The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

GreyQueen

How to unzip a bird.


Example of a woodpigeon but apparently works on other bird species but not waterfowl.

Assemble chopping board and sharp knife, a bin bag perhaps held open in a box and very clean hands.

Holding dead pigeon around its chest, extend a wing to its fullest extent and feel around where it joins the body for the shoulder joint. Twist to remove. You may have to twist 360 + degrees. Discard wing. Repeat for other wing.

Hold bird upside down and gently pull downwards on neck (think like milking a goat). You’re aiming to move the crop down the throat towards the head. Then grasp neck low where it joins the body and twist off. Discard. You may or may not be left with a long bit dangling from the body – it’s the thorax and nothing to worry about. Ignore and move to next stage.

With what’s left, hold between your two hands and, with your thumbs back to back (they’ll be squashed together). You slide your thumbs down the neck hole and one of them with slide over the smooth plate of the breast bone. With your thumbs as far as they’ll go into the body cavity, hook the tips of your thumbs outwards and draw them up. You’re effectively turning the bird inside out.

What you have now is the breast bone which is like a pyramid and is covered with thick dark red muscle meat. Discard the rest of the bird. Laying the breastbone down, use a sharp knife to slide around the base of the pyramid separating the meat from the bone. Then make vertical cuts from top to bottom ending up with slivers of meat for a pie.

BTW, it the bird was shot the pellet may have passed right thru or may be in the breastmeat; flick it out with the knife tip if necessary.

We made pies next. In the middle of the woods in the pouring rain. And I thought as I was doing it that I don’t even make pastry from scratch at home!
It’s really fast and easy even for a noob, if it a bit gruesome.




Directions above in very pale greyscale, copy, highlight and turn back into black type if you want to see it, ignore it if you don't.

Karmacat

That's a thoughtful way to do it, GQ, thank you.

GreyQueen

Karmacat wrote: »

That's a thoughtful way to do it, GQ, thank you.

My pleasure, hun, didn't want to distress any persons of the vegetarian/ vegan disposition.

[Deleted User]

Nargleblast wrote: »

There you are, Mardatha , anything's possible!

Except, of course, Jelly Babies and Jelly Beans aren't the same thing.

[Deleted User]

GreyQueen wrote: »

didn't want to distress any persons of the vegetarian/ vegan disposition.

I'm a vegetarian, but it doesn't distress me.

Indeed, I've done my share of animal skinning and butchering, over the years.

[Deleted User]

We have a cat visit us, from time to time, at work.

I don't think it's feral, because it's very friendly, and I don't think it's a stray, because it's very clean and has very neat fur.

I offered it some Cat Star biscuits, and it ate about two and left the rest, so I put down some sardines, and it turned it's nose up at those too.

I've never met a cat before, that doesn't eat sardines. :think:

DigForVictory

After some vigorously worded discussion, my prepping has included making home made mango chutney.
Hurrah Aldi doing mangoes cheap & then home bargains having some even cheaper...

Karmacat

Omigod. HM mango chutney. Is this heaven? Best prep ever!

PipneyJane

DigForVictory wrote: »

After some vigorously worded discussion, my prepping has included making home made mango chutney.
Hurrah Aldi doing mangoes cheap & then home bargains having some even cheaper...

Recipe, please! I'm very impressed.

- Pip

DigForVictory

Er, apologies to BBC for cut & pasting wholesale

Ingredients
4 large mangoes, peeled, stoned and sliced
salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
450g/1lb caster sugar
2 baking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 tbsp English mustard powder
1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
600ml/1 pint white wine vinegar
1 tbsp cayenne pepper

Method
Put the mango slices in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt. Leave overnight. In the morning, drain off the juice and rinse the fruit.

Put the garlic, sugar, apples, mustard, ginger, vinegar and cayenne pepper in a pan and, over a low heat, dissolve the sugar.

Bring to the boil and add the mangoes. Simmer for 30 minutes until the chutney is thick and syrupy. Spoon into sterilised jars and seal.

I think the major selling point is that you can do it over two sessions, but the chaps assure me that the great big chunks of mango are a bonus too. (It can be fiddly slicing a fresh mango, so I just use a very sharp knife, peel the mango & slice chunks off til I hit the stone, chuck that on top of the peel, rinse the knife & start in on the next mango.)