Learn how to Prepare and Cook a Pheasant

Pheasant Offers a Pleasant Change from Turkey and Tinsel

Oct 19, 2009 Andrea Seren Charrington-Greene

If you are planning a small and intimate Christmas this year then a roasted pheasant might be the perfect dish for your festive dinner. A pheasant will usually serve two.

Pheasant is now in season and is well worth trying.The hunting season for pheasant in England starts on the 1st October and ends on the 1st February. It is good to try while in season as the pheasant is at its best when available fresh from most butchers.

Preparing your Pheasant

Pheasant is best eaten young as the flavour in a young bird is usually much more delicate, and the flesh is more tender than that of older birds. As with most game it benefits from being hung.If you are buying pheasant from a butcher it is often easier to ask him to hang it for the specified time, and supply it plucked and drawn on the day you want to cook it. Pheasants are typically hung for between three and ten days and modern living and homes do not generally provide adequate space for hanging game. But if you do want to hang it yourself you will need to hang the bird complete with feathers, undrawn in a dry place for the required length of time. The pheasant is hung until the putrifaction process begins. Individual taste dictates how long the pheasant is hung for, however as soon as the tail feathers come out easily when pulled, the pheasant can be carefully plucked, taking care not to damage the skin, and drawn ready for cooking. The general rule is the longer the pheasant is left to hang then the stronger the gamey taste will be.

Simple Cooking

The good news for stressed cooks is that the more simply pheasant is cooked the better. The most popular way to cook a pheasant is to roast it, but remember that pheasant lacks fat in its flesh and should be basted during cooking with butter or oil. You can also place good fatty bacon over the breast prior and during cooking to protect the meat from drying out and becoming tough.

This recipe is sure to delight you and your guests.

Shooters Pheasant Recipe

Serves four people

Ingredients:

• 2 pheasants
• Ground Sea Salt
• Ground Black Pepper
• 6 oz. butter
• 2 tbsp. peanut oil
• 1 oz. brandy
• 1 med. onion, julienned
• 4 to 8 med. mushrooms, julienned
• 2 bay leaves
• Pinch or two of thyme
• Pinch of caraway seeds
• 1 cup white wine
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 2 cups sour cream
• Dash Worcestershire sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Wild rice

Directions:

1. Disjoint pheasant and split breast in half. Lightly season with salt and pepper and place in heavy skillet or deep pot. Brown on all sides in butter and peanut oil. Remove meat from skillet. Stir and add wine and half and half. Blend and simmer another 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat; add sour cream and blend thoroughly. Add Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice and blend well. Place pheasant pieces and juices into sauce, return heat to low and simmer 1 hour.
3. Serve pheasant pieces with adequate sauce over dumplings. Enjoy!

The copyright of the article Learn how to Prepare and Cook a Pheasant in Recipes is owned by Andrea Seren Charrington-Greene. Permission to republish Learn how to Prepare and Cook a Pheasant in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Wild Pheasant

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