Larry,
I think it's how they're cooked. If they are over cooked they taste like liver to me. I've tried mincing them with onion into a pate, sauteed quickly in red wine , spread on crackers , which was pretty good . The last couple, I simply covered them with a little salt and pepper, into a hot pan for 1 1/2 min ea side then 4 min. in an oven on 450. surprising it was like a tender steak.

May I offer my favorite recipe for the very best fileted woodcock breasts you'll ever dine on-

Bring your skillet to HOT with butter, olive oil and crushed garlic cloves just about sizzling...
drop in your woodcock breasts and take a sip of amber nectar. Don't talk to anyone or otherwise be distracted, but at exactly the 1 minute mark flip the breasts over and at the 45 second mark remove them from the skillet. Failure to strictly observe these time limits will destroy an epicurean delight few sportsmen have sampled.... most allow themselves to be distracted with such long-winded discussions and descriptions of "doggies" classic head-held-high point and the amazing luck of how he was able to tumble the beautiful sky-dancer at the very apex pf his rise above the birch-tops and cedars... because then it will have become seriously overcooked to the aforementioned "liver"....





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Precise following of Dean’s instructions is the very best preparation. Simple and exquisite
JMHO

Dean, thanks for your recipe ,can't wait to try it out.

great recipes.....charlie

Where did you live in Norwood ? I grew up on Meadow Brook Nursery over on Piermont Rd. We moved from there to Northvale in 1961. I graduated from Northern Valley at Old Tappan in 1965.

My family has deep history in the Bergen County History.

Might have mentioned this before but here's why our woodcock never make it home from hunting camp...
Hot skillet, a little olive oil, herbs if you like but we go without. Chop the woodcock meat into small pieces. Drop into the skillet for 1 - 2 minutes. Brown but not cooked through. Then add them hot into your scrambled eggs or into an omelet. Yum.

Bruce, it was 8 Meadow Ct. My family moved there while I was in the Air Force.

Great photo