Simple Roasted Pheasant
Ingredients
- 2 pheasant, cleaned and plucked traditionally you will have 1 cock and 1 hen bird
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 bay leaf, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- ½ cup celery leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- ¼ medium lemon, sliced
- 150 grams sliced bacon
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 1 cup sliced onions
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup game stock, you can use chicken stock
Accompaniment
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Description
Be certain to take advantage of pheasant when it is in season there is nowt quite like its taste, when it is young and simply roasted.
Method
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1
Season the pheasant inside and outside with salt and pepper, place the bay leaf, fresh thyme, garlic, celery leaves, and lemon in the cavity truss the legs and wings with string, then place, breast side up in a roasting pan.
Arrange the bacon slices over the breasts, and now soak a piece of muslin with melted butter, and place over the breasts.
Arrange the onions and mushrooms around the bird, moisten the pheasant with the stock, and roast at 350°F/180°C/Gasmark 5 for 30 to 35 minutes, basting often until tender and golden and cooked through (the juices will run clear when the thigh is pierced with a skewer).
Remove from the oven and remove and throw away the muslin and string, let the pheasant rest for 10 to15 minutes and place onto your serving platter and serve with the gravy, vegetables, roast potatoes and any or all of the trimmings mentioned above.
Carve as if it is a roast chicken one bird serves two, we like to serve sprouts, braised celery, roast potatoes, and game chips.
Chef's Tips
Pheasant is a well known game bird, perhaps the most widespread and ancient one in the entire world, being the world's most hunted bird it has been introduced just for that purpose to many regions, and is bred extensively on game farms from where it is sold to many shoots.
Said to have been introduced into Britain by the Romans (along with dormice), this handsome bird was originally a foreigner to England, but for some time it has been a native of our woodlands.
Hen birds as a rule are more tender and succulent than the cocks, young birds are best spit roasted for about 45 minutes. Cocks and older birds should be pot roasted to keep them as moist as possible the flavour of pheasant goes well with such foods as apples, grapes, or raisins a pheasant offers itself to a range of dishes, but if served simply roasted it must be well hung otherwise it can be dry and flavourless.
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