New Mexico Wildlife magazine Conserving New Mexico's Wildlife for Future Generations
With fall upon us, soup is a popular meal to warm up on a chilly night. The wild bird meat used for this recipe is very interchangeable, and there is no hard and fast rule on what game bird should be used. I usually use half a wild turkey breast when making, but I used two thighs from a sandhill crane for this recipe. This will easily feed four people!
Ingredients:
- Half a turkey breast, a couple of whole quail, a sandhill crane breast or both thighs, one whole grouse or one whole pheasant (your choice of meat and very adaptable)
- 2 cups of chopped celery
- 2 cups of chopped carrots
- 1 tbsp. of garlic salt (a dash more when in the pot)
- 1 tsp. of pepper
- Three eggs
- 1 ¼-1 ½ cups of wheat flour
- Approximately 11 cups of water
I use a decent-sized electric pressure cooker to start. I will ensure that the meat is nice and clean, with no shot left in the meat.
Once the meat is clean, place it in the pressure cooker with 2 cups of chopped up celery and 2 cups of chopped up carrots. Fill the pressure cooker with approximately 11 cups of water and put a seasoning of garlic salt and pepper into the water (don’t put more water than you safely can). Make sure all ingredients (meat and vegetables) are under the water or have the ability to sink.
Turn on the pressure cooker and put it on the chicken setting (which, once it pressures, will cook all ingredients for approximately 20-25 minutes). You can cook longer if desired, which will tenderize the ingredients more.
Once finished, depressurize the pressure cooker and place all ingredients, minus the meat, into a large cooking pot with water.
Shred or cut up the meat and take out any bones and connective tissue. Once the meat is prepped, place it into your pot with all ingredients. Turn your pot onto a medium heat to develop a slow boil.
I then begin making my noodles, which is nothing more than 3 large eggs and approximately 1 ¼ cup of whole wheat flour. Beat the eggs and then add in the flour and knead it by hand. You want it to become a good dough consistency and not sticky. Start with 1 cup of wheat flour and add a little more until your dough becomes perfect. Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto the wax paper and on your rolling pin to keep the dough from sticking. Once the mixture is ready, place the dough ball onto a sheet of wax paper and roll out to your desired thickness and cut your noodles using a pizza cutter.
Once the noodles are made, start slowly dropping them in a few at a time into your pot of slowly boiling water and stir occasionally. Once you get the last of your noodles in the pot, keep stirring occasionally and maybe cook for five more minutes.
It does not take the noodles very long to cook. Serve with some cheddar cheese slices and bread rolls. Enjoy!
Please get out hunting and fishing in the future and remember to leave the outdoors cleaner than when you arrived!
