peacock tenderness

I went looking for a last minute dinner idea last night and shot a youngish male peacock

I breasted it and put it in some iced salt water to do a quickish brine before panfrying it in oil with a few herbs and spices.

It was Impressively chewy, and I threw in the towel after only two pieces of it. juicy and ok flavour but chewy as

Im planning on slowly breaking it down in a gravy crockpot style but I still have the other breast in the fridge to use up

My question is, Is Peacock always chewy because they are such a brilliant flyer and they are full of harder tissue?
or do I need to find another way to break this down thru cooking

my first try last night definitely makes me think mincing is all I can hope for

@Friwi

Brown in frying pan then bake in oven bag

Did you over cook it?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Don't take this as a dig Bill, but how old are you?
Is there a chance your jaw is not a strong as it once was?

I only suggest this because I would take meat to my dad and as he got older (eighties) he started complaining about meat being chewy. I would have dinner with him occasionally and the meat he thought was tough was actually quite tender. I put it down to him loosing his strength.

---

Im 34 so maybe its just time to send me to the glue factory

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MB

Did you over cook it?

---

I cooked it what I would call "perfect" for a poultry breast still moist as can be
4 min one side 3 minutes the other, just like the youtube video told me to as I was cooking it
still tons of juice and I rested it for 5min as well

I feel like I need to try a pukeko to see if its even near as rubbery

the animal was a youngish male that was still a rising animal, small tail as well as not quite but nearly full size
what I "thought" would be a good eater

even if It was half as chewey as that one was It would still be far to chewey to be enjoyed by humans

it did get me thinking tho, they come from india and Iv never seen an indian person eating, cooking or hunting them
maybe this is the bird for looking at and I should be eating the turks instead

@Inder @lnder any chance you could shed some light to if or how they get eaten over there?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MB

Did you over cook it?

---

Did you kill it first?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Oh sorry.
But think about my theory when you get old.

---

You can bet on it I winge at the first grain of sand in my paua and cream haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by outlander

Did you kill it first?

---

Yeah I head shot it with the 22
It hadn’t been dead for more than two hours by the time it was cooked so I’m wondering if that it needs more time to relax post Mortem


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hung by the neck until it drops off was the old English way.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

@Inder @lnder any chance you could shed some light to if or how they get eaten over there?

---

Peacock is Indian National bird and there is severe punishment if one found killing it so you will not find many people sharing peacock recipes :)

Having said that Indians will cook it as we cook any other meat. Put in a pressure cooker with masalas and cook the s$it out of it until meat start falling off the bones.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

I cooked it what I would call "perfect" for a poultry breast still moist as can be
4 min one side 3 minutes the other, just like the youtube video told me to as I was cooking it
still tons of juice and I rested it for 5min as well

---

I wasn't being a dick, this is my new duck breast recipe which works very well. Maybe it'll work for pheasant.

• Score skin
• Heavily season with salt and pepper
• Fry in pan with butter for 1 minute each side
• Place in oven skin side down for 8 minutes at 200C
• Rest for 5 minutes
• Cut across grain

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Inder

Having said that Indians will cook it as we cook any other meat. Put in a pressure cooker with masalas and cook the shit out of it until meat start falling off the bones.

---

Seems to work for most game meats :thumbsup:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MB

I wasn't being a dick, this is my new duck breast recipe which works very well. Maybe it'll work for pheasant.

• Score skin
• Heavily season with salt and pepper
• Fry in pan with butter for 1 minute each side
• Place in oven skin side down for 8 minutes at 200C
• Rest for 5 minutes
• Cut across grain

---

Didn’t even sense any Ill intent, I was considering finishing it in the oven but was hoping it would be at least acceptable out of the pan

It crossed my mind I should beat it like a paua so if worse comes to worst I’ll give that a try


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Inder

Peacock is Indian National bird and there is severe punishment if one found killing it so you will not find many people sharing peacock recipes :)

Having said that Indians will cook it as we cook any other meat. Put in a pressure cooker with masalas and cook the s$it out of it until meat start falling off the bones.

---

Cool to know the reason thanks man

I have a fair few to live export if you guys are running short


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

Cool to know the reason thanks man

I have a fair few to live export if you guys are running short


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Thanks but no thanks @Bill999 :)

Though not as many as they use to be but there are enough to disturb ones summer afternoon siesta with their shrill calls. No to Peacocks but we will happily take in some Tahrs if you have some extra to spare :D

I either schnitzel the breast with a meat hammer or I cut the breast into small chunks and fry all the veggies and sauce and then chuck the meat in until just cooked. Not sure I would want to just fry a breast in a pan and have a go at that.
Pukeko is a highly under rated meat, slice thinly and fry in a pan as hot as you can make it, cook until blue (medium rare at most) and enjoy. Don't forget a a sprinkle of salt.

pukeko goes well in crockpot too....
peacock is supposedly one of the best game birds to eat....MAYBE you are on to reason with the not aged at all thing.....headshot means zero gut contamination so keeping other breast in fridge for a couple of days should pose no problems...just keep it up out of any blood.
if you have lots of them,its almost criminal to not find out what works best....peacock salami...now there is a food sure to have the piss taken out of it at any excuse.

Cut medallions across the breast. About 8mm thick. Sear on a high heat for buggerall each side.

@Bill999

The last time we cooked peacock breasts, we cleaned them thoroughly and vacuum packed and put them in the fridge for 10 days or so. Opened the packets early one morning, everything was fine, so very briefly browned them in hot oil, then into the slow cooker with mild green curry sauce, coconut milk thinned slightly. Left it on low all day (10hrs?). Came home added some fresh spinach, chives, coriander and ten minutes later… ta da! Bloody delicious, tender as.

So, in short, ageing and slow cooking.

@Bill999 I've tried a couple of times and neither has been successful, tried to cook it like chicken and it was terrible. Pukeko on the other hand was delicious, cooked some breast up on the bbq last opening. Couldn't believe it.

It is just a big pheasant after all. Mum had tame(ish) ones that we ate for Christmas dinners etc. Plucked, hung, browned in pan to colour and roasted in an oven bag for at least four hours at 140 - 150 until time and heat has broken down the collagen fibres. Push on the flesh through the bag to test when it is tender and ready to serve. Same with a goose, but brine them overnight in a light brine first then rinse and dry before pan browning.
Puks are tasty but the leg bones splinter everywhere and ruin the dish when cooked so dont stew or soup the leg bones !

Last time I did peacock Breast, I sliced them horizontally so as to be heaven , completely cover them with Dijon mustard.
Pan fried them with a bit of olive oil, finished with a bit of liquid cream and mushrooms ( cooked beforehand).
The strength of the Dijon mustard disappears during the cooking.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Steve123

Cut medallions across the breast. About 8mm thick. Sear on a high heat for buggerall each side.

---

this is how my nabour does it

small medellions drop them in coat and cook and fry in a pan
there are a ton of hungry kiddos over there he feeds with it that rave about it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by charliehorse

@Bill999 I've tried a couple of times and neither has been successful, tried to cook it like chicken and it was terrible. Pukeko on the other hand was delicious, cooked some breast up on the bbq last opening. Couldn't believe it.

---

I hear people mistake it for venison
I find it rather hard to believe that, so id better give it a schoolboy try

I done a bit of research last night on what people do with old chewey roosters that are old and not a meat breed

mincing was the overwhelming winner, basically bone the bird out as much as you can be bothered then run it thru the mincer, so Ill give that a blast on the next one

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

I hear people mistake it for venison
I find it rather hard to believe that, so id better give it a schoolboy try

---

I wouldn't have bothered but the mates youg fulla was cooking up anything that came in the maimai.....hot grill, salt and pepper

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

Im 34 so maybe its just time to send me to the glue factory

---

Thats halfway to 68,
Or a third of the way to 102!

Might be too late for glue.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by charliehorse

I wouldn't have bothered but the mates youg fulla was cooking up anything that came in the maimai.....hot grill, salt and pepper

---

Iv been considering it for my entire life but have always been fed the "cook it with a rock or leather boot, then throw away the pook and eat the rock or boot"

That makes 2 of us haha i got the brick though

Gas hangi it for 3 hours - steaming means it cant dry out at all and if its still tough after 3 hours give it a few more until it falls apart...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bill999

I went looking for a last minute dinner idea last night and shot a youngish male peacock

I breasted it and put it in some iced salt water to do a quickish brine before panfrying it in oil with a few herbs and spices.

It was Impressively chewy, and I threw in the towel after only two pieces of it. juicy and ok flavour but chewy as

Im planning on slowly breaking it down in a gravy crockpot style but I still have the other breast in the fridge to use up

My question is, Is Peacock always chewy because they are such a brilliant flyer and they are full of harder tissue?
or do I need to find another way to break this down thru cooking

my first try last night definitely makes me think mincing is all I can hope for

---

I was scrolling through old threads and found this. Not sure on the science behind it but including baking soda in a marinade for tough meat makes it a lot less chewy.

I've only used it in a Thai goose breast marinade (for thin strips of breast) and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between rump or the goose breast.

Definitely worth a go for any other tough cuts too.

Hahaha sorry I've been laughing over this and the comments.

I don't have any suggestions except for maybe the time frame from live to cooked.... do you need to hang it for a day or two before cooking it?