Not just for the birds

Author: Bob McMichael

  • Partridge Pot Pie with Herbed Biscuit Topping

    Partridge Pot Pie
    Partridge Pot Pie

    I found myself in the lucky situation of having a lot of birds to cook, and the not so lucky situation of having my first nasty head cold of the season. I craved something hearty, comforting, and good for me. Chicken soup never sounds good to me, so my wonderful wife suggested we make some pot pies out of the chukar, Huns, and pheasant cluttering up our counter. A veteran of the Internet recipe sites and a great cook, Leslie found a recipe, modified it a bit, and – voila! – it was fantastic and easy. The hardest part was cleaning the birds (not that I’m complaining). Enjoy!

    Partridge Pot Pie with Herbed Biscuit Topping

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 cup butter, in all
    • 1 to 4 cups cooked wild game bird – chukar, Hun, grouse, or pheasant, cubed in bite-sized chunks (we used just one chukar breast for these four pies; one bird per pie is ideal)
    • 1 small onion, chopped
    • 3 celery ribs, chopped
    • 3 carrots, chopped
    • 2/3 cup frozen peas
    • 8 button mushrooms, sliced
    • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
    • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
    • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
    • 2 cups chicken broth
    • 2/3 cup half-and-half cream
    • salt and ground black pepper to taste
    • 1 can of “jumbo-sized” refrigerated flaky biscuits
    • Dried thyme, for topping

    Makes four individual servings.

    Directions:

    1. Make sure your bird dog is nearby, preferably napping with his pet monkey
    2. Clean your birds, and make sure you have a good IPA to accompany this grisly chore
    3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C)
    4. Melt 1/4 C butter in skillet over high heat, and brown (sear) the cubed bird meat and put aside.
    5. Melt remaining 1/4 C butter in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the onion, celery, carrots, and mushrooms until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in peas, parsley, thyme and flour, and cook, stirring constantly, until the flour coats the vegetables and begins to fry, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth and half-and-half, and cook until the sauce is thick and bubbling. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, and mix in the bird meat.
    6. Cut biscuits in half, making two discs. Put one disc in the bottom of a baking dish.
    7. Transfer the meat, vegetables, and sauce into the baking dishes. Arrange top half of biscuits on top of the filling. Sprinkle with dried thyme.
    8. Bake in the preheated oven until the biscuits are golden brown and the pie filling is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.
    Brittany with stuffed monkey
    Angus napping with his monkey
    Pheasant, chukar, Hungarian partridge ready to clean
    Blessed with birds
    Cleaning game birds
    Clean your birds with a good craft beer

     

    Saute with mushrooms
    Saute with mushrooms
    Add the peas
    Add the peas
    Add the cream
    Add the cream
    Fill baking dishes
    Fill baking dishes
    Top with biscuit
    Top with biscuit
    Partridge Pot Pies
    Partridge Pot Pies
  • Angusing

    Angusing

    Angus

    What is it about our dogs? Or maybe I should speak for myself, and – since he can’t type – Angus. I’m just in a tribute mood, perhaps because we’re in the “holidays,” and I’m feeling grateful for lots of things.

    Angus is at the top of my list. My new job keeps me away from him during the week so I don’t get to spend the same amount of time with him that I used to. He’s 5-1/2 years old, so between halfway and a third of the way through his too-short life, with any luck. Leslie (also at the top of my list) and I don’t have kids, so Angus bears the brunt of our parental feeling. He is spoiled, for sure. But he’s darned well appreciated, too.

    I try not to regret that I didn’t hunt with him until he was three. It’s hard not to because my connection, I should say our connection, has intensified a lot in our three seasons together in the field. Being away from him during the week and only able to hunt weekends, too, has honed my appreciation of him.

    Reading a fellow bird hunter’s blog yesterday also has something to do with this. In a post titled “I Slipped His Collar,” Randy described putting his “go-to” dog down in simple, heartfelt but unsentimental words. From his post it was clear he’d been through this many times. I’ve done it once and dread the next time. And I don’t want it to get easier, and suspect it won’t.

    Glenna and Angus have increased my predisposition toward morbid thoughts, but I came to dogs late in life and am regularly felled by the ineffable and ephemeral connection I feel with them (the dogs, not the thoughts). As I write this, I’m home for the weekend and Angus is bored and playing with his toys. Serial goofiness: rubber ball, shrieking monkey (three of them, in various states of dismemberment), Nylabone, then his chin rests on my knee. He wants to get out, and so do I. It’s these rarer moments of down time together that allow me this reflection and time to wonder if he’s reflecting on anything or just thinking of his next half-cup of kibble, or of nothing at all. Maybe he feels something like comfort having me nearby for a change. I hope so. I know I’m comforted by his presence, even while dreading the end of that.

    We both need to get out and look for some birds.

  • Angus the Retriever

    Brittany spanial with Hungarian partridges
    Angus relaxing after a Hungarian day

    I’ve raved about him before, many times, often regaling his retrieving prowess. Well, Angus amazed me once again on Sunday with his pursuit of a Hungarian partridge. After a nice point at the beginning of our day, a small covey of Huns took off and I lucked out by knocking one down. A split second before Angus would have had it in his mouth the Hun flew off with what looked like full power. Angus kicked it in high gear farther down the field. The bird went down again, and Angus almost got it. It flew again, with Angus locked onto it. Then it hopped, and hopped, and hopped some more. I worried Angus wouldn’t catch up to it before it escaped off a cliff or into a thicket he couldn’t reach it in, but Angus stuck with the bird until finally prevailing.

    The video (see below) shows him following the bird’s every move with what Twain referred to (in a similar context) as “considerable interest.” Enjoy.

  • Friends in the field

    Hunting upland birds with friends
    The Intersection

    I usually hunt alone or with my wife (and of course Angus). It’s rare to be able to coordinate schedules with friends and deal with the travel time involved. Last weekend was a rare pleasure for me because I had a couple of friends, another great dog, and my usual companions to hunt with for two days. Most of the birds we saw both days were Hungarian partridges, but we also saw a few chukar.

    The first was a bust (bad weather, few birds located), but that’s how hunting goes sometimes. The second was much better: better weather, more birds, and some new (for me) scenery. Enjoy those days in the field with your friends. More to come on these days…

    Hungarian partridges Idaho
    The fruits, with a nice composition framed by a friend

  • Benelli Ultra Light shotgun review, round 2

    Benelli Ultralight 12-gauge shotgun
    Truly an all-day gun

    About a year ago I posted a review of the Benelli Ultra Light 12-gauge shotgun. I just wanted to give a bit of an update on this thing. The short story is that I still love it, probably more now than last season, for a couple of reasons.

    A year ago today, about 30 minutes into my morning hunt I jumped off of a big rock to get down a steep slope to Angus, who’d been locked in point for a while. I landed wrong, and shredded my ankle badly. My post, “Bad Day” details this experience, but doesn’t mention that in order to get back to my truck, about a mile away down horrendous basalt scree and over severely undulating terrain, I had to use my Benelli, fairly new at the time, as a crutch. Not being able to put any weight on my left leg, I held the Ultra Light by the barrel (after remembering to unload it) and used the gel pad on the stock end to stabilize me. Three hours later, I was back at the truck, sick to my stomach for many reasons, one of which was the damage to the gun I was sure I’d done.

    But when I looked at the gel pad, it was only slightly scraped. I was also worried about the stress I’d put on it that, surely, Benelli’s engineers couldn’t have intended the gun to absorb. With my down time I checked the tolerances and fittings for any play and couldn’t detect any. I was also sure I’d scraped the walnut pretty badly, but – despite getting separated from my gun during the fall, when it slid about thirty feet below me and came to rest with the barrel pointing right at me – the stock sustained only minor scratches. Conclusion: although she’s a looker, she’s pretty tough, too.

    Benelli Ultralight shotgun in action
    Rain or shine, the Benelli Ultralight’s a great chukar gun

    But appearances aren’t the only things that matter, and I’m happy to say that after putting hundreds of rounds through the gun it hasn’t hiccuped, or even sighed. And, as I mentioned before, I shoot the cheapest loads money can buy. I’ve scraped it a lot more this season than last, mostly because I’m hunting terrain I probably shouldn’t. Despite the steeper slopes and being less fit than last year, the gun’s light weight has continued to prevent me from the sore forearms and shoulder I’d get lugging my heavier 12-gauges up and down all day.

    Finally, despite being a perennially poor shot, I’ve gained confidence with this gun I never had with others, and am bagging more birds as a result. Shots I used to pass on because they seemed too far out I’ve been routinely successful making this year. I suppose that can happen with any gun, but my feeling is that because it’s light my arms work better than if they were fatigued from carrying a heavier gun. Or maybe I’m just over-reaching here and still trying to justify spending what was for me a lot of cash on a shotgun. In any case, I’m glad I got it and – if I ever get another gun – would buy another Benelli. It’s the best chukar gun I’ve had, as well as the best grouse, Hun, and pheasant gun.