Game meat is extremely tasty as long as you know how to cook it. Its characteristic is that it is drier, and the animals' muscles are harder and tougher. This is mostly due to the fact that they live freely, move actively and are not fattened by humans.
No matter what kind of game meat we are talking about, it must stay in its skin or feathers for several days. For this purpose, it is cleaned of all the insides, washed and left to cool, preferably in the refrigerator. For the rabbit the period during which it should be left is about 5 days, for the snipe - 9 days, for the partridge - 8 days, and for the pheasant - 6 days.
Before proceeding with roasting the game meat, it is mandatory to leave it in the marinade for a day. It can be warm or cold, but one basic recipe is followed for its preparation: mix 500 ml of wine, 250 ml of vinegar, 1 carrot, 1/2 onion, 2 bay leaves, 20 peppercorns, 2 cloves and about 2 liters of water.
It is better to boil this mixture for about 10 minutes, then let it cool completely. Only then is the game meat put into it. It is imperative that it is completely covered, which means that if necessary, double or triple the amount of the marinade should be made. Most poultry, as well as rabbit, are roasted whole after being stuffed, and larger game is cut into pieces and then soaked.
After the game has been left for a day, it is removed from the marinade and drained. It should not be forgotten that game meat is much drier than that of farm animals. It is always cooked with more fat and it is best if it is spiked or wrapped with pork fat or fattier bacon.
You can prepare the stuffing of your choice for the animals you will be stuffing. It can consist of rice mixed with the entrails of game, of vegetables, of aromatic herbs, of nuts, etc.
Smaller poultry such as quails, for example, can be roasted by themselves as stuffing for zucchini or eggplants, for example, or simply by being skewered. The meat is always roasted covered so that it does not dry out further and is placed in a preheated oven.
If you want to cook game meat in a casserole, you won't go wrong either. Most hunters believe that boar meat becomes tastiest this way. In this case, you will not have to turn on the oven in advance, but only after you have put the guvec with the meat in it.
Leave it at about 220°C for 30-40 minutes, then reduce it to 180°C. The lower the temperature is and the slower the game meat is roasted, the tastier its meat becomes.
Try our suggestions for stewed quail, pheasant with apples and roasted venison leg.
