Woodcock Breasts with Black Pudding

 

Woodcock breasts on black pudding and chutney

Like many wild game birds, woodcock are perhaps most commonly plucked before being roasted and served whole. Personally, I choose not to go down this road as almost all the meat is to be found on the breasts. I prefer therefore to simply pan fry the breast fillets as in this recipe or perhaps incorporate them with other game meats in such as a game pie or terrine.

Woodcock crowns, before and after under-skin membrane removal

To clean a woodcock, I simply remove the wings before pulling the entire crown free from the rest of the bird. You can then easily pick away the feathers and wash the whole crowns before peeling off any remaining membrane that is found under the skin and slicing the breasts off with ideally a fish filleting knife.

Cook Time (not including cleaning woodcock from start)

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ready in: 15 min

Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

• 2 skinless woodcock breast fillets
• 2 half-inch (1.25cm) thick slices Stornoway black pudding, rind removed
• Vegetable or sunflower oil for frying
• Salt and pepper
• 1 egg, 7 to 10 days old
• Generous handful mixed salad leaves of choice
• 3 or 4 baby plum tomatoes, halved
• 2 teaspoons homemade tomato and onion chutney or similar

Frying woodcock and black pudding

Method

Put the egg into a small pot of cold water, ensuring it is fully covered. Put the pot on to a high heat until the water starts to boil then reduce the heat to simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Season the woodcock breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Pour a couple of tablespoons of oil into a frying pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Add the woodcock and black pudding to the pan and fry the breasts for 2.5 minutes each side.

Woodcock breasts are turned to fry on second side

Lift the woodcock to a plate, cover with foil and leave to rest while you fry the black pudding slices for a further 5 minutes on their second side.

Black pudding slices and salad are plated

While the meat is frying, wash the salad leaves and tomatoes, shake dry and combine in a bowl. Season with a little salt and toss.

When the egg is ready, lift your pot to the sink and run cold water into it for a couple of minutes to cool the egg quickly. Crack the shell gently on a hard surface and peel away. Half the egg down through the centre.

Plate the black pudding and arrange the salad leaves around the slices in an attractive fashion.

Chutney is spooned on to black pudding slices

Lay an egg half at each end of the presented salad. Carefully place a teaspoon of chutney on each black pudding slice and evenly spread with back of spoon.

Cut the rested woodcock breasts in half at an angle on a chopping board and arrange one on top of each black pudding and chutney combination before serving.