Tag: Pheasant Recipe

Name: Tough Old Rooster Cakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6 pheasant cakes
Ingredients: 4 pheasant breasts; 4 strips of bacon; 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1 cup green onions; 1 cup Panko bread crumbs

May 23, 2018

Tough Old Rooster Cakes

How do you know when you’ve harvested a three-year-old rooster? When you have to chew it until the next season to swallow it.

Tough old birds are challenging and fun to chase. But part of that challenge is making them fit for the table. On principle, most hunters will choke down just about anything they shoot — ethics require it. But how do you get that old bird tasty enough to serve guests?

Last year I noticed the birds I harvested lacked the pristine, market-fresh appearance of many of the game chefs filling social feeds with haute cuisine photos. Between my average shooting skills and a young dog with tendencies toward plucking and too much teeth, I was lucky to have birds returned to hand in one piece, let alone pristine. The truth is, some birds just aren’t that pretty when they enter the freezer.

So I started thinking about recipes that might redeem the old, shot up roosters that reside in the back corners of the freezer.

Brining is an easy way to improve quality of an old bird. For this recipe we brined pheasant breasts overnight in the refrigerator in a solution of equal parts salt and sugar with a few lemon slices.

Wild pheasant meat tends to be very lean which can make it tough and dry once cooked. The addition of mayo and bacon adds moisture and flavor as well as binding the cakes.

Tough Old Rooster Cakes

Reviving less pristine birds into a dish fit for family and friends.

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 6 pheasant cakes

Ingredients

4 pheasant breasts
4 strips of bacon
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup green onions
1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Instructions

After brining overnight, dice pheasant breasts into half inch cubes
Pre-cook strips of bacon - you want to stop prior to crispy stage. Let it cool and then chop into small pieces.
In a bowl combine the diced pheasant, bacon, half of the green onions and half the Panko with the mayonnaise. You're looking for a texture like tuna salad, depending on the moisture level of your birds you may need to adjust the mixture with more/less bread crumb or mayo.
Add a dash of salt and pepper, then form the mixture into patties.
Press those patties into the remaining half of the Panko to cover both sides.
Add just enough oil to cover the bottom of a cast iron skillet. We're not shooting for super-high temps, so olive, peanut or vegetable oil should work just fine, possibly even butter .....
Place over medium heat.
Once the oil is heated, place your pheasant cakes in the skillet. The trick here is to not fuss with them. There isn't much filler or binder in these cakes, so you're going for a single flip of each. Otherwise, you risk them falling apart.
Allow the crust to form, 4-5 minutes per side.
The small cubes of meat along with the high moisture content let these cook quickly.
Garnish with the remaining diced green onion.
If you have more birds, it's easy to adjust quantities. One strip of bacon per breast.

Recipe Notes

The crisp outsides of these pheasant cakes add a great texture note.

We tried a couple of options for serving.

Simple and lighter: place cakes on a bed of green with a couple slices of avocado and a squeeze of lemon.

Seasonal and decadent: place cakes on wild rice and smother in morel cream sauce (recipe below).

For those fortunate enough to live where morels are available in the spring, they are a great compliment to these cakes and can make this appetizer a decadent seasonal treat. I made a morel cream sauce separating the fungus in half – reserving the nicer shrooms for frying.

Morel Cream Sauce

So simple and good. Tough to think of anything that morel cream sauce won't improve.

Course Side Dish

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients

1 mess foraged morel mushrooms the more you find, the better
1 pint half-n-half
4 TBSP butter
4 TBSP flour
Salt

Instructions

This part of the country, we soak our morels in saltwater for an hour after finding to kill bugs, slugs and the like.
Split your mess into nicer morels for frying and smaller, older, dryer morels for the sauce.
Put a rough chop on the morels selected for the sauce. We probably had two dozen total mushrooms for this recipe, so we chopped a dozen.
In a saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter and add the chopped morels and a pinch of salt. Allow them to cook until you see the edges begin to brown. And the morels have now flavored the butter.
Add the flour while stirring which coats the mushrooms and soaks up the butter making a roux.
Slowly add half-n-half while stirring. As it heats it will thicken. Add until your sauce reaches the desired thickness.
Slice the other morels in half, dredge in equal parts of corn starch and flour and begin frying them in a skillet with butter. Across much of the Midwest this is the standard preparation, though we've just recently found the corn starch seems to make them a bit crispier.

Recipe Notes

For those not lucky enough to find large quantities of mushrooms, this simple cream sauce can stretch that morel flavor to anything you put it on.

The second half of fried morels make a great texture contrast and attractive garnish as well.

October 21, 2017

Grilled Pheasant + Mojo Sauce

This spatchcocked, grilled pheasant is probably one of the more satisfying meals I have made with wild game to date. The crispy skin is full of flavor from a homemade dry rub, the meat is tender and juicy, and the citrus-garlic Mojo sauce is so delicious.

Cuban Mojo Sauce

This Mojo sauce has it all: Sweet, Sour, Garlicky, and a little bit of kick. It’s great for serving as a dipping sauce with meat, fish and veggies, or you can use it as a marinade. It’s really easy to make and the recipe below yields about 2 Cups. You can always freeze what you don’t use, but I am willing to bet you put this sauce on any and everything.

Mojo sauce is definitely for garlic lovers, the Cubans did not skimp out when they created it. This recipe has 8 cloves in it, which seems like a lot, but somehow it works and it is so delicious!

This sauce really packs a punch which is why it’s so addicting. Traditionally, Mojo is made using sour oranges. Because I live in North Dakota and can’t get that, I used a blend of oranges and limes. A traditional Mojo would also have cumin and oregano in it, but I chose to leave them out because they are in the dry rub, and instead, used cilantro and jalapeños.

How to Spatchcock a Pheasant

Spatchcocked, also called Butterflied, is an easy way to break down a whole bird that you want to be grilled a little quicker and with a little more consistency.

To start, make sure the pheasant you use is in good shape (i.e. the legs aren’t shot into a million bone fragments). You can pluck the bird and keep the skin on, but you can also do skinless. If you choose to do skinless, you can marinate the pheasant in the Mojo sauce. But, if you want the skin to be really crispy, use the dry rub instead and follow the guidelines and get the full recipe at Wild + Whole.

January 16, 2015

Linguine and Pheasant Sauce

I tend to just make up recipes, don’t measure out ingredients and promptly forget not long after eating exactly how something came together. So before I forget, here’s a quick and easy pheasant pasta that we cooked up on a whim. Total prep time was around 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

4 pheasant breasts (or combination breasts and thighs)

1/2 Bottle White Wine — be sure it’s something you like to drink too

6 Cloves Garlic

Parsley

Grated Parmesan Cheese

3/4 Stick of Butter

Flour (a few tablespoons)

Half n Half, or cream

Salt, Pepper

Your Favorite Pasta (we used spinach pasta)

——————————–

First, get your pasta water salted and boiling so that you aren’t waiting for your pasta to cook once you finish the sauce.

On a cutting board pound out your pheasant to a uniform thickness. This helps tenderize tough birds – cover with plastic wrap to keep the mess to a minimum. Next, cut your pheasant across grain in thin strips – think clam size since the inspiration of this recipe is Linguine and Clam Sauce. Mince the garlic gloves and a good handful of the parsley just so you have all the knife work done.

Place a large skillet on the stove on high heat and begin melting the butter. Once it is good and hot, slide the pheasant in and begin sautéing. When the meat is cut into this strips like this, it really takes very little time to cook through. Cooking in butter helps keep lean pheasant moist. Add the garlic, salt, pepper and stir. Once your meat is cooked through, sprinkle enough floor into the pan to soak up the remaining butter when mixed – won’t take much, maybe a few tablespoons. We’re using the flour as a thickener.

Now pop the cork on that wine and add about a half bottle, stirring into the meat mixture. Once it comes back up to temperature, you’ll get a good idea of how thick your sauce is. Add more wine if it’s too thick for your liking. Add the handful of parsley and let some of the alcohol continue to burn off. I like creamy sauces that coat the noodles, so here’s where I included a liberal splash of half-n-half. Finally add the grated parmesan – how much really depends on how cheesy you like it, but 1/4 cup is a good starting place.

Your pasta should be drained and ready to plate. Give your sauce a taste first for seasoning, add pepper and salt as needed. Then spoon a generous helping over your pasta. Garlic bread would be a great addition. Enjoy!

February 2, 2013

Super Bowl of Pheasant Chili

When you serve some rooster chili everyone is a guaranteed winner.

Super Bowl of Pheasant Chili

Great way to enjoy a game on a cold day.

Course Main Course

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

2 Poblano Anaheim peppers chopped
2 Jalapeño peppers chopped
1 Cherry Pepper diced
1 Large Onion chopped
4 Garlic Cloves minced
1-1/2 lb Pheasant breast and thighs 2 birds, 1/2″ cubed
2-3 c. Chicken Broth depending how thick you like your chili
3 cans Cannelini Beans drained
4 T. butter
2 t. Cumin
Salt and white pepper to taste
Shredded white cheddar for topping

Instructions

In large pot, saute onion and pheasant in butter until the cubed meat is browned
Season with salt, white pepper and cumin
Add the pepper trio
Cook on med-high until peppers are soft
Add garlic
Add chicken broth to desired consistency (2-3 cups)
Purée one can of beans and fold into the mix, they act as a thickener.
Add the other two cans of whole beans

Recipe Notes

Simmer until thickens, about one hour or longer if thicker consistency desired. Serve with tortilla chips and top with a big handful of cheese

Enjoy!

October 25, 2012

Pluck it

It certainly is more convenient to breast out game birds. After a long day of hunting the bulk of uplanders look for the quickest way to clean birds and get them in the cooler. And if you have hunted for any length of time you probably have the breasting down to a science.

There are a number of recipes that call for whole bird preparation though. Most chefs would cringe at the idea of discarding the game bird skin which can become crispy goodness in the pan. So this season before standing on the wings and pulling on the legs to separate the upper and lower half of the bird, I encourage you to take a few extra moments and pluck a couple.

With pheasant, part of the challenge of plucking is that the skin tends to be very thin. From my experience, the best way to pluck a rooster and keep the most skin intact is to immediately begin defeathering as soon as it comes to hand. This isn’t practical in many hunting situations. But keep it in mind when you happen to harvest a bird on your walk back to the truck.

I like to reserve plucking for birds that are close to pristine; the ones I’ve somehow managed to put all the shot in the head and neck. These are the birds that can truly impress your non-hunting friends at the table.

Many states also have wanton waste regulations which make breasting birds a no no. Upland birds’ legs tend to have more tendon than meat, which is likely why there is hesitation to clean the whole bird. But the thighs of these birds are prime cuts (most grouse and pheasant included). So if plucking isn’t an option, take a few extra minutes and cuts to separate the thigh meat from the bone. It is well worth the time and will dramatically increase the amount of meat you get from a harvested bird with very little effort.

And just as a little extra incentive, here’s a recipe we just found. And now I need to find a chestnut tree.

Pheasant With Chestnuts

For pheasant:
2 garlic heads, peeled
1 pheasant, about 2-3 pounds
2 stems of thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
For chestnuts:
2 tablespoons butter
12 chestnuts fresh or frozen
2 cups chicken stock
Salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Split the garlic heads in half and place in the pheasant cavity with the thyme, salt and pepper. Use butcher string to tie pheasant legs together. Place in roasting pan and cook at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.
Add butter to a large saute pan and melt on medium heat. Add chestnuts and chicken stock. Simmer until soft, but not broken. Remove and season with salt.Meanwhile, prepare chestnuts.

To serve, place pheasant on a platter with hot chestnuts.
Makes 2 servings.
Approximate values per serving: 948 calories, 52 g fat, 322 mg cholesterol, 98 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 4,230 mg sodium, 49 percent calories from fat.

Note: Recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of salt to rub on pheasant before roasting. If you change that to 1 teaspoon, the total sodium amount would be 1,905 mg sodium.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/20121023pheasant-chestnuts.html#ixzz2AKHBP0AH

December 10, 2011

Pheasant Chowder

2 pheasants (thighs and breasts)
4 celery stalks sliced
1/2 lb. bacon strips sliced
1 large onion diced
32 oz. of chicken broth (low sodium if desired)
4 medium size Yukon Gold potatoes – peeled and cubed
3 cloves garlic diced
5 tablespoons flour
2 cups half n half
1 cup parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper

Had an epiphany while eating clam chowder one evening; the texture of the clams in the soup is truly close to that of a tough old rooster. Hope you enjoy the resulting culinary concoction.

Peel and dice potatoes and place in a separate pot cover with the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook the potatoes until they are soft.

Slice the pheasant meat across grain into strips similar to the size of a clam strip. Slice bacon and put in a dutch oven on medium heat. Add diced celery and onion and cook until the the bacon and celery is cooked through and onions are transparent. Add the garlic and pheasant. The meat should cook through fairly quickly because of the small sized pieces. At this point add the flour a tablespoon at a time while stirring the mixture which should thoroughly coat the vegetables and meat.

Add the potatoes and broth from the separate pot. Once incorporated stir in the half-n-half and finally include the parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. This chowder is ready to eat once heated through, but if you simmer for a bit the flavors should continue to meld and it will only get better.

Serve on a cold day with some warm beer bread. It is the perfect meal to follow a brisk day afield.