Your Best Pheasant Receipes
Discussion
mattdaniels said:
Been given these two beauties.
Only me and the OH to feed, what's the best way to use them up?
Nice!Only me and the OH to feed, what's the best way to use them up?
I'd keep it simple and roast? Just make sure they don't dry out and don't bust your teeth on any shot!
Had a meal at Brasserie Blanc recently - slow roast pheasant breast and confit leg bon-bon. Both were delicious. Added bonus was that Ray White was doing some of the chefing!
mattdaniels said:
Been given these two beauties.
Only me and the OH to feed, what's the best way to use them up?
It's hard to say exactly what the recipe was but one of the best ways I've done a brace was in the slow cooker.Only me and the OH to feed, what's the best way to use them up?
Rubbed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and browned them off in a hot frying pan. Put in slow cooker.
In the same pan fry off some bacon lardons, then onions (you can do these chunky or use button onions), mushrooms (if you like them, my wife doesn't
) garlic, & chopped celery. Then add some chunks of root veg just to heat through ready for the slow cooker e.g. carrots, swede, parsnips etc. Lob all this stuff in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with a decent bottle of cider, add a chicken stock cube (or real chicken stock if you've got it). Bring it to the boil and add to the slow cooker covering the veg and birds. Add a few teaspoons of dried mixed herbs, good twist of pepper and let it cook away for at least 8 hours by which time the meat should be falling off the birds. When it's getting near to serving time take the bird out of the slow cooker and strip of all the meat / shred it. It should come away really easily, discard the skin. Add the stripped meat back to the slow cooker and it's ready.Serve with buttery mash and cabbage. Mmmm, think I'll be making a trip to the butchers for a brace of birds myself.
C0ffin D0dger said:
It's hard to say exactly what the recipe was but one of the best ways I've done a brace was in the slow cooker.
Rubbed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and browned them off in a hot frying pan. Put in slow cooker.
In the same pan fry off some bacon lardons, then onions (you can do these chunky or use button onions), mushrooms (if you like them, my wife doesn't) garlic, & chopped celery. Then add some chunks of root veg just to heat through ready for the slow cooker e.g. carrots, swede, parsnips etc. Lob all this stuff in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with a decent bottle of cider, add a chicken stock cube (or real chicken stock if you've got it). Bring it to the boil and add to the slow cooker covering the veg and birds. Add a few teaspoons of dried mixed herbs, good twist of pepper and let it cook away for at least 8 hours by which time the meat should be falling off the birds. When it's getting near to serving time take the bird out of the slow cooker and strip of all the meat / shred it. It should come away really easily, discard the skin. Add the stripped meat back to the slow cooker and it's ready.
Serve with buttery mash and cabbage. Mmmm, think I'll be making a trip to the butchers for a brace of birds myself.
I can see that being very tasty and might give something similar a go! Not a criticism, but I think I'd try and keep the pheasant a bit more intact and not overwhelm the flavour of the meat. I'm not personally a fan of over-hung or overcooked game as pheasant does have a nice subtle taste in its own right.Rubbed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and browned them off in a hot frying pan. Put in slow cooker.
In the same pan fry off some bacon lardons, then onions (you can do these chunky or use button onions), mushrooms (if you like them, my wife doesn't
) garlic, & chopped celery. Then add some chunks of root veg just to heat through ready for the slow cooker e.g. carrots, swede, parsnips etc. Lob all this stuff in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan with a decent bottle of cider, add a chicken stock cube (or real chicken stock if you've got it). Bring it to the boil and add to the slow cooker covering the veg and birds. Add a few teaspoons of dried mixed herbs, good twist of pepper and let it cook away for at least 8 hours by which time the meat should be falling off the birds. When it's getting near to serving time take the bird out of the slow cooker and strip of all the meat / shred it. It should come away really easily, discard the skin. Add the stripped meat back to the slow cooker and it's ready.Serve with buttery mash and cabbage. Mmmm, think I'll be making a trip to the butchers for a brace of birds myself.
Some sort of Port or red wine reduction goes well with it too!
mattdaniels said:
Thanks chaps some good ideas there. I know they are not huge but there is still a lot of meat there, any suggestions for portioning up / freezing ?
They'll look a lot smaller when plucked!One between two should be fine. Taking my Raymond Blanc example that was one breast and one leg each. It was enough, but we weren't stuffed!
If it was me I'd pluck/gut both, freeze one and eat the other.
Hope you enjoy them and let us know how you get on!
Roman Rhodes said:
I can see that being very tasty and might give something similar a go! Not a criticism, but I think I'd try and keep the pheasant a bit more intact and not overwhelm the flavour of the meat. I'm not personally a fan of over-hung or overcooked game as pheasant does have a nice subtle taste in its own right.
Some sort of Port or red wine reduction goes well with it too!
Definitely get that, problem I have is that if ever I have pheasant at a decent restaurant I really like it, but try to do any sort of roast pheasant at home and it's never quite the same. Such a fine line between being done and then going dry. Hence the slow cooker as it cannot fail as a hearty stew. The pheasants round here are generally so cheap anyway it doesn't hurt to experiment. Probably sous vide followed by a sear in a red hot pan is the way to do it and probably similar to what restaurants do.Some sort of Port or red wine reduction goes well with it too!
C0ffin D0dger said:
Roman Rhodes said:
I can see that being very tasty and might give something similar a go! Not a criticism, but I think I'd try and keep the pheasant a bit more intact and not overwhelm the flavour of the meat. I'm not personally a fan of over-hung or overcooked game as pheasant does have a nice subtle taste in its own right.
Some sort of Port or red wine reduction goes well with it too!
Definitely get that, problem I have is that if ever I have pheasant at a decent restaurant I really like it, but try to do any sort of roast pheasant at home and it's never quite the same. Such a fine line between being done and then going dry. Hence the slow cooker as it cannot fail as a hearty stew. The pheasants round here are generally so cheap anyway it doesn't hurt to experiment. Probably sous vide followed by a sear in a red hot pan is the way to do it and probably similar to what restaurants do.Some sort of Port or red wine reduction goes well with it too!
OK, I shoot a fair bit, and regularly have a brace of pheasant or partridge. Many may not agree, but I don'rt bother plucking and preparing the whole bird. I generally either pluck just the breast and then portion off the breast and discard the rest, or if I don't want the skin on the breast don't bother plucking at all, just tear the skin back on the breast and portion out the breasts.
The amount of meat on the legs just isn't really worth the effort.
Anyway, just using breast, this would be my quick go to:
Pan fry the breasts for a minute or two on each side and set aside, add to the pan some shallots and some diced smoked bacon and sweat down, add a glass of white wine and reduce a bit, add a cup of chicken stock, and some double cream, add a handful of wild mushrooms, pop the pheasant back in with a hanful of chopped parsley, and very gently simmer for a few minutes (4 or 5), but don't over do it!
Serve with mash and greens
The amount of meat on the legs just isn't really worth the effort.
Anyway, just using breast, this would be my quick go to:
Pan fry the breasts for a minute or two on each side and set aside, add to the pan some shallots and some diced smoked bacon and sweat down, add a glass of white wine and reduce a bit, add a cup of chicken stock, and some double cream, add a handful of wild mushrooms, pop the pheasant back in with a hanful of chopped parsley, and very gently simmer for a few minutes (4 or 5), but don't over do it!
Serve with mash and greens
After some of the shoots near us, I have seen upwards of 100 birds dumped in a hedge. The local game dealer doesn't want anymore and people can't be bothered with the prep. A real shame and not good publicity for the shoots at all.
This is especially the case given that they can be prepared very quickly if needed. Laying the bird on its back, standing on each wing and pulling the legs will yield a pretty much ready to cook breast in less than 10 seconds!
This is especially the case given that they can be prepared very quickly if needed. Laying the bird on its back, standing on each wing and pulling the legs will yield a pretty much ready to cook breast in less than 10 seconds!
hacksaw said:
Curries. Love a pheasant curry in the slow cooker. I get inundated with pheasants at this time of the year, to the point I don't even bother gutting / plucking anymore, just breast them out and chuck the rest away.
Just like me. Males breast and legs taken off. Females breast out only. Breast meat diced for curries and legs kept for BBQ's later next year.
I usually hang for 3-5 days in the barn before plucking.
I did pheasant katsu curry on Wednesday.
Onion, celery, garlic, carrot, chopped and fried off, add curry powder and flour, cook through, add chicken stock gradually, stirring. Add sugar and soy sauce, cook off for 20mins then blend to smooth consistency.
Breast the pheasants, pound to a uniform thickness. Dip in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs. Fry off until crisp. Serve on rice with sauce on top.
I tend to breast the pheasants and skin the legs. Save up the legs then confit in fat in the low oven. Pull out the tendons. Keep preserved in fat and crisp up in a hot oven when needed.
Onion, celery, garlic, carrot, chopped and fried off, add curry powder and flour, cook through, add chicken stock gradually, stirring. Add sugar and soy sauce, cook off for 20mins then blend to smooth consistency.
Breast the pheasants, pound to a uniform thickness. Dip in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs. Fry off until crisp. Serve on rice with sauce on top.
I tend to breast the pheasants and skin the legs. Save up the legs then confit in fat in the low oven. Pull out the tendons. Keep preserved in fat and crisp up in a hot oven when needed.
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