without a doubt my favorite pheasant recipe is a beer braised pheasant with cream sauce over bourbon maple mashed sweet potato served with grilled asparagus. i make this every few months when our little grocery store actually gets pheasant in. give me a few to put my little one to bed and grab a shower. ill edit to post the full recipe in a bit. dang...now im hungry.
k here we go!
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-oven goes to 350
-whack the birds in half, down the middle
-take a dutch oven and heat up some olive oil and butter over medium high heat
-rub the bird parts in butter and lightly flour them. brown them in the pan and get all the surfaces seared.
-pull them off and set aside. sautee a couple of shallots (or sweet onion), chopped bacon, taragon and thyme
-deglase with a healthy shot of white wine and reduce. add a couple pinches of salt, brown sugar and pepper along with enough dark beer and chicken stock (half and half) to cover just over half way up the birds. (i also like to toss in 4 or 5 black cherries cut in half). simmer this for 2 or 3 minutes.
-put the bird back in, breast up, and cover the pot. put in the oven for about 15-20 minutes (you want it just
under "bone falling off tender."
-when done, take out the bird halves and reduce the liquid on the stove. when its about half way gone, reduce the heat and add enough heavy cream to thicken the sauce (half to 3/4 cup should be plenty)
*****
-roast 3 or 4 large sweet potatoes in a 375 degree oven for a hour
-peel and put potatoes in a bowl with 2 tbsp lemon or lime juice, 3 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp brown sugar. mix well with masher or beaters. (i also really like crispy bacon pieces in this too but its not totally necessary)
-put 4 tbsp of bourbon in a saucepan and simmer for a few minutes
-toss the bourbon, a stick and a half of butter, salt and pepper into the potato mix and mix up well
-put in a dish and pop back in the 375 oven for 15 mins or so.
-top with chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts both do well)
*****
toss asparagus with a light coat of olive oil and sprinkle with coarse salt. grill (or dry pan fry) enough to get some good char
put a good helping of the potatoes on a plate. cross over a few stalks of asparagus. on top of this put your desired amount of bird. top with cream sauce. EAT!!