There’s a reason everyone who writes about rails uses the word “secretive” to describe them.

Last year, we got lucky, and on our first rail hunt ever, we were met with a storm surge that flooded the seaside marshes. The birds had limited cover and we didn't have any problem finding them and getting them to flush. This year, even though we timed our trip with the highest predicted tide of the month, we had a difficult time connecting with these elusive birds.

We heard their distinct chattering all around us- they seemed to be everywhere, but we only managed to flush a handful. There wasn't enough high water for us to pole through the marsh edges, so we waded, stomped, and mucked around in knee deep water with spartina grass scratching at our arms and face for hours. 

We would spread out and push towards a point, at every step thinking the birds would have to jump when they ran out of grass to hide in. At the end of each point we would turn around and then have a bird jump, out of range, from the area we had just walked through.

These birds are much, much better at moving through the marsh grass than we are.

As a consolation, we pulled some of last season's rails from the freezer. We fried the legs in a classic fried chicken style with some hot sauce on the side. We removed the breasts, made stock from the bones, and then made this pot pie.

Rails taste like an amalgamation of dove, chicken, and quail, with a hint of marshiness. The legs cook up like tiny chicken thighs, but the breasts have a richer and darker quality, like a milder duck. 

This rail recipe checks all the boxes for a classic pot pie, but we added a little twist by lightly smoking the breasts before adding them to the filling. It’s filling, warming, and hearty.

Rail Pot Pie Recipe

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Breasts from 10-12 rail birds

1 cup onions, diced

⅔ cup carrots, diced

⅔ cup celery, diced

2 cups potatoes, diced into ½ inch cubes

~3 cups rail stock or other light-colored stock

6 tbsp roux (equal parts butter and flour)

2 tbsp virginia ham, diced

~¼ cup cream

2 tbsp butter

Pie crust

Method:

Preheat the smoker to low heat, high smoke. Season the rail breasts lightly with salt and pepper, and smoke for ~20 minutes. Remove from the smoker and refrigerate until ready to use.

Par cook the potatoes in water until slightly soft but still toothsome, around 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a wide, heavy bottomed pan, cook the ham, onion, celery, and carrots with butter over medium low heat until tender, stirring often, for about 10 minutes. Set aside. 

Bring stock to a hard simmer. While you’re waiting for it to simmer, make your roux by sauteing equal parts butter and all-purpose flour until the mixture is light brown and toasty-smelling. When the stock simmers, whisk in 3 tbsp of the roux and cook until fully incorporated. Add cream and stir. Season with salt and pepper and continue adding roux as needed until the mixture is thick and gravy-like.

Preheat the oven to 425F. 

Dice up rail breasts. Add rail, potatoes, celery, carrots, onion and ham mixture to the gravy. Stir and adjust seasoning as needed. Pour into pie crust or pie pan. Top with pie crust and brush with egg yolk (optional). Bake until golden brown, 10-15 minutes.