Pan-Seared Woodcock Recipe

If you’re anything like me, you care about where your food comes from, what went into making it, and how it got on your plate. It’s a huge driver in how, what and where we buy our food from. While we can do our research and visit some local farms, the truth of the matter is we’re taking someone else’s word for it and really have no clue.

Visit any mega commercial meat operation and you’ll probably look at things a little differently. There is an alternative though, and for millennia it’s how we always got our food, hunt for it.

A few years ago I was gifted some venison back straps from my brother and decided to put a recipe together. It’s been a tremendous hit since (it’s a constant top 3 recipe on this site). There’s something primitively satisfying about the OG “farm to table” you cant find inside a styrofoam and cellophane container of meat packed from the grocery store.

After a recent visit, he handed me another package of meat that is much farther off the proverbial deer trail — a vacuum sealed bag of woodcock breasts and legs.

What is woodcock?

The American Woodcock is a strange bird, ask 100 folks if they’ve heard about it nevertheless seen one and 98 of them will look at you like you have two heads. It’s garnered a smattering of unflattering nicknames; Timberdoodle, bog sucker, swamp bat — none of which scream “EAT ME”. 

However, travel across the Atlantic and its Eurasian cousin (you guessed it, the Eurasian Woodcock) is considered table fare of royalty, ranking high on the list in even the snobbiest of French kitchens. 

It’s a migratory bird, spending its winters where the ground doesn’t freeze, using its beak to poke and prod for worms (yum!), but as soon as possible, migrates up to the northern states as well as Canada where it breeds and fattens up for next year’s flight south.

Some say it was built with spare parts and backwards, as the woodcock features rich dark breast meat and light, bacon-like legs, opposite the poultry you’re likely more familiar with.

How to cook woodcock

You have two options when it comes to cooking this bird; rare or wrong. Cook it beyond rare and culinary sorcery ensues, changing its composition completely to an entirely different element, barely fit for the bird dog it was shot over. 

Cook woodcock so the middle just gets warm, and you’ll be in for a quite a delicacy. If ever anyone says they’ve tasted woodcock and found it to be gamey, dirty or liver-like in taste, that’s because they overcooked it. This bird is meant to be eaten rare. There’s no wiggle room in that statement.

The thing with wild game like duck is, its not chicken, beef or pork so don’t expect it to taste like it. I’ve never understood recipes that involve heavy marinades, wrapping the meat in bacon (fine, however, if it’s salmon), or cream cheese. If you want to eat bacon, cream cheese and jalapeño peppers, you can get that pre-made in the frozen food section. 

When cooking game, you have to be open to the fact it is going to taste different, and if done properly, better than anything you can find in the aforementioned styrofoam tray.

Now, you’re never going to get full on a daily limit of woodcock. Hunting them is a calorie negative experience (unless you have a brother who does all the work). At about the size of a dove, and with a limit of three per day when hunting, make sure there are some fillers on your plate along with it. Whole or breasted out, this woodcock recipe works either way. 

Woodcock are delicate birds, their skin is like gold leaf. Look at it the wrong way and it will tear. If you have a bird that hasn’t been damaged much in harvesting (I swear I’ve cleaned birds that must have died from fright), its worth the effort to pluck it and leave the skin on. 

Interestingly, these woodcock “clean” themselves out every time they fly, so you can actually leave all the internal organs inside and cook them whole. This is the preferred method in Europe. However, we’re in the US so the “crap track” (as it’s affectionately known) and all the other goodies inside are coming out.

Recipe for woodcock

Let the cleaned bird (or breast and legs) come to room temperature. You can’t properly cook something rare when it’s at 35 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lightly season with salt, pepper and maybe a little rosemary, sage or thyme — or, whatever herb you desire. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and a generous tablespoon of butter to a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. If you want, throw in a clove of garlic (like these simple skillet pork chops) but don’t let it burn. 

Once the oil and butter are hot, drop in your precious breast and legs. Now here’s the hardest part — cook them for no more than 45 seconds per side…MAX. Continually baste the meat in the oil and butter mixture as it cooks. 

These things are tiny, it doesn’t take much to get them to temperature. You cannot undercook woodcock but you can certainly overcook it. If you’re cooking whole woodcocks, just continually turn it around to get all sides nice and browned. You may need another 15 seconds per side if it’s whole as you’re only cooking it from one side (spatchcocking solves this problem).

Serving cooked woodcock

I serve it with some nicely toasted and oiled French or Italian bread. Like lion’s mane mushrooms, you can even put the little pieces of bird right on top of the bread. In fact, mushrooms pair wonderfully with the woodcock meat. Eaten this way, it’s more of a light bite or appetizer.

If you want to make a meal out of it, consider pairing the woodcock with some roasted potatoes and onions or wild rice.

Done right you’ll get a bite that is as tender as any filet mignon with a unique, earthy finish similar to a big California cabernet (which by the way, pairs great with this dish). Don’t forget the legs! Their white meat with the skin on are like little birdy bacon bites and a sweet treat in contrast to the bolder breast meat.

More wild game recipes to try

Elk burgers — This recipe comes with a secret to getting the juiciest burger out of an incredibly lean meat.
Venison roast — Made in the pressure cooker, this roast comes out tender and delicious every time. It’s a favorite winter recipe if you’re lucky enough to source a good venison roast.
Venison meatballs — The perfect recipe for any wild game enthusiast craving comfort food. Nothing beats spaghetti and meatballs on a cold day!