We’ve got some super exciting announcements in the pipeline at the moment, and some interesting blog posts in the drafts folder. However, that’s all still to come, for today, here’s a recipe that’s worth considering for the weekend – with no Six Nations it gives an opportunity to enjoy some time in the kitchen.
This is a recipe which has kindly been sent to us by one of the guns from our roving syndicate! If you have any pheasant in the freezer from last season then give this a go! It’s warming, but a little lighter than mid-winter fare, perfect as we enter the spring! If you don’t have any left, don’t worry, it’s perfect in the early season when apples are ripe and ready for the picking!
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
- 2 pheasants
- Streaky bacon
- 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 sticks of celery
- Sage leaves
- Calvados
- Bottle of cider
- 2 eating apples
- 2 dessert apples
- Brown sugar (for baked dessert apples)
Method
- Brown two pheasants and remove from pan.
- Chop an onion, streaky bacon, a carrot, and celery and fry off with butter in the pan you browned the pheasants in. Add a couple of leaves of sage.
- Return the pheasant to the pan, add the calvados, a pint of off-dry cider, and two chopped eating apples. Bring to the boil, then put in the oven for 25-30 minutes for 190°C.
- After taking out of the oven, remove pheasants, chop into portions and keep warm.
- Add half a pint of stock (as described below) to the liquid left in the pan, simmer for 15 minutes to reduce, and then stir in the cream.
- Pour the sauce over the pheasants and garnish with crispy bacon and sage leaves.
- Serve with baked dessert apples (core, half, and sprinkle with brown sugar).
Pheasant Stock (Developed from a recipe in The Field)
- Raw pheasant carcasses or leftover bones from a roast
- Per carcass: an onion (skin on, cut in half and pierced with 2 cloves), 1 stick celery, 1 unpeeled carrot, 2 peppercorns and 1 bay-leaf
- Some water
Roast carcasses in a hot oven for about 20 minutes with onion, celery, carrot, peppercorns and bay-leaf. (Not required with bones from a roast).
Simmer the carcasses (along with any small bones, juices, or roasted veg bits from the previous step) in a covered pan of water. 500ml should be about right for the recipe above. Long and slow is the aim of the game here – several hours at a low temperature is best!
Once the stock has a nice colour to it, and the taste has become gorgeously rich with pheasant flavours, it’s good to go! Strain into a bowl and refrigerate, allowing the flavours to develop and harmonise even further!
Siparium Sporting 