Braised Pheasant With Chestnuts Food

PHEASANT STEW WITH CHESTNUT DUMPLINGS

Steps:

• Cut the legs off the pheasants and chop in half at the knee.
• Cut off the breasts and wings in one piece, then chop in half. You'll have 16 pheasant pieces in total. Reserve the carcass.
• In a bowl, mix the flour with a few pinches of sea salt and black pepper, and toss in the pheasant pieces to coat. Leave for a while so the flour sticks to the skin.
• Peel and chop the onions and carrots, then trim and chop the celery, reserving the peelings. Peel and halve the garlic.
• To make pheasant stock, chop the carcasses in half and put them in a saucepan with a third of the veg and garlic, and all the peelings.
• Add water to cover, and bring to the boil. Simmer gently for 1 hour, skimming off any floating bits.
• Pass through a fine sieve, discarding the vegetables and peelings, then reserve.
• Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over a medium heat. Cut the bacon into lardons, then add to the pan with the floured pheasant pieces.
• Brown slowly on all sides, adding more butter as required.
• Add the remaining vegetables, garlic and bay leaves, and cook until soft and fragrant.
• Pour over the madeira and top up with stock to just cover the meat. Simmer gently for 45 minutes, adding stock if the liquid reduces.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4.
• To make the chestnut dumplings, mix the ingredients in a bowl, crumbling in the chestnuts.
• Mix with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add a pinch of salt and pepper, and just enough cold water to bind everything.
• Dust your hands with flour and roll into about 25 Brussels sprout-sized balls.
• Pour the stew into an ovenproof pot. Drop in the dumplings, poking them under the surface of the stew.
• Cover tightly with a lid or tin foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the dumplings are fluffy and have soaked up the liquid. Serve with braised red cabbage.

BRAISED LEMON PHEASANT

Steps:

• Season pheasant with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour, and shake off excess.
• Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear pheasant pieces until well browned. Stir in garlic, and cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Pour in lemon juice, beef broth, and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the pheasant is tender, about 1 hour.

POT-ROAST PHEASANT WITH CIDER & BACON

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Melt the butter in a large non-stick flameproof dish. Season the pheasants, add to the dish and brown on all sides. Remove from the dish and set aside.
• Add the bacon, onion, celery and sage to the dish and cook for 10 mins until the onion is soft and the bacon is crisp. Carefully pour off any excess fat.
• Return the pheasants to the dish and scatter over the apples. Pour over the cider and the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 25 mins until the birds are cooked through.
• Remove the birds from the dish and keep warm. Return dish to the hob over a high heat. Let the liquid bubble until reduced by half, then add the cabbage, cover with a lid and cook for 3 mins. Add the cream, check the seasoning, and continue cooking for 1 min more. Serve the pheasant on top of the cabbage mixture with some mashed potato, if you like.

BRAISED PHEASANT WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat the butter over medium-high heat and brown the thighs. Take your time and don't crowd the pot. Do it in batches if need be. Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Remove the pheasant and add the sliced onion and mushrooms. Turn the heat up to medium-high and stir well. You may need another tablespoon of butter, as mushrooms soak up a lot. Cook, stirring often, until the onions begin to brown. Salt everything as it cooks.
• Deglaze the pot with the white wine; turn the heat up to high. Scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add the garlic and the pheasant, skin side up. Let the wine cook down by half.
• Pour in enough stock to come up to the level of the pheasant skin without submerging it. Doing this will keep the skin crispy when you finish the dish. Cover the pot and cook in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes; you want the meat to be just barely tender. Uncover, turn the heat to 400°F and cook for another 15 to 30 minutes, until the skin crisps up. To finish, add the parsley, then salt, black pepper and some form of acid -- lemon juice, vinegar, etc -- to taste.

BRAISED PHEASANTS IN MADEIRA

Steps:

• Make the stock: wash the necks and giblets then place them in a medium-sized saucepan with 1 pint (570 ml) water and add all the stock ingredients. Bring everything up to the boil, skim off any scum that rises to the surface, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Put a lid half on the pan and simmer for 1½-2 hours. After that, strain the stock to use for the sauce. If you haven't managed to persuade your supplier to do it for you, begin by jointing the pheasants. This you do with your very sharpest knife as follows: hold the pheasant with the breast-bone uppermost, make a small incision at the back end, then turn the pheasant up, neck end down, in a vertical position, insert the knife where you made your cut and cut right down to the neck end. Then open the bird out flat, skin side down, and cut all along the backbone. Now turn each side skin side up and pull each end, stretching the whole thing out as far as you can. This will reveal a line which naturally separates the two joints, so simply cut along this line. Do the same with the other half and you will have four joints. Begin cooking the joints of pheasant by seasoning them with salt and pepper and frying them in butter and oil until they have taken on a good golden brown colour. As they brown, transfer them to the casserole. Then, in the fat remaining in the pan, fry the shallots until golden brown and also remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate. The bacon should be de-rinded, cut into 1/3 inch (7.5 mm) cubes and browned as well. Then remove these to join the shallots and leave aside for later. Now add the thyme, bay leaves and chopped garlic to the pheasant and pour in 10 fl oz (275 ml) of the stock, the wine and Madeira. Bring everything to simmering point, then keep the heat low so that the contents just gently, almost imperceptibly bubble. Put on a tight-fitting lid and cook on top of the stove for 45 minutes. After that add the small whole mushrooms, the bacon and shallots, and spoon some of the juices over them. Then put the lid on, bring everything back to a gentle simmer and simmer for a further 45 minutes or until the pheasant is tender when tested with a small skewer. To finish the sauce, mix the softened butter and flour to a smooth paste. Then, using a slotted spoon, remove the pheasant, bacon and vegetables from the casserole to a warmed serving dish and keep warm. Bring the liquid up to a fast boil and let it bubble and reduce by about a third. Next add the butter and flour mixture, using a wire whisk to distribute it. Then, as soon as the sauce comes back to the boil and has thickened, pour it over the pheasant, bacon and vegetables and serve; or cool, refrigerate and re-heat gently the next day. Although imported new potatoes are not very flavoursome, in the winter months they are an ideal accompaniment to something very flavoursome like this and a few snipped chives sprinkled on them improves their flavour. A little steamed broccoli or tiny button sprouts would also be a good accompaniment.

BRAISED CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Heat a large heavy saucepan. Add the oil, butter, and chopped onions. When onions turn slightly brown, deglaze with port wine. Add thyme, chestnuts, chicken stock, and a little salt and pepper. Cover and cook until chestnuts are tender and the chestnuts have absorbed most of the liquid.
• Serve as whole braised chestnuts or pass through a ricer and make a wonderful chestnut puree.

BRAISED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Rinse pheasant thoroughly.
• Place in a roasting pan; sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour and dot with butter.
• Add 3/4 cup water and bake at 350F for about 1 1/4 hours or until tender.
• Baste frequently with sauce in pan.

BRAISED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, brown the pheasants in the safflower oil on all sides. Tuck the sliced apples and onions in around the pheasants. Pour the apple jack over all and light it on fire. Shake pan until flames subside. Dust the tops of the pheasants with nutmeg.
• Bake covered for about 1 hour, or until the juices run clear when a knife is inserted into the thigh. Remove the Pheasants, apples and onions to a platter and keep warm in the oven.
• Transfer juices to a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the half-and-half and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt-free seasoning blend and ground black pepper. Pour over the pheasants and serve.

BRAISED PHEASANT WITH CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Make the stock by simmering the pheasant neck and gizzard with the onion, carrot and celery, salt and pepper, thyme and bayleaf for 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Melt the butter in a casserole large enought to hold the pheasant surrounded by vegetables in one layer. Saute the carrots, shallots and turnips in the butter until they are golden. Sprinkle the flour on the pheasant and brown in the butter. Turn down heat, cover and leave to simmer.
• Meanwhile, make a short vertical slit through the top of the chestnuts toward the bottom. Simmer for five minutes in boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon one at a time and peel while hot. If you allow the chestnuts to cool, the inner skin sticks to the chestnuts. Use rubber gloves if you cannot peel the chestnuts with your bare fingers.
• Add the chestnuts to the casserole. Add the wine and one cup of stock. Cover and cook for half an hour. Test the pheasant for doneness and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pheasant to a serving dish. If the sauce is too liquid, bring to boil and reduce. If it is too thick, add more stock.
• Arrange the vegetables and sauce around the pheasant and serve hot.

BRAISED PHEASANT WITH CHESTNUTS

Steps:

• Make the stock by simmering the pheasant neck and gizzard with the onion, carrot and celery, salt and pepper, thyme and bayleaf for 20 minutes. Set aside.
• Melt the butter in a casserole large enough to hold the pheasant surrounded by vegetables in one layer. Saute the carrots, shallots and turnips in the butter until they are golden brown. Sprinkle the flour on the pheasant and brown in the butter. Turn down heat, cover and leave to simmer.
• Meanwhile, make a short vertical slit through the top of the chestnuts toward the bottom. Simmer for five minutes in boiling water. Remove with a slotted spoon one at a time and peel while hot. If your allow the chestnuts to cool, the inner skin sticks to the chestnut. Use rubber gloves if you cannot peel the chestnuts with your bare fingers.
• Add the chestnuts to the casserole . Add the wine and one cup of stock. Cover and cook for half an hour. Test the pheasant for doneness and season with salt and pepper. Remove the pheasant to a serving dish. If the sauce is too liquid, bring to a boil and reduce. If it is too thick, add more stock.
• Arrange the vegetables and sauce around the pheasant and serve hot.