Re: Swan recipe

M

memphis john

Member
I am a transplant to Nevada. Having lived a good portion of my time in Memphis, I was thrilled when I came to Nevada and learned there was waterfowl to be had. This season was relatively poor due the ongoing drought, so I headed north for swan. The state allowed for a duplicate tag and I got two swans for the first time. Anyone have any ideas for a fully plucked swan? I was told it is the best of the waterfowl, but I wouldn't know because I haven't lived anywhere where you could legally shoot them. Any ideas are appreciated. My girlfriend will spend the day cooking them at her place. I tried to find a recipe in a cookbook, but I am guessing it would be similar to a goose recipe. The swan have been properly hun g, and should be ready for an epicurean delight. This is a great board for feedback. Thanks to everyone.
 
I shot them in Fallon, Nevada; if you listen to the news, it is about thirty miles from the town of Fernlley...the town that just recently flooded. I shot them on the Stillwater Refuge. I would suggest a trip once in your lifetime. Times for hunting here are best in October. The swans don't really migrate until late November or early December. If I dont have a smoker, how would you cook them?
 
Cook it breast down in a large roaster. give the whole bird inside and out a rub with olive oil, salt and pepper or other favorite seasoning. Stuff the cavity with apples or spuds and onions. Cooking it breast down allows the juices to collect and add moisture to the breast meat. Also if you have a cooling rack or somthing to keep the meat off of the bottom of the roaster it will keep the meat from getting soggy.

Enjoy!! and remember swans were fit for kings to eat
 
Cook it breast down in a large roaster. give the whole bird inside and out a rub with olive oil, salt and pepper or other favorite seasoning. Stuff the cavity with apples or spuds and onions. Cooking it breast down allows the juices to collect and add moisture to the breast meat. Also if you have a cooling rack or somthing to keep the meat off of the bottom of the roaster it will keep the meat from getting soggy.

Enjoy!! and remember swans were fit for kings to eat
Click to expand...

Vandy, talking about swan meat gets me all worked up to make some new soles for my hunting boots haha..... Started work on the swan foamy last night....
 
I have cooked and eaten 9 swans now and highly recommend largest size Reynolds baking bags. I fill cavity with apples and onions (not to be eaten later) and cook 6 hours at 275F. Follow bag instructions. Meat will fall off bones. The mildest and best eating waterfowl outside of canvasbacks. No coincidence they both feed on tender sago pondweed tubers. People who do not bake waterfowl "low and slow" are making a big mistake. I like 275 for four hours on large divers. OK to cook small pieces or flattened breasts of small dabblers in a hot wok though, but I love duck skin too much to do this, especially scaup, cans, ringnecks, and redheads. When you freeze your ducks, make sure you have the legs folded in the cavity. That way they won't dry out during roasting.
 
John,
I've hunted the Fallon area 2 years and think it is just an awesome area for hunting. Have taken two swans. I did not cook mine whole. Breasted them and took the legs and neck also. Made a kind of swan tips over rice with one.

Swan meat in small strips, marinate as desired
dice into small pieces garlic, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms
add all to cream of mushroom soup
cook low and slow until done
pour over rice cooked with beef boulon cube.

Maybe next season or two we could meet up for some swan hunts
 
I have eaten swan a couple of times. IMO, flavor was OK, but to quote a buddy of mine "the more you chew it, the bigger it gets!" Kind of like Grapenuts.

We had grilled it with bacon wrapped around it like you do duck.

Good luck!
 
My recipe for SWAN is to filet out the breast and cool it to near freezing, then slice the meat as thin as possible and to soak it in terryaki sauce overnight. Then lay all the slices out on the dehydrator for a day and VOILA! Swan jerky. excellent!

Cooling the meat to near freezing helps with the slicing. You can skip this step if you have a quality deli slicer. I don't.
 
I forgot to mention. After your big dinner of roast swan, cut the carcass into smaller pieces, bones and all, and boil out the meat for swan soup. Delicious!
 
Hello there, I just finished cooking my swan using your suggestion. I stuffed the cavity with one onion, and about five Jona Gold apples. I did not add anything else, and I cooked at 275 as you instructed, for about 5 and one half hours. This is undoubtedly the best waterfowl I have ever had. I do have a question for you: are the swans featthers hard to pluck for you? It seems that once they have been hung, that the feathers don't pull out as easily as when I hang ducks. If you ever come by Vegas, just drop me a line.
 
Thanks. I gave up plucking and waxing swans after the first few. Start on them when they are still warm if you must pluck and its much easier; same with all other birds of course. There are over 300,000 feathers on one of these beasts! Would be a real luxury to have a plucking machine good enough to do this job quickly, but I don't believe such a machine exists. Damn near takes pliers to get some of those big feathers out. Just skin them, and don't toss that carcass, as it will make a lot of great soup.
 
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