The Adlington Post

On my Far North road trip: just out of Waipapakauri on 90 Mile Beach I found a recently killed pheasant by the side of the road. Back at camp Te Araroa tramper Tyler shared some preparation techniques, then a couple of days later at Ahirapa camp Grahame helped me eat my find. See the video at: https://youtu.be/R7h72JOTnEo

Currently I an on a road trip in the Far North of New Zealand. http://cannibals-and-colonials.blogspot.co.nz/ Although I have seen several instances of road-kill on this trip, they have so far been either too mangled, too old, or too large (a turkey and a goose) to salvage. However, just outside of Tauranga Bay I came across a fresh, manageable rabbit. As you can see the eye is still clear. I wrapped the body in newspaper, and later skinned and gutted it at Whangaroa, then hung it in the van for 2 days - it was so fresh it attracted no flies! At Taipa I met some locals who invited me to stay the night on their property, in return I shared my find with them - cooked in a can of tomatoes, with diced pumpkin and carrot, some ginger, and the Promite and beef stock I carry for making gravy. See the video:    https://youtu.be/H_ZHxwygeeU

Over Easter I drove down to Tarankai to look after the sheep farm & campground for a few days while the Herberts attended a wedding in Wellington. On the way I came across a young goat which had very recently been hit and killed outright. Once gutted it fitted neatly into my spare chillybin, and neighbour Lindsay gave me a hand to skin it. I then hung the carcass in the woolshed for 24 hours before roasting the ribs - delicious!

On my way up to Waipu last week I spotted a dead male pheasant at the side of the road. I stopped and went back to check him out - altho he was stiff, he had not been dead long, as he smelled fresh. The body was intact, tho his neck was broken. In the kitchen I gutted the bird, removed the tail feathers to give away, then poured boiling water over the bird as I plucked it - this way the feathers come out easily. My experience with pheasant is that the flesh can be a bit tough, so I mashed up 6 kiwi fruit & squeezed the juice out of a large grapefruit to make a marinade. I filled the body cavity with the mixture, placed the bird into a plastic bag & poured the rest of the mix in on top. This I placed in the refridgerator & left for four days. To roast the bird I placed it into a baking dish with some oil (still filled with fruit), covered the dish, & cooked it slowly for 80 minutes at 160-170 F. The juices and the rest of the marinade made a delicious gravy. The mea...