Best Way to Cook Ruffed Grouse LEGS

[1stLand]

Wanting to try and salvage as much meat as possible when I harvest these beautiful birds.

What are some of the ways you cook the Legs? Recipes?

Rather than toss them away (the legs), I would like to cook them.
Already have tons of Breast Meat Recipes

Thanks in Advance

[Blackacre]

Check this guy out, he not only show the typical way to skin a grouse and cut off the breast meat, but he also talks about what he does with the legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXSgUlc9f6I

[calgarychef]

First of all...good on you for eating the legs too. There’s more meat there than people realize. Put them in a small roaster add butter, salt and pepper and a bit of water. Cover and bake in the oven until tender. That’s all you need to do

[ghostguy6]

I save them until I'm at my max limit of birds then coat them with cajun bread crumbs, egg wash, then a second coat bread crumbs before going into some hot oil. Put the cooked legs into a bowl and cover with franks red hot and ranch dressing. It ends up being a plate of hot wings.

[fitzy17]

Originally Posted by Blackacre

Check this guy out, he not only show the typical way to skin a grouse and cut off the breast meat, but he also talks about what he does with the legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXSgUlc9f6I

love it. thanks for sharing. Ive never really gone specifically for grouse. Ive been wanting to but always get sidetracked with more goose hunting r decide to go sit in the stand for deer/elk. With my work schedule i get free time during the week so Ive been meaning to go somewhere around the city to shoot some grouse during the day.

[Red Bullets]

I always take the whole grouse from the pope's nose to the throat and treat it like a regular chicken. I part grouse out same as a regular chicken, dredge in flour, granulated onion and garlic, pepper and fried in butter. Heavy cast iron pan. Every part has flavor and nutrition. I take the gizzard and heart too. I shoot grouse to eat I would never leave behind or throw away part of the food. I could never understand why some people only take the breasts of birds. Geese is the same too.

If I have a few drumsticks sometimes I'll use the drumsticks to make a soup base. Once they are falling apart I will add the little bit of meat from the legs back to the pot. The soup base is excellent for wild mushroom soup. I add dried morels, red tops, combtooth and when I have it wild onion. A soup made with all nature's best.
If on foot grouse hunting in September, if it doesn't snow, a person can sometimes find and harvest fall mushrooms and wild onion to go with the grouse. Even roasting the grouse whole stuffed with wild onion mushroom based stuffing.

[Red Bullets]

Originally Posted by fitzy17

love it. thanks for sharing. Ive never really gone specifically for grouse. Ive been wanting to but always get sidetracked with more goose hunting r decide to go sit in the stand for deer/elk. With my work schedule i get free time during the week so I've been meaning to go somewhere around the city to shoot some grouse during the day.

(just in fun)
You won't see many grouse around Jasper ave or Whyte ave. Best bet is probably terwilligar park, mill creek ravine or the river valley. Terwilligar dog park would be good because if you shot a grouse someone's dog would retrieve it for you. hahaha

[fitzy17]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

(just in fun)
You won't see many grouse around Jasper ave or Whyte ave. Best bet is probably terwilligar park, mill creek ravine or the river valley. Terwilligar dog park would be good because if you shot a grouse someone's dog would retrieve it for you. hahaha

You know what I mean haha

[happy honker]

Originally Posted by Red Bullets

(just in fun)
You won't see many grouse around Jasper ave or Whyte ave. Best bet is probably terwilligar park, mill creek ravine or the river valley. Terwilligar dog park would be good because if you shot a grouse someone's dog would retrieve it for you. hahaha

Mill Creek has been terrible for grouse this year...lots of mallards though!
Lol...I did see pheasants (or the same pheasant several times?) in Mill Creek ravine just off 76 ave a few years back.
Speaking of Mill Creek, I haven't seen a yote in there since spring...there were tons in there last year with the partial trail closure from the bridge construction...less people using the trails so the yotes felt really comfy in there.

Fitzy...look up if you can hunt grouse in Ministik south-east of Edmonton, it's close and I saw a lot of birds when we were looking for mushrooms this summer. I know it's a migratory sanctuary but I'm not sure if this applies to grouse also. I don't know, because I've never hunted in there. They hunt deer and moose in there.

[West O'5]

Best way to cook ruff legs??
Hmmmmm...??
I’d say an open fire....do not over cook,30 seconds over a Bic lighter should about do it,baaahaha 😝

[happy honker]

Originally Posted by happy honker

Fitzy...look up if you can hunt grouse in Ministik south-east of Edmonton, it's close and I saw a lot of birds when we were looking for mushrooms this summer. I know it's a migratory sanctuary but I'm not sure if this applies to grouse also. I don't know, because I've never hunted in there. They hunt deer and moose in there.

My bad...looks like you can't hunt upland birds in Ministik.

[TUFFBUFF]

we have quail and they are small, what we did was marinated them in a few things - onions, soy sauce and what have you. Then smoked 'em for a while the BBQ. No complaints here!

I would try something like that if I had a handful of grouse legs.

[Mayhem]

See post #43...Haven't tried it myself yet tho. I know you said recipe for legs only but this just looks delicious.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...=grouse&page=2

[newguy]

Searing the legs in a hot pan before you do anything else really enhances the flavour. Then I simmer and make a broth for soup and eat the legs. Tender and excellent eating!

[mindoutside]

Originally Posted by Blackacre

Check this guy out, he not only show the typical way to skin a grouse and cut off the breast meat, but he also talks about what he does with the legs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXSgUlc9f6I

Can anyone tell me why you would freeze meat in water? The guy in the video suggested that.

[newguy]

Originally Posted by mindoutside

Can anyone tell me why you would freeze meat in water? The guy in the video suggested that.

We froze walleye in water from lake Winnipeg. We were told it makes for longer freezing and no freezer burn. Always moist after thawing too!

[bigbadjoe108]

Hi all,

I've tried this with grouse and it is fantastic! It's for the whole bird, but totally worth a try.

I figure if you get enough legs/thighs this should work as well.

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/...recipe-1909836

I just replaced the lettuce with spinach and everyone loved it!

[GrouseHunter]

My favorite way to cook and eat Grouse is to Fondue the meat in Peanut Oil then have several delicately flavored dipping sauces to dip the meat in. Any standard Fondue set will work.

Grouse meat is so flavorful and delicious I do not like masking the flavor with any types of heavy sauces, creams etc.

[EZM]

Originally Posted by newguy

We froze walleye in water from lake Winnipeg. We were told it makes for longer freezing and no freezer burn. Always moist after thawing too!

Exactly right.

Back in the "olden days" when you actually had a larger limits on fish, my mom would freeze fish (enough for one meal) in water so it would form a block. The fish always tasted much nicer compared to freezer burnt fish not surrounded in water.

[deerless]

Stew! I've got 2 birds in the slow cooker right now, actually!

Pluck and gut, remove head, feet and wingtips so you're left with a carcass. Cut the breasts off. You can cook these seperately, or add them to the stew if you feel like.

Soak everything in a milk bath or salt-brine overnight in the fridge. This pulls the blood and gameyness out of them and makes them a little more tender.

Throw the carcass / carcasses in a pot or slow cooker on low, leave to simmer for a while. A long while. This works best if you have a couple birds. Eventually the meat will fall off the bone. Strain the stock into a bowl or something, and get to work scraping the meat off tge bones. It is a little fiddly and takes time, but there is actually a ton of meat you can get off them! I just use my fingers.

Add the meat back to the broth, add spices and veggies, your preferred thickener (flour or whatever) and simmer for a couple more hours and you're done!