This is one for a cold autumn evening when you’ve been out on the hills. You can throw it in the oven in about 20 minutes and it’ll be ready an hour and a half later…plenty of time for a drink and a chat before dinner! I try to keep some pheasant thighs in the freezer, then it’s an easy option for a change on a Sunday. The leftovers freeze well and are even richer and tastier when re-heated.
Recipe: Braised Pheasant
Summary: An easy treat for a cold evening.
Ingredients
- 1lb / 454g boned pheasant thighs, chopped into bite-size chunks
- about ½lb / 225g shallots
- a good slosh of olive oil
- 1tbsp dairy-free spread
- 1 large onion sliced
- ½lb / 225g mushrooms
- about ½ a bottle of robust red wine
- 2 tbsp calvados (brandy will do if you don’t have calvados)
- (½ a tin of vacuum packed chestnuts, optional)
- ½ a beef stock cube, crumbled
- 2 tsps flour stirred into a smooth paste with about 2 tbsps of water.
Instructions
- If your pheasant thighs are frozen, make sure they are completely defrosted first.
- Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4 / 180°C / 350°F.
- Put the shallots in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Leave them to sit for about a minute to loosen the skins. This makes them much less tricky to peel.
- Melt the spread in a heavy-bottomed flame-proof casserole and add the olive oil.
- Peel the shallots and fry them until they are golden brown. Then lift them out with a slotted spoon and put them to one side.
- Brown the pheasant thighs in the casserole and then add the mushrooms.
- Fry gently for a few minutes until the mushrooms stop looking raw.
- Return the shallots to the pan and stir them all together.
- Add the wine and stir round to scrape off any tasty brown bits on the pan.
- Crumble in the stock cube and stir.
- Add the calvados/brandy.
- Pop a lid on the casserole and put it in the oven for about an hour and a half or until the thighs are tender and the sauce is rich and dark.
- Remove the casserole from the oven about 10 minutes before you want to serve it and put it on the hob.
- If the sauce is a bit thin-looking, simmer it gently with the lid off to reduce the liquid.
- Add the chestnuts and stir through. From now on, all stirring must be gentle so as not to break up the chestnuts.
- Before adding the flour to thicken the sauce, turn off the heat and allow the casserole to cool a little. This will prevent the flour from cooking as it hits the sauce and forming nasty, hard little lumps.
- Stir the flour mixture into the sauce and simmer gently for about 5 minutes to cook out the flour.
- Serve and enjoy!
Preparation time (duration): 20 minutes
Cooking time (duration): about 1 ½ hours
Diet type:Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 6-8
Meal type: dinner
Microformatting by hRecipe.
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