Braised Pheasant Food

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.

POT-ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the pheasants with the flour, then heat the oil in a large flameproof dish. Brown the pheasants all over, then remove from the dish.
• In the same dish, fry the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs with 1 tbsp of the dusting flour for 5 mins, until the vegetables start to colour. Put the pheasants and any resting juices back in the dish, pour on the Marsala, wine and stock, add the sugar, then cover and cook for 1 hr 30 mins - 1 hr 50 mins or until the leg meat easily comes away from the bone. Serve with bread sauce.

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 IN REMARKABLE MUSHROOM GRAVY

Steps:

• Dredge pheasant pieces in seasoned flour.
• Heat butter and 2 tbs oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add about 5 pheasant pieces -- make sure everything's in a single layer and not overly crowded. Cook 3 minutes/side until brown and remove. Repeat with remaining pheasant, adding oil as needed.
• Remove last batch of pheasant and set aside. Add mushrooms. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Add onions to mushrooms, cooking for three or four minutes until tender.
• Add 2 tbsp of reserved seasoned flour. Stir well.
• Add wine, stock, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and make sure to scrape all those bits from the bottom of the dutch oven. Add pheasant pieces.
• Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour.
• Serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

PAN ROASTED BREAST OF PHEASANT WITH VANILLA AND PEARS

Steps:

• To cure the pheasant: In a large bowl combine the water, 1/4 cup each of sugar and salt, mixing to dissolve. Add the pheasant breasts, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• To make sauces: In a large, non-stick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium to medium-high heat. Add the shallots cooking until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla bean and seeds, white wine, cider, and cream. Bring to a simmer cooking until the liquids are reduced and thickened to sauce consistency, about 10 minutes. Add the ginger. Season with salt and pepper. Keep warm.
• In another saucepan, combine the red wine and the honey. Bring to a simmer over high heat cooking until reduced to coat the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes. Reserve.
• To cook the pheasants: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large non-stick ovenproof skillet, add 2 tablespoons butter and melt over high heat. Season the pheasant with salt, pepper, and coriander. Add the pheasant skin side down, cooking until browned and well-seared, about 5 minutes. Turn over and transfer the pan to the lower rack of the oven. Cook until just about medium, about 6 to 8 minutes depending on the size of the pheasant breast. Carefully remove the hot pan from the oven. Allow to rest a couple of minutes before cutting.
• In another large, non-stick, skillet heat 1 tablespoon of the butter over high heat. Add the Anjou pears cooking until they just begin to soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Add two tablespoons of the sugar cooking while occasionally stirring until browned on the edges, about 4 minutes. Remove the pears and keep warm.
• To Serve: Position the rice pilaf mixture in a cylinder form in the center of each hot serving plate. Position the pear slices around the rice cylinder. Slice the pheasant on a bias to yield 4 or 6 thin broad slices. Stack the slices on top of the rice cylinder. Spoon the vanilla-ginger and red wine sauce artistically over and around the pheasant and on the plate. Sprinkle the dish with freshly ground black pepper and chives. Garnish with the vanilla bean and sprigs of chive over the pheasant. Serve immediately.

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 RED CABBAGE WILD RICE

Steps:

• Make wild rice:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a fine sieve rinse wild rice well and drain. In a small saucepan bring broth to a simmer. In a small flameproof casserole Sauté rice in oil over moderately high heat, stirring, 1 minute and stir in hot broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture to a boil and bake, covered, in middle of oven 1 hour, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
• While rice is cooking, in a 10-inch skillet cook bacon over moderate heat until crisp and transfer to paper towels to drain. Transfer all but 1 tablespoon drippings to a small bowl and reserve for cooking pheasant.
• Heat drippings remaining in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté onion and cabbage, stirring, until softened. Add vinegar and salt and pepper to taste and sauté, stirring, 1 minute. Chop bacon. Just before serving, stir cabbage mixture and bacon into wild rice.
• Make pheasant while rice is cooking:
• Rinse pheasant under cold water and pat dry inside and out. Cut pheasant into 6 serving pieces, transferring feet, back, neck, and wing tips to a small saucepan. To saucepan add water and bay leaf and simmer, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes, or until reduced to about 3/4 cup. Strain stock through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl.
• In a small bowl stir together salt, pepper, and allspice. Pat pheasant dry again and sprinkle evenly with allspice mixture. In a 10-inch heavy ovenproof skillet heat oil with 1 tablespoon reserved drippings over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and sauté pheasant until golden, about 5 minutes on each side. Transfer pheasant to a plate.
• In fat remaining in skillet cook raisins and shallots over moderate heat, stirring, until shallots are softened. Stir in gin and boil until most is evaporated. Stir in wine and boil until reduced by about half. Stir in stock, tomato paste, rosemary sprig, and salt and pepper to taste and bring sauce to a boil.
• Add pheasant to sauce, skin sides down, and braise, tightly covered, in middle of 350°F. oven until breast meat is cooked through and tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer breasts to a clean plate and keep warm, covered. Braise legs and thighs until cooked through and tender, about 10 minutes more. Transfer legs and thighs to plate and keep warm, covered. Stir minced rosemary and grapes into sauce and boil until slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
• Divide pheasant between 2 dinner plates, spooning sauce over it, and serve with red cabbage wild rice.

BRAISED PHEASANT WITH SAUERKRAUT ALSATION STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Drain the sauerkraut and cover with cold water, stir, then drain well and squeeze with the hands to remove excess water.
• Place a casserole large enough to cook the pheasants side by side over medium heat. Before placing the pheasants in the casserole, cook the bacon in the casserole, stirring, until the fat is rendered.
• Season the pheasants with salt and pepper to taste, both outside and inside the cavities. Add the pheasants to the casserole and brown on all sides. Scatter the onions, carrot and garlic around the birds. Add the bouquet garni, juniper berries and cloves. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.
• Place the drained sauerkraut around the pheasants and add the wine, chicken broth and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil on top of the stove, cover and remove to the oven. Bake for 35 minutes.
• Reduce the heat to 375 degrees, add the potatoes and bake for 15 minutes more. Add the sausages and bake for another 15 minutes or until the potatoes are done.
• Carve the pheasants and slice the sausages. Serve with sauerkraut and potatoes and the mustards.

PHEASANT BRAISED IN MUSHROOMS AND WHITE WINE

Steps:

• Dredge pheasant pieces in flour. Heat butter and 2 tbs oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add about 5 pheasant pieces -- make sure everything's in a single layer and not overly crowded. Cook 3 minutes/side until brown and remove. Repeat with remaining pheasant, adding oil as needed. Remove last batch of pheasant from dutch oven and add mushrooms. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring often. Add onions to mushrooms, cooing for three or four minutes until tender. Add 2 tbsp of reserved seasoned flour. Stir well. Add wine, stock, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer. Add pheasant pieces. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 hour. Serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.