Pheasant

[YetiDave]

So my boss, well aware that I am a total foodie, just turned up with two whole, undressed pheasants for me. It's something I've wanted to cook with for a while and this will be my first opportunity. I'll be cooking them on Saturday, by which point they will have hung for a week.

The question is... What can I do with them? Roasting is the obvious option and one will be cooked that way for sure, either in the smoker or the oven. But how about the other? Any ideas?

 

[Capt]

Pheasants are notoriously dry. To take the time and properly pluck them, is a pain. I always try to brine my pheasants before cooking, doesn't matter if I'm roasting, smoking, frying, etc.


I usually simmer my pheasants in homemade chicken stock and use the meat for pot pies, Phez and dumplings, phez stew, etc. If I am having guests over for a wild game dinner, I usually just chunk up the breasts and make some kind of appetizer with it.

 

[ackvil]

Take a look here. I like them best when cooked in a crock pot. It retains their flavor much better. My mother used to cook it cacciatore style and it was delicious that way.

 

[Khedquist]

I would braise them to keep them moist. They definitely tend to be dry. I love Pheasant. Enjoy.

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Dave:
Also, if you have time, check out these Threads;

Wild Game Recipes: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/315364-Wild-Game-Recipes!?highlight=pheasant

Pheasant: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php/195985-Pheasant?highlight=pheasant

"Every morning one must start from scratch, with nothing on the stoves. That is cuisine". Chef Fernand Point

 

[SteveWY]

Pheasant-Sausage Jambalaya

1/4 cup oil
2 pheasants, boned (No Pheasant? Chicken is fine)
1-2 lb. game sausage, bulk or cased (Pork Sausage is fine)
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (or more to taste)
2 onions
2 celery stalks
2 bell peppers
2 tomatoes
2 garlic cloves (or minced equivalent)
1 (4 oz.) can tomato sauce or V-8 juice
Salt, pepper, parsley and hot sauce to taste

Using a hot skillet; brown pheasant and sausage in oil. Cook until done (20-30 minutes). Drain most of the drippings. Add Cajun seasoning, spices and diced onions, peppers, garlic and tomatoes. Sauté until tender. Stir in cooked pheasant, sausage, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, parsley and Tabasco. Simmer on low for 10 minutes. Fold in cooked rice and serve steaming hot. Accompany with salad or sliced garden fresh tomatoes and corn bread. Enjoy!

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

I skin mine, cut it off the bone and blacken it. The meat on the legs is nearly worthless other than for stock IMO. The thigh meat is serviceable.

 

[Slash McCoy]

You can roast or grill or even deep fry, using the Cajun Injector method. Get a big syringe with an 18ga needle. A normal syringe for I.M. injections is 3cc and you need at least 5cc and 10cc would be even better. Hobby shops often have these. Grocery stores, too, with even bigger needles, about nail size, though I like a regular medical 18ga. The holes are smaller and the juice doesn't all run out as quick. Strain some ordinary Italian salad dressing and fill the syringe, then hit that bird all over with the salad dressing. Get it deep in the meat so it saturates good. Wrap in bacon and saran wrap and refrigerate overnight before cooking. You can remove the bacon before cooking or depending on your method you might leave it on. Try browning at high heat in a big cast iron skillet while pressing it down on the iron until the bacon is well cooked, then dumping a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes in there and covering for a 20 minute simmer. You can take the whole split bird and grill it on charcoal or gas, or in one of those George Foreman type grills that has a top that presses down on the food. Don't overcook. Most game is very lean and overcooking will toughen it and rob it of its flavor. Jambalaya actually sounds like a good idea. You can make jambalaya with just about anything for the meat though I never tried any upland game birds, which are not common in my area anyway.

 

[hawgsquatch]

Make pheasant and homemade noodles or dumplings and kick it up at the end by sprinkling it with a bit of pan sauteed homemade croutons mixed with some fresh sauteed shallots and pine nuts, and a shave of peccarino.

 

[YetiDave]

Well dressing them was.. Interesting.. Never done anything like that before, the neighbours must think I'm a right maniac - I was out last night standing on the wings and pulling the legs until they came off, then proceeded to butcher the pair with a Spyderco. In the dark.

Anyway, I got enough meat off them to feed 4 and it was delicious. It was quite ripe and it worked well in an improvised coq au vin type of dish. I browned off the meat in a dutch oven then crisped up some bacon lardons (the bacon has a really strong juniper and garlic cure) remove the lot and sweat off a mirepoix in some butter. Deglaze the pan with some red wine, return the bacon and pheasant to the pot and add some chicken stock, cover and simmer. It cooked for around 40 minutes, at which point I removed the meat, stirred in some cornstarch to thicken the sauce, returned the meat to coat and served with ultra crispy roast potatoes cooked in duck fat

Short story - pheasant is farking awesome. I'll be buying it again!

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Well dressing them was.. Interesting.. Never done anything like that before, the neighbours must think I'm a right maniac - I was out last night standing on the wings and pulling the legs until they came off, then proceeded to butcher the pair with a Spyderco. In the dark.

Anyway, I got enough meat off them to feed 4 and it was delicious. It was quite ripe and it worked well in an improvised coq au vin type of dish. I browned off the meat in a dutch oven then crisped up some bacon lardons (the bacon has a really strong juniper and garlic cure) remove the lot and sweat off a mirepoix in some butter. Deglaze the pan with some red wine, return the bacon and pheasant to the pot and add some chicken stock, cover and simmer. It cooked for around 40 minutes, at which point I removed the meat, stirred in some cornstarch to thicken the sauce, returned the meat to coat and served with ultra crispy roast potatoes cooked in duck fat

Short story - pheasant is farking awesome. I'll be buying it again!

Dave:

MMMmmm good...a classic variation of the 'braise'!

"Bon Appétit...Celebrating the Chef in You!!! CBJ

 

[Phog Allen]

Dave, good work. The best pheasant I have ever tasted was made by my mum. As mentioned they are so thin skinned it is nearly impossible to pluck them. This brings me to the hanging part. Personally I would have no problem letting a game bird hang for a few days. The old timers knew a thing or three about this and it was commonplace. Heck, they hung chickens and other domestic fowl as well. We usually have them field dressed fresh and frozen away but I suspect freshness is what makes plucking them so hard so we just skin them. Did you pluck or skin the birds? I was wondering if the hang time made plucking easier or harder?

I treat pheasant like red game meat but it can go VERY dry because of the lack of fat marbling. Same as deer or other similar fauna. Getting even a teaspoon of fat from a wild killed pheasant is a feat. Mum took the pheasants and did largely as you did but likely no where near as refined in preparation. Like any lean game meat, braising at relatively low temperatures is the ticket for moisture and tenderness. She braised them in a sweet sherry sauce mixture and they were melt in your mouth tender after and hour or so at very low temperature. Don't ask what she added to the sherry because it was twenty-five years ago and I cannot remember!

Like you she took the braising liquid and cooked it down and thickened it. What a RICH, wonderful meal. Any of the dark meat game birds respond well in my experience to being prepared like wild large game with red meat. Red wine, low temperatures, a touch of bacon for flavour and fat. Maybe shallots in small amounts. Then let the flavour of the meat stand out from any seasoning. Thanks for posting this thread. It has inspired me to get the upland shotguns out of the rack this coming November.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Wishoot]

Wrap them in bacon, grill, enjoy.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Pheasant is a bird that has managed to allude me, which makes no sense since I have no problem knocking dove out of the air.

 

[Hirsute]

Check out Hank Shaw's book, Hunt Gather Cook, or his blog honest-food.net. Lots of great info and recipes on his blog for pheasant.

 

[YetiDave]

I skinned them -

 

[martym]

My family and I must be from way back in the sticks.
we either just throw our birds on the pit or do them guisados (in gravy) on the stove and serve them up over a bed of rice.
fast and simple and get your como se llama back outside, there's more chores to be done. You're burning daylight boy!
Enjoy your birds however you decide to serve them.

 

[BigFoot]

Pheasant is a bird that has managed to allude me, which makes no sense since I have no problem knocking dove out of the air.

Are there Pheasants in North Texas? I used hunt them every day during season in Iowa, I have not seen one since moving to Texas.

 

[oc_in_fw]

Are there Pheasants in North Texas? I used hunt them every day during season in Iowa, I have not seen one since moving to Texas.

Yes, up in the panhandle. I have only been pheasant hunting twice.

 

[Phog Allen]

Hey Dave. Thanks for posting that. My family has hunted these birds off and on for decades and I had never noticed anyone field dressing them this way. Did you do it like that after hanging them for a the few days? I ask because I wondered if they were stable enough to pull apart like that?

Cheers, Todd