BUTTERMILK-BRINED SHORE BIRD
INGREDIENTS
Brine-
4 cups water
-
4 cups buttermilk
-
1/2 cup kosher salt
-
2 bay leaves
-
1⁄2 teaspoon thyme
-
1⁄2 teaspoon oregano
-
1⁄4 teaspoon pepper flakes, optional
-
1 Tablespoon Snake Oil fish pepper sauce or equivalent, optional
Herb Butter
-
3 garlic cloves minced
-
1⁄4 teaspoon thyme
-
1⁄4 teaspoon oregano
-
3 tablespoons butter
-
Onion halved Instructions
METHOD
-
To brine the bird. Bring water, salt bay leaves, thyme, oregano and pepper flakes to a boil to dissolve salt. Allow brine to cool to room temperature before adding buttermilk and fish pepper or equivalent hot sauce. Place poultry and brine in a large Zip Lock bag. Remove air from bag. Place poultry in refrigerator for 4 hours and up to 8. The longer the poultry is in the brine the saltier the bird will be.
-
To get a crispy skin this next step is important. Remove the bird from the brine and dry completely with paper towels. DO NOT RINSE. Place the bird UNCOVERED back in the refrigerator on a cookie sheet or drying rack. Leave UNCOVERED for 12-24 hours. This step will only dry the skin. The meat will remain juicy.
-
Prepare your herb butter. Mince garlic. Add garlic, thyme and oregano to melted butter. Place in refrigerator to solidify.
-
To cook. Remove the bird. Pepper to taste on all sides. With your fingers scoop small gobs of the herb butter and place BETWEEN the skin and the meat in as many places as possible. You will have some leftover. Melt and retain this butter for the cooking baste. Leave the bird at room temperature while preheat the oven to 500°. Place 14” Lili or 12” Joan cast iron pan into the oven to preheat.
-
Once the oven has reached 500°, remove cast iron pan from the oven and place onion halves in center of pan. Open the bird and place bird upside down - chest cavity side up - over the onions.
-
Roast the bird 10 minutes chest-side up at 500°.
-
Remove, turn the bird breast-side up. Baste the breast with reserved butter.
-
Return to 500° oven for an additional 10 minutes.
-
Remove the bird and lower the oven to 350°. Allow oven to cool (door open) to 350°.
-
Return the bird to the oven to roast for 20-30 minutes or more. Internal temperature of thigh should be between 155°F to 165°F or until the juices run clear. Use your judgement here based on the weight of the bird and your personal preferences.
-
Remove the bird from the oven. Tent the bird with tin-foil. Allow to rest 10 to 15 minutes. This is a critical step as the bird will continue to cook during the rest. If you skip this step the juices will run out when you cut the bird. Wait for perfection.
There are many ways to vary this recipe and we use it with any poultry or wild game birds that tend to dry out in cooking; guinea hen, grouse, pheasant etc. Just remember to vary your brine and cooking times to compensate for the weight of the bird. We often roast vegetables along with the bird; parsnips, potatoes, onions, and other root vegetables. You can roast mushrooms under the bird or apples. The method provides crispy skin on a juicy bird. The cast iron, in contact with the vegetables, caramelizes the sugars.
SEAFOOD FRITTERS
The Eastern Shore of Virginia is, for all intents and purposes, clam country. In fact, the Old Dominion State has the largest clam fishery in the United States, hauling in hundreds of millions of both farm-raised and wild varieties, from little necks, cherrystones, and razors along the coastal peninsula’s Chesapeake Bay shorelines to quahogs off the banks of the Atlantic Ocean. And if you’re not eating them raw or roasted, there are few ways better to indulge than the local delicacy of a pan-fried fritter.
CHESAPEAKE OYSTER STUFFING
A round of oysters is always cause for celebration, and this time of year on the Chesapeake Bay, that shows up in the form of oyster stuffing. Whether stuffed into a bird or cooked in a cast-iron pan, it’s a time-honored tradition during the holiday season. Or, as Harris’s book reports The Baltimore Sun putting it in 1914, “Inside the oyster belt at Thanksgiving time, it is nothing short of heresy to fail to serve turkey with good old-fashioned oyster stuffing.” Throw it into a Joan and consider it tradition.
SEARED HANGER STEAK WITH CHARRED SCALLION SALSA
There was a time not that long ago when you’d walk into certain butcher shops, ask for a hanger steak, and get a quizzical look. Perhaps that’s because, for some time, the secondary cut was also known as a “Hanging Tender,” hailing from inside the ribcage (in fact, it’s part of the diaphragm), as well as “the Butcher’s Steak,” with those cunning meatmongers often keeping this deeply flavorful, textured specimen for themselves. “But the gig is up,” says Pryles, who shares her pan-cooked version with us, featuring wagyu, no less, and a bright salsa to boot.
Shop All Cookware
Got this recipe from a friend? Sign up below so you never miss a recipe.
