Roast Pheasant Recipes

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.

ROAST PHEASANT WITH GRAPES AND WALNUTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Rub the pheasant with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff with fresh herbs and the lemon and truss. Spread the onions in a roasting pan and lay the pheasant on top of them. Add the chicken stock and Marsala wine to the pan.
• Roast 35 to 45 minutes, or until the thigh juices run clear when pricked with a fork, basting every 15 to 20 minutes with the pan juices. If the feet of the pheasant begin to darken, tent with foil. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest.
• Meanwhile, transfer the roasting pan to the stovetop, skim the fat, and bring the pan juices to a boil, scraping any browned bits from the pan. Add the grapes and walnuts and cook 15 minutes, or until the grapes are soft and the juices are thickened. Crush some of the grapes with the back of a spoon to release their juices.
• Slice the pheasant into 1/4-inch slices and serve over the radicchio. Spoon the grapes and walnuts alongside and season with salt and pepper.

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.

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.

ROAST PHEASANT AND BREAD SAUCE

Steps:

• For the roasted pheasant, preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
• On a medium heat, in a ovenproof frying pan, heat the rapeseed oil and butter (if using) until foaming.
• Lay the pheasants in the pan, cook until golden-brown in colour (about 3-5 minutes) on the leg sides. Turn the pheasants onto their breast side to colour for a further 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; transfer to the oven and cook for 30 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time. To check the pheasant is correctly cooked, you can use a meat thermometer - the breast temperature for a cock pheasant should reach 63C/145F and for a hen 60C/140F. (The leg temperature should reach 80-82C/175-180F.) When cooked, set the pheasant aside in a warm place, covered, to rest.
• Spoon out the fat from the pan and add the wine, port, juniper and thyme into the roasting pan. On a high heat quickly cook until the volume of liquid has reduced by one third. Scrape the caramelised juices off the bottom of the pan to make the jus. Taste and season if necessary. Strain and reserve in a warmed jug.
• For the bread sauce, in a small saucepan on a low heat gently heat the butter and fry the onion with the herbs, crushed cloves and salt for two minutes, or until soft. Add the bacon lardons and continue to cook uncovered for one minute. Add the milk, bring to a simmer and stir in the pieces of bread until the sauce is smooth. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
• To serve, carve the pheasant and serve it over a mound of bread sauce with the jus poured over.

ROAST PHEASANT RECIPE

Steps:

• Thaw pheasant completely according to package directions. Preheat oven to 375° F. Rinse the pheasant under cool running water. After rinsing the outside of the pheasant, rinse out the inside of the pheasant cavity. Lightly salt inside and outside of pheasant. Season with pepper if desired. Place bird breast side up in a baking dish. Cover bird with strips of bacon and place in preheated oven. Bake uncovered, 45-60 minutes, basting every 10 minutes. Remove the bacon during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. Continue to bake until pheasant is lightly browned. Serve hot.

HONEY ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Place the pheasant into a baking dish.
• Pour lemon juice over the pheasant.
• Generously spread the honey over the entire bird.
• Season the cavities of the pheasant generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Lightly sprinkle the outside of the pheasant with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Place into the bottom third of the oven& roast until done, which will be when you puncture the bird& the juices run clear.
• Be careful not to over cook the pheasant, as it is a very dry bird with very little fat.

ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Stir the chopped rosemary and thyme into the olive oil and set aside. Rub the pheasant inside and out with salt and pepper. Place into a close-fitting roasting pan. Pour the herb oil over top.
• Bake the pheasant in the preheated oven for 1 hour, then cover with aluminum foil, and continue baking an additional hour, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone reads 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing. Baste the pheasant with the hot oil and juices from the pan every 30 minutes while cooking.

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.