Grilled Bacon Wrapped Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan are not only a good bird to hunt, but also make a very good meal.  The meat is very similar in size and color to a small duck.  I decided to try a recipe that has tasted good with just about any meat I've tried it with, especially waterfowl.   After most of our hunting and fishing trips we all get back together and cook a big meal from the game or fish that we got.  The first attempt at this recipe was made at one of these dinner and everyone agreed it was the best Ptarmigan they ever had.

Ingredients

Ptarmigan meat breasted and filleted Teriyaki sauce Bacon Fresh jalapenos Cream cheese Pineapple slices Salt & Pepper   Directions 1. Prepare meat: Cut the meat off of the breast bone so you have each breast separate and free of bones.  Don't forget the tenderloins!  Next, fillet each breast in half making it a thinner piece of meat.  This not only makes it easier for wrapping but also takes less time to cook.  Rinse the meat and ensure there are no remaining feathers or shot still in the meat and then pat dry with a paper towel. 2. Marinade the meat in teriyaki sauce overnight in the refrigerator.  I use a zip loc bag to ensure all the meat is in the marinade and you end up using less teriyaki this way. 3. Get a good handful of toothpicks and put them into a bowl of water.  This will prevent them from catching on fire when put on the grill. 4. Preheat the grill to 300-325. 5. Get all of the stuffing ingredients prepared and ready.  Cut the jalapeno peppers either in half or in quarters depending on your taste.  Cut the pineapple into 1/2" - 1/ slices.  Finally cut the bacon strips in half. 6. Place a piece of bacon down with a piece of ptarmigan breast meat on top of it forming a "t".  Next, place a jalapeno, cream cheese filled jalapeno, or pineapple in the middle of the meat.  Roll up the ptarmigan meat and wrap the bacon all the way around the ptarmigan covering end to end. 7. Take 2 toothpicks and pin the edges of the bacon in a cross shape holding it all together.  Repeat until all pieces of meat are used.  For the ptarmigan tenderloins I usually wrap 3-4 each inside bacon with other ingredients. 8. Salt and pepper the wraps to taste. 9. Place the wraps evenly on the grill and cook until the bacon is crispy on the outside.  I prefer duck meat to be medium rare to medium, so I generally cook the ptarmigan similarly, until it is around 140-145 deg.  Remove toothpicks and let meat rest for a few minutes.  Enjoy! We added some extra veggies and made kabobs with this batch ...