Autumn Pheasant

I was asked the other day if I could recommend a pheasant recipe. We have some friends who like to have pheasant on Christmas Day when they manage to fend off the family and they are only cooking for two. If you haven’t tried pheasant, you really should. Low in fat and high in flavour it makes an excellent alternative to the usual Christmas fare. Hen pheasants are more tender and cock pheasants have a little more flavour. Personally I prefer the hen but you could play it safe and order a brace. This recipe is a particular favourite of ours (although I have to omit the hazelnuts or watch my “taster” go into anaphylactic shock), full of flavour and never dry.

Ingredients

1 oven ready pheasant 1 tablespoon clear honey
1 small onions, quartered 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 celery sticks, thinly sliced Grated nutmeg
2 red eating apples, cored and thickly sliced (not peeled) 2 tablespoon toasted hazelnuts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper  

Method

  1. Preheat the over to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
  2. Fry the pheasant without fat in a non-stick pan, turning occasionally until golden. Remove and keep hot.
  3. Fry the onions and celery in the pan to brown lightly. Spoon into a casserole and place the pheasant on top. Tuck the apples slices around it.
  4. Spoon in the stock, honey and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
  5. Cover and bake for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until tender.
  6. Sprinkle with the nuts (but check with guests for nut allergies!) and serve hot.

Images

Pheasant
PHEASANTEating Apples
EATING APPLES