in the countryside.

Sorry to ramble on a bit...........Cheers WW

Hi
the offer today in Ashton was red leg partidge (phesant and duck but all sold out) �1.50 each in feather.

Pheasent �8 a brace dressed, they were quite plump, �6 a brace for partridge, Duck �4.50 each

Bought a brace of Pheasent.

George

Hi George.

Is that Ashton under Lyne? I am coming to work there in the not too distant future and would love to know where you buy your game, although I expect I will be bringing some of my own up on a regular basis..

Wow!!!

To think of the ammount of game I give away each year.... I think I'll get myself a dry plucking machine this year and dress the birds for the guns and sell them oven ready.

All proceeds will go into my fund to reintroduce partridges to the area. We released 100 this year and expect about 20% to go into the bag by the end of the year. If we manage to get a few wild broods reared next year then we'll look to put out 250 next time round including 50greys.

I've done nearly 30 pheasants this week breasted and thighs, which have gone into a pheasant and mushroom stroganoff for the next shoot dinner. Last week was venison and black cherry casserole that went down an absolute treat.

In fact I'll put a recipe up for a game pie in the coookery section.

Best regards,
FB

Hi WW
yes, that Ashton. I get my game at the farmers market last Sunday of the month. Excellent Lancashire cheese as well

George