Grilled Chukar in Italian Dressing
Bird breasts marinated in bottled dressing, then off the grill fast before they turn to leather.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 47
- protein
- 42 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 8 min
- total time
- 18 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Foil packet
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Chukar, whole or breasted | 2 birds | pheasant or quail works the same way |
|---|---|---|
| Italian dressing | 3/4 cup | the bottled vinaigrette kind, not creamy |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Oil for the grate | 1 tbsp |
Method
- At home, put the birds and the dressing in a zip bag, press the air out, and lay it flat in the cooler. Four hours minimum, overnight is better.
- Build a hot bed of coals or run the grill to high. Oil the grate.
- Pull the birds out and let the dressing drip off. Wet meat steams instead of searing.
- Grill 3 to 4 minutes a side for breasts, longer for whole birds with the skin down first. Pull them at the moment the juices run clear.
- Rest five minutes on a plate before cutting. Salt and pepper at the end.
Chukar is lean to the point of being unforgiving. There is almost no fat inside the muscle to buy you time, so the window between done and dry is about ninety seconds wide. The dressing solves half of that: the oil coats the outside and slows moisture loss, and the vinegar loosens the surface proteins so the meat stays tender under high heat. You are not adding flavor so much as adding insurance.
The other half is your hands. Pull the birds early, rest them, and let carryover finish the job. This is a cooler recipe, not a shelf-stable one — game meat rides frozen and thaws in the marinade on the drive in. If you are packing in on foot, this is not your dinner.
Packing
Marinate at home in the bag you carry. The bag is the marinating vessel, the cooler container, and the trash — no bowl, no dish to wash. Double-bag it; dressing finds every seam.
Variations
- No grate: wrap each marinated breast in foil with a splash of the dressing and set the packet on coals for about 10 minutes.
- Cut the breasts into strips and thread them on green sticks if the grate is small.
- A spoonful of mustard and a crushed garlic clove stirred into the dressing gives it more grip.
https://www.huntingpa.com/threads/chukar-recipe.738