Pheasant Ragu

A pan full of lush

A spare brace of pheasant? Yes please! A kind friend delivered the promised goods, and I promptly hung them up in the garage, vowing not to forget about them. A few days later I decided it was now or never, rolled my sleeves up and skinned and gutted them, ready for the pot. I sat at the garden table, constantly looking over my shoulder for naughty foxes (Surbiton foxes are alarmingly bold) and dealt with the pheasants with my usual, slightly clumsy method, head, wings and legs off, then off with it's pyjamas and yank, out come the sausages, or something like that. Anyway, I eventually got them oven ready and proceeded to scare small boys playing in the street as, with bloodied hands I threw a heavy bag of pheasant parts in the dustbin. Mwahaha. Mr Pheasant was destined for ragu, and Mrs Pheasant awaits her fate in the freezer.

Pheasant makes a lovely ragu, much lighter than beef but just as, if not more tasty. Like all these slow cook jobs, it's easy as pie and cheap. No complaints there.

Makes enough ragu for 4 fatties. Add a generous glug of olive oil to a large casserole dish and add a couple of chopped carrots, a chopped onion, two sticks chopped celery and a few cloves of garlic, you guessed it, chopped. Let this soften gently, don't burn it or let it colour too much. Add a whole skinned pheasant to the pan and let it brown all over. Add a couple of bay leaves, pour over 1/3 of a bottle of red wine, a tin of tomatoes and season. The bird wants to be mostly covered by liquid at this point so top up with water if needs be. Season well, bring to the boil and then let it simmer, covered for about an hour. At this point give it a stir, turn the pheasant over and give it at least another half hour, leaving the lid half off to allow it to reduce a bit. The meat is cooked when it the legs come away from the body with a gentle nudge. Turn the heat off, remove the pheasant and shred the meat, and put it back in the pot. When all the meat is back in, check for seasoning. When I did this it was lacking a bit of oomph so I grated in some of that awesome 100% cacau chocolate and a few sploshes of Worcester sauce. It worked a treat and was perfectly oomphy after that. If the ragu still looks a bit wet, give it a blast to reduce further, otherwise simply serve on top of pasta, not forgetting a good grating of Parmesan.

Just what you need on a chilly winter's evening, now I need to find something yummy for Mrs Pheasant...

'Mountain' Pheasant with Herbs & Potatoes (Who knew pheasies liked mountain climbing?)

How nice to have a young plump little pheasant to cook, rather than the poor birds I pull out of the freezer, a year after putting them in there, looking a little sorry for themselves thanks to my rather lacking skills in the plucking department. I was at a friend's house and we had wanted to cook dinner, drink wine and generally catch up together. Pheasant was on the menu, hurrah.

Pre-oven

This is loosely based on a recipe I found ages ago for Mountain Pheasant, I have no idea what it has to do with mountains, but it's damn tasty. I would say use a nice plump youngen for it as you will roast it rather than casserole the pheasant, as I normally do. This is lovely and simple and is insanely tasty, as often the most simple things are.

Post-oven

Feeds two if using a smallish bird. Pre-heat the oven to 190. Spatchcock the pheasant by placing it breast side down with the tail towards you. Take some sturdy scissors and cut along one side of the back bone, then the other side so the backbone comes away. Turn the bird over and basically flatten by pushing down with your hands so it now has a bit of a 'run-over' appearance. That is spatchcocking. In a casserole/deep dish, mix up a glass of white wine, a couple of peeled potatoes, quartered, two onions, quartered, three cloves of chopped garlic, a lemon, quartered, and a small handful of each of the following: mint, thyme, sage and rosemary, and a big glug of olive oil. Season the bird and rub with a dribble of oil, lay over the veg and roast for about 45 minutes, until the pheasant is cooked and the rest is nicely cooked.

To serve, cut the bird in half using a nice big knife, and serve with all the veg, lemon and juices, and an amazing celariac salad that my friend Hannah wizzed up from her husband's posh French cookery book. Then drink all her Black Stump and wobble off home, happy and content.

A Rather Un-Scary Halloween Pheasant Casserole

Real actual blood clots...

After deciding we were going to go out, get dressed up and go for it this Halloween, my friend Hannah and I decided to go for a three course feast and X-Factor from the comfort of my sofa. I wanted it to be Halloween themed, for fun, but apart from involving pumpkins my imagination failed me. I could have just cooked frighteningly horrid food but that would benefit no-one. I giggled childishly as I bought two little pumpkins for us to carve, in my head plotting a salad involving roasted pumpkin, Serrano ham and rocket. And coriander seeds, and chilli. Mmmm. I'll post that later. I cooked this accompanied by amazing 'blood clot' cocktails courtesy of Hannah (Prosecco, pomegranate juice, and seeds, lush).

One of last year's pheasants was screaming to be pulled out of its icy grave, and Hannah was a pheasant virgin, so that was an easy decision. I cooked a tasty Italian casserole based on a Jamie Oliver recipe, I like this one because two people can eat the breasts, then the two legs can be shredded of meat later for a delicious pasta sauce*.

So this feeds two, with enough meat left over to make pasta sauce for 2 as well. Pull the old bird out of the freezer (don't do as I did and not leave enough time for it to defrost, cue frantic dipping in hot water filled sink). Remove the breasts and legs from the pheasant, (actually that was quite frightening, I really need some better skills there) you won't need the carcass. Preheat the oven to 180c, and dust the meat in seasoned flour. Brown the meat in a casserole dish, in a little olive oil. Remove the pheasant and set aside, and soften a chopped carrot, 2 sticks of chopped celery, a chopped red onion and three chopped garlic cloves. When nicely softened add a bay leaf and a sprig of parsley, a glass of red wine, 150g of chestnuts (you can get those brilliant vacuum pack ones), three crushed juniper berries, and mix well. Return the pheasant, cover with a double layer of foil and stick the lid on. Put it in the oven for at least an hour and a half, until the meat is really tender (no-one likes a tough old bird). I went proper Italian and served the breasts with polenta.

Enjoy with plenty of tasty red, and don't knock your plate off your knees as you squeal at the performances and judging on X-Factor.

*To make the pasta sauce just take all the meat off the legs and stir a big blob of creme fraiche through, bubbling up with more wine if there's not enough liquid.

What a pleasant pheasant.

As I was out shooting (and missing everything except air) on Saturday, it was only right that I cooked pheasant on my return home. As luck would have it, the game keeper handed out each brace of pheasant oven ready, so there was no need to re-enact the carnage that was the boyfriend and I sorting out the birds I was given last time, within the warmth of the living room, in front of the fire (don't ever try it, we were dealing with a brace of duck, messy times). Like most ideas that seem good at the time, it wasn't.

I made space for Mr Pheasant in the freezer, and cooked Mrs Pheasant according to the Gospel that is boyfriend's Mum. I don't think she's ever shot or plucked a pheasant but she definately knows how to cook one. And so began pheasant in cider with apples and cream. Use one pheasant for two people.

Middle sister said last dish looked like sick so you get pheasant in flight.

In a suitably sized casserole dish, brown your pheasant all over in a good splash of olive oil, seasoning as you go. Add half a finely chopped onion and soften. Add a peeled, cored and sliced apple, mix in and then pour in 200ml of cider (I very nearly used the left-over-from-a-party can of Magners and realised that would not do Mrs Pheasant justice, so sacrificed a glass of the Aspalls I was slurping, only right with this dish). Lay the pheasant on its side, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cover. After half an hour turn your bird over and cook for another half hour at least, with the lid still on. Sometimes the bird gets nice and tender, if its an ol' bird, perhaps not, but always tasty. Pull the bird out, keep warm and stir in 150ml single cream. Carve up the pheasant in four pieces, a breast and leg per person, serve with mash and veg, and pour the delicious sauce everywhere. Be sure to gnaw the legs and lick your plate.