Pleasant Pheasant Recipes

EMERIL'S FAVORITE ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.
• Season the cavities and the outside of each pheasant liberally with salt and pepper. Divide the chopped onion and carrot equally among the cavities of the pheasants. Squeeze the juice from both halves of the orange and set aside. Cut 1 of the squeezed halves into 3 pieces, and tuck inside of the cavities along with the veggies. Insert 1sprig of thyme into the cavity of each pheasant.
• Arrange the pheasants in a large roasting pan, breast sides up. Lay 2 strips of bacon over the top of each pheasant, cutting the bacon into pieces if necessary to cover as much of the pheasant as possible. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove the bacon strips and continue roasting for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear. (It is important to not overcook the pheasants, as they are very lean birds.) Remove the pheasants from the oven and transfer to a serving platter, loosely tented, while you make the sauce.
• Using a spoon, carefully remove as much extra fat from the pan as possible. Place the roasting pan over high heat and, when hot, deglaze with the reserved orange juice and Madeira, using a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the orange juice and Madeira have reduced by half, add the chicken stock and continue to cook until sauce has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes. Swirl in the butter and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Remove the back bone from each pheasant, then cut along the breast bone to divide the birds into two halves. Serve 1/2 pheasant per person, napped with some of the sauce and with some of the Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding.
• Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the Essence, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 3/4 teaspoon of the pepper, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender and have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan and until the mixture is almost dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of Essence, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and whisk well to combine. Add the mushroom mixture and cheeses and stir well. Add the bread cubes and let sit until the bread has absorbed the liquid, 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with the butter. Add the bread crumbs, shaking to cover the bottom evenly. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and uncover. Continue baking until risen and firm in the center, and golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Brine the bird. Make a brine by bringing the water, salt, bay leaves, juniper and sugar to a boil. Cover and let cool to room temperature. When it cools, submerge your pheasant in the brine and keep it in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours. The longer you brine, the saltier the pheasant will become. I brine pen-raised birds for 4 hours, old roosters for 8 hours.
• Optional step: If you really want a crispy skin, take the birds out of the brine and set them uncovered in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. This dries out the skin (but not the meat} and helps you get crispier skin.
• When you are ready to cook, take the pheasant out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Heat your oven. Get it to 500°F if possible, but at least 400°F. Give yourself at least 15 minutes of preheating, and up to a half hour. Oil the bird. You can do this with olive oil or you can smear butter all over it. Crack some black pepper over the bird.
• Stuff with a piece of onion or apple and a few fresh herbs. A cut lemon is a good choice, too. Do not pack the cavity. Truss the bird if you want. I do this often because it helps the pheasant cook more evenly. (Here's a video on how to truss a chicken, which is basically the same thing as a pheasant.)
• Roast the pheasant uncovered for 15 minutes at your high temperature. Take the pheasant out and lower the temperature to 350°F. Leave your oven door open to speed this process.
• Optional step: Baste the bird with either butter or a glaze. When I do this, I like to use a boiled-down combination of butter and maple syrup.
• Return the pheasant to the oven and roast uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. You want the internal temperature of the thigh meat to be about 155°F to 160°F and for the bird's juices to run pretty clear. A little pink in the juice - and in the bird - is what you want. The higher end of this cooking time will give you a well-done bird, which I try to avoid but many people prefer.
• Remove the pheasant and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This resting time is vital, as it lets the juices redistribute within the pheasant. It will also finish off the cooking process through carry-over heating.

SMOTHERED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Season the pheasant breasts on all sides with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour onto a plate, and press the pheasant breast into the flour until completely coated. Shake off excess flour and set aside. Melt the butter in an ovenproof Dutch oven or deep skillet over medium heat. Cook the pheasant breasts in the hot butter until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Pour in the half-and-half cream and bring to a simmer; cover the Dutch oven.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pheasant breasts are tender and no longer pink in the center, about 1 1/2 hours. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

TENDER PHEASANTS

Steps:

• Place the pheasants into a large slow cooker. Wrap and drape the bacon over the birds, covering the pheasants as much as you can. Whisk the condensed soup, sour cream, water, chopped onion, onion soup mix, and mushrooms together in a mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over the pheasants.
• Cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours, or on High for 5 to 7 hours.

PLEASANT PHEASANT

Steps:

• Marinate the pheasant breasts over night (or for as long as possible) in your favorite marinade, or mix together the soy sauce, garlic, onion, honey and vinegar for a yummy asian-inspired marinade.
• Remove pheasants from marinade, and coat in flour. We do not rinse off marinade, or allow to drip off, so that the flour makes a nice coating on the pheasant.
• Heat a frying pan with butter, and place coated pheasant in pan.
• Allow to brown on each side, then add 1/4 cup of chicken broth, or enough to create some liquid on the bottom. Add cilantro.
• Cover and allow pheasant to cook for 4-6 minutes per side, until cooked through. Don't let all the chicken broth cook off, or it could burn. Add more if necessary.
• Once done, take pheasant out of pan, and add chicken broth, a little at a time, scraping the bottom of the pan to create a gravy.
• Serve with rice, or noodles.
• Variations:
• instead of chicken broth, use chicken noodle soup and some water! Or,
• use your favorite marinate. Or,
• after browning, and adding liquid (or soup with some water), put it in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes - then proceed as directed.

ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large zip-top plastic bag, combine wine (or water), vinegar, shallots, olive oil, sugar, garlic, dry mustard, oregano, basil, marjoram, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper until well mixed.
• Sprinkle salt in the inside cavity of the pheasant, if desired. Place the whole bird in the marinade, moving it around so the marinade reaches all parts of the bird. Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 325 F.
• Remove the pheasant from marinade, but do not rinse it off.
• Place bird in a lidded roasting pan that is just slightly bigger than the bird. Place bird, breast-side up in the roasting pan. Place the halved onion in the cavity of the bird. Cover and roast for 30 minutes.
• Remove the lid, baste bird and let it continue to roast for approximately 30 more minutes without the lid so it will brown. The pheasant is done when the thighs move easily and the juices run clear.
• Remove the pheasant and allow the meat to rest for at least 5 minutes before carving and serving.

BAKED PHEASANT IN GRAVY

Steps:

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour and brown sugar; add pheasant pieces, one at time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown pheasant on both sides in butter. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish., Combine soup, water and broth until blended; pour over pheasant. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with onions. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until juices run clear. Serve with potatoes or rice.

HOW TO COOK PHEASANT IN A SLOW COOKER

Steps:

• Spray the inside of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Get out a slow cooker that's at least 4 quarts (3.8 liters) in size. Spray the inside of the slow cooker with a vegetable oil cooking spray. The cooking spray will prevent the pheasant and vegetables from sticking to the slow cooker.
• Cut 1 onion, 2 carrots, and 2 parsnips. Peel the vegetables and then use a sharp knife to cut the onion into 1/2 in (1.3 cm) slices. Then chop the carrots and parsnips into rough pieces that aren't smaller than 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm). Cut the parsnips and carrots into pieces that are the same size so they cook evenly.
• Place the vegetables and pheasant into the slow cooker. Spread the sliced onions and chopped carrots and parsnips evenly across the bottom of the greased slow cooker. Then arrange 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.3 kg) of pheasant on top of the vegetables. You can use pheasant breasts or any pieces of pheasant you have.
• Put the bacon, broth, and sherry into the slow cooker. Lay 4 slices of bacon over the pieces of pheasant so the bacon is in a single layer. Then pour 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of chicken broth and 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of sherry over the pheasant and vegetables. If you don't have bacon, you can leave it out of the recipe, but the pheasants won't have a rich, smoky flavor.
• Season the pheasant with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Sprinkle salt and pepper according to your taste over the pheasant and vegetables. You'll also need to scatter 1/4 teaspoon (0.6 g) of garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon (0.6 g) of onion powder over the mixture.
• Cover and cook the pheasant for 8 to 10 hours on LOW. Turn the slow cooker on and cook the pheasant and vegetables until the pheasant is completely cooked. If you prefer to cook the dish faster, turn your slow cooker to HIGH and cook the pheasant for 3 to 4 hours. If you're cooking whole pheasants, they should reach 180 °F (82 °C) with an instant-read meat thermometer. If you're cooking pieces, they should reach 165 °F (74 °C).
• Serve the pheasant with vegetables. Turn off the slow cooker and serve the hot pheasant with the tender vegetables. Consider serving them with warm, crusty bread, steamed rice, or noodles. Refrigerate the leftover pheasant with vegetables in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days.