cooking pheasant breasts

"Jan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
Thanks for any advice. Jan

I would take them out of the Italian dressing IMMEDIATELY!! Yuck.

YMMV, but I prefer pheasant with a fruity sauce. I've sauteed them in
butter and then made a pan sauce with minced shallot, slightly caramelized
apple slices, a deglazing of something like sherry or Armagnac or Calvados,
then cream, a tad of fresh nutmeg and pepper.

Pheasant is VERY lean and needs to be cooked gently or it will be very dry.

MJB said:

"notbob" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Jan wrote:

As mjb notes, pheasant is lean, so benefits greatly from cooking by
a wet method. I alway braise pheasant in a mushroom gravy. Make up
a nice espagnole sauce with added fresh mushrooms and braise in
sauce pan for an hour or two till meat is tender. Yum!

nb

I agree about braising pheasant, provided I have the whole bird and
not just the breast. The tough thighs and legs benefit from the
long, slow cooking a couple of hours of brasing provide - breasts,
not so much which will over-cook pretty quickly IMO. The one thing I
don't recommend is using any sauce that is tomato-based with wild
fowl. I've never had good results making a fricasse or anything
similar.

What would you use?

"Ophelia" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I agree about braising pheasant, provided I have the whole bird and
not just the breast. The tough thighs and legs benefit from the
long, slow cooking a couple of hours of brasing provide - breasts,
not so much which will over-cook pretty quickly IMO. The one thing I
don't recommend is using any sauce that is tomato-based with wild
fowl. I've never had good results making a fricasse or anything
similar.

What would you use?

Wild meat is so strong-tasting that you either like it's 'gamey' flavor or
you don't. Growing-up in Montana, I always ate much more elk, deer and
antelope than I ever did beef , so acquired the taste for wild meat at a
very early age. I think a strongly-flavored tomato-based sauce serves only
to disguise the wild taste, but only partially and never successfully IMO.
I much prefer a chicken or even veal stock as my braising liquid, with the
sliced pheasant/grouse/goose meat served with either a milk / cream gravy
(mushrooms optional) strongly flavored with sage and black pepper OR with a
bright fruit sauce that is heavy with cranberry or orange. Or even cherry,
if you've got sour dried cherries available. In both cases (white gravy /
fruit sauce) I like garlic in my meat.

But that's just me and how I was raised to handle game we killed. If you
like tomato sauces, try it... people's tastes are so varied, especially with
wild game.

MJB

MJB said:

Wild meat is so strong-tasting that you either like it's 'gamey'
flavor or you don't. Growing-up in Montana, I always ate much more
elk, deer and antelope than I ever did beef , so acquired the taste
for wild meat at a very early age. I think a strongly-flavored
tomato-based sauce serves only to disguise the wild taste, but only
partially and never successfully IMO. I much prefer a chicken or even
veal stock as my braising liquid, with the sliced
pheasant/grouse/goose meat served with either a milk / cream gravy
(mushrooms optional) strongly flavored with sage and black pepper OR
with a bright fruit sauce that is heavy with cranberry or orange. Or
even cherry, if you've got sour dried cherries available. In both
cases (white gravy / fruit sauce) I like garlic in my meat.

Excellent, thanks🙂)) I like garlic in my meat and mushrooms too. I think
I might try the cranberry or orange sauces.

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Jan <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

JoeSpareBedroom said:

"Jan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

> Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
> guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
> have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
> cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
> I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
> Thanks for any advice. Jan

Why marinate them? Do they have a strong taste you need to disguise?

Quoted message said:

This is what the guide told hubby to do. I have never eaten pheasant
so I don't know about the gamey taste. Jan

Pheasant is traditionally hung in a cool place for a few days before
plucking and cooking. The (harmless) start of decomposition tenderises
the meat, and that's what causes the gamey taste to develop. Very fresh
pheasant meat like yours may still be a little firm and dry which is
probably why a marinade was suggested, to tenderise it .

In case you ever get another, I recommend a marinade of red wine, olive
oil and a spoonful of sherry.

Crumb some white bread and fresh herb such as parsley in the
processor, (or, grate and chop them) season, pick the meat out of the
marinade without drying it, and and roll it in the crumbs to coat it.
Then pan-fry in butter hot enough to sizzle; until gently golden,
turning once. Good with fried fresh mushrooms (same pan) and very thin
french fries, aka, "game chips".

Janet.

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-) I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Jan said:

JoeSpareBedroom said:

"Jan" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
Thanks for any advice. Jan

Why marinate them? Do they have a strong taste you need to disguise?

This is what the guide told hubby to do. I have never eaten pheasant
so I don't know about the gamey taste. Jan

If you have the chance to cook pheasant again, try using a good port
wine for the marinade (for Faisan a l'Alcantara marinate for 3 days) and
then cook en casserole then reduce the marinade and cook some mushrooms
in the marinade while it is reducing by about half for use as a sauce
with the bird.

There is also faisan a la georgienne which cooks the pheasant en
casserole with walnuts, the juice of white grapes, juice of 4 oranges,
malmsey wine and strong green tea.

Faisan a la Normandy is a pan saute in butter just to colour the
pheasant, sauted with sliced apples which are then transferred to a
baking dish, a bit of cream added and baked.

Faisan Titania uses black grapes, segments of oranges & pomegranate
juice in the cooking of the pheasant.
--
JL

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Jan <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Pheasant is traditionally hung in a cool place for a few days before
plucking and cooking. The (harmless) start of decomposition tenderises
the meat, and that's what causes the gamey taste to develop. Very fresh
pheasant meat like yours may still be a little firm and dry which is
probably why a marinade was suggested, to tenderise it .

All wild game benefits from being 'seasoned'. Elk and deer carcasses were
allowed to hang in the unheated garage during hunting season, gutted and
minus their heads but with their hides still-on, for a week or so before
being butchered. Geese and ducks for a few days, grouse and pheasants for
at least overnight. I don't think that's when the 'gamey' taste develops -
white-tailed deer that forage in the farmer's grain-fields along the
Missouri river are notably less gamey than 'brush-buck' mule-deer that live
and eat in the pine and sage-filled high-ground. It also matters to taste
how the animal was killed - a deer dropped in it's track with a head-shot
tastes noticeably different from one gut-shot and tracked-down an hour
later....

Quoted message said:

In case you ever get another, I recommend a marinade of red wine, olive
oil and a spoonful of sherry.

Sherry always goes well with any wild game. If I've got it handy, I like it
in my brasing liquid. I also like 1/4 sherry and 3/4 cream poured-over
browned fowl that is then baked.

Quoted message said:

Crumb some white bread and fresh herb such as parsley in the
processor, (or, grate and chop them) season, pick the meat out of the
marinade without drying it, and and roll it in the crumbs to coat it.
Then pan-fry in butter hot enough to sizzle; until gently golden,
turning once. Good with fried fresh mushrooms (same pan) and very thin
french fries, aka, "game chips".

I've cut thin elk steaks into strips and done 'elk fingers' exactly like
that. With the exception I used dried bread crumbs instead of fresh.

MJB

Jan said:

Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
Thanks for any advice. Jan

My ex made pheasant for our first date. He is a pheasant hunter. He
used only the breasts of the pheasant and browned them in butter,
first a little flour, s&p dusting. Removed the breasts, added sliced
white onions and a lot of mushrooms and little more butter to the pan,
and white wine, reduced the wine, added the pheasant back and cooked
until everything got happy and the sauce made a gravy. Served this
over mashed potatoes.

Two breasts isn't very much. He usually used more than that.

Also be careful for the little pellets that are sometimes hard to see
from the shotgun.

Karen

MJB said:

I agree about braising pheasant, provided I have the whole bird and not just
the breast. The tough thighs and legs benefit from the long, slow cooking a
couple of hours of brasing provide - breasts, not so much which will
over-cook pretty quickly IMO. The one thing I don't recommend is using any
sauce that is tomato-based with wild fowl. I've never had good results
making a fricasse or anything similar.

The parts of the pheasant that aren't the breast are good for making
the sauce, even if you're planning on just eating the breasts.

Karen

Karen said:

My ex made pheasant for our first date. He is a pheasant hunter. He
used only the breasts of the pheasant and browned them in butter,
first a little flour, s&p dusting. Removed the breasts, added sliced
white onions and a lot of mushrooms and little more butter to the pan,
and white wine, reduced the wine, added the pheasant back and cooked
until everything got happy and the sauce made a gravy. Served this
over mashed potatoes.

Forgot to add that he put cream in the sauce towards the end, if I
remember right. It's been a long time.

However, the pheasant dinners we had were some of the best memories of
those times!

Karen

"Jan" <[email hidden]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
Thanks for any advice. Jan

2 slices of bacon
50 grams butter
10 grams wheat flour
Cognac
pineapple juice
2 slices of pineapple

Bind bacon over breast so that it's covered (the pheasant's, not yours).
Heat butter in pan, fry breasts (see above) in butter.
Remove bacon and brown the breasts (see above) a little.
Remove breasts (see above) and keep them warm.
Stir in flour and roast shortly.
Douse with Cognac, add pineapple juice and let it simmer until
the gravy is right for you.
Strain gravy through a sieve and pour it over the breasts (see above).
Fry pineapple slices in butter and put them on top of the breasts
(see above).

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

"Michael Kuettner" <[email hidden]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Jan" <[email hidden]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi All, My husband went pheasant hunting today and got 2 birds. The
guide dressed them and I have 2 beautiful breasts. (Hush Sheldon). I
have them marinating in an Italian dressing. Question is, how do I
cook them? I was thinking on the grill, but for how long and how will
I know when they are cooked through? Or do I roast them in the oven?
Thanks for any advice. Jan

2 slices of bacon
50 grams butter
10 grams wheat flour
Cognac
pineapple juice
2 slices of pineapple

I forgot :
salt, pepper

Quoted message said:

Salt and pepper breasts (the pheasant's, not yours).

Quoted message said:

Bind bacon over breasts (see above) so that they're covered .
Heat butter in pan, fry breasts (see above) in butter.
Remove bacon and brown the breasts (see above) a little.
Remove breasts (see above) and keep them warm.
Stir in flour and roast shortly.
Douse with Cognac, add pineapple juice and let it simmer until
the gravy is right for you.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Quoted message said:

Strain gravy through a sieve and pour it over the breasts (see above).
Fry pineapple slices in butter and put them on top of the breasts
(see above).

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

"Vilco" <[email hidden]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

JoeSpareBedroom said:

Why marinate them? Do they have a strong taste you need to disguise?

Usually they taste strong, some people dislikes them for theyr
"kind-of-liver-ish" taste, which is a little less intense than in pigeons.
They are usually a bit sour.
For breasts I'd tend to a ragout, ideally to serve on pappardelle.

If you dislike the gamey taste, marinade them over night in buttermilk
with pimentum corns, juniper berries and pepper corns.
Take out of marinade, wash them, dry them and process them.
Works for all game.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

"Vilco" <[email hidden]> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

JoeSpareBedroom said:

Why marinate them? Do they have a strong taste you need to disguise?

Usually they taste strong, some people dislikes them for theyr
"kind-of-liver-ish" taste, which is a little less intense than in pigeons.
They are usually a bit sour.
For breasts I'd tend to a ragout, ideally to serve on pappardelle.

If you dislike the gamey taste, marinade them over night in buttermilk
with pimentum corns, juniper berries and pepper corns.
Take out of marinade, wash them, dry them and process them.
Works for all game.

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

I don't sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, unless I'm bringing the cake
to an event where I know the host or hostess is easily amused by powdered
sugar. The cake doesn't need it.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Cake

½ to ¾ cup crumbs made from vanilla wafer cookies
2 tbs butter (to grease pan)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp powdered cardamom
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place 8-10 vanilla wafers between sheets of waxed paper and, using a rolling
pin, grind into moderately coarse crumbs. Butter a 9” kugelhopf mold or
Bundt pan. Pour in cookie crumbs and rotate pan to coat sides. The finer
crumbs will stick, leaving the coarser crumbs in the bottom. Distribute
these evenly – they’ll become the topping on the cake. There should be
about ¼” of the coarse crumbs.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,
cardamom and salt. On low speed, blend in the eggs and heavy cream until
thoroughly combined. Increase speed to medium and mix until the batter has
the consistency of softly whipped cream, approximately 5 minutes. Pour into
prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Turn
out onto rack immediately and cool before serving.

If desired, dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar just before serving. If
cake is to be stored more than a couple of days, wrap tightly and
refrigerate.

Tips:
- Stick with name brand vanilla wafers, such as Nabisco. The store brands
don’t seem to have much vanilla flavor.
- The original recipe called for only 1 tsp of cardamom. If you find the
flavor too strong, go ahead and reduce it to this amount.

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

I don't sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, unless I'm bringing the cake
to an event where I know the host or hostess is easily amused by powdered
sugar. The cake doesn't need it.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Cake

½ to ¾ cup crumbs made from vanilla wafer cookies
2 tbs butter (to grease pan)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp powdered cardamom
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place 8-10 vanilla wafers between sheets of waxed paper and, using a rolling
pin, grind into moderately coarse crumbs. Butter a 9” kugelhopf mold or
Bundt pan. Pour in cookie crumbs and rotate pan to coat sides. The finer
crumbs will stick, leaving the coarser crumbs in the bottom. Distribute
these evenly – they’ll become the topping on the cake. There should be
about ¼” of the coarse crumbs.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,
cardamom and salt. On low speed, blend in the eggs and heavy cream until
thoroughly combined. Increase speed to medium and mix until the batter has
the consistency of softly whipped cream, approximately 5 minutes. Pour into
prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Turn
out onto rack immediately and cool before serving.

If desired, dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar just before serving. If
cake is to be stored more than a couple of days, wrap tightly and
refrigerate.

Tips:
- Stick with name brand vanilla wafers, such as Nabisco. The store brands
don’t seem to have much vanilla flavor.
- The original recipe called for only 1 tsp of cardamom. If you find the
flavor too strong, go ahead and reduce it to this amount.

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

I don't sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, unless I'm bringing the cake
to an event where I know the host or hostess is easily amused by powdered
sugar. The cake doesn't need it.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Cake

½ to ¾ cup crumbs made from vanilla wafer cookies
2 tbs butter (to grease pan)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp powdered cardamom
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place 8-10 vanilla wafers between sheets of waxed paper and, using a rolling
pin, grind into moderately coarse crumbs. Butter a 9” kugelhopf mold or
Bundt pan. Pour in cookie crumbs and rotate pan to coat sides. The finer
crumbs will stick, leaving the coarser crumbs in the bottom. Distribute
these evenly – they’ll become the topping on the cake. There should be
about ¼” of the coarse crumbs.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,
cardamom and salt. On low speed, blend in the eggs and heavy cream until
thoroughly combined. Increase speed to medium and mix until the batter has
the consistency of softly whipped cream, approximately 5 minutes. Pour into
prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Turn
out onto rack immediately and cool before serving.

If desired, dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar just before serving. If
cake is to be stored more than a couple of days, wrap tightly and
refrigerate.

Tips:
- Stick with name brand vanilla wafers, such as Nabisco. The store brands
don’t seem to have much vanilla flavor.
- The original recipe called for only 1 tsp of cardamom. If you find the
flavor too strong, go ahead and reduce it to this amount.

"Janet Baraclough" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from "JoeSpareBedroom" <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Tell me again how I find your house, please. :-)

North to Labrador, turn right, and keep swimming.

Quoted message said:

I'll bring my
not-yet-famous cardamom cake.

Just in case it gets wet, or eaten by sharks, could you post a copy
of the recipe here please?

Janet

I don't sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, unless I'm bringing the cake
to an event where I know the host or hostess is easily amused by powdered
sugar. The cake doesn't need it.

Enjoy!

Cardamom Cake

½ to ¾ cup crumbs made from vanilla wafer cookies
2 tbs butter (to grease pan)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp powdered cardamom
½ tsp salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place 8-10 vanilla wafers between sheets of waxed paper and, using a rolling
pin, grind into moderately coarse crumbs. Butter a 9” kugelhopf mold or
Bundt pan. Pour in cookie crumbs and rotate pan to coat sides. The finer
crumbs will stick, leaving the coarser crumbs in the bottom. Distribute
these evenly – they’ll become the topping on the cake. There should be
about ¼” of the coarse crumbs.

In large bowl of electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder,
cardamom and salt. On low speed, blend in the eggs and heavy cream until
thoroughly combined. Increase speed to medium and mix until the batter has
the consistency of softly whipped cream, approximately 5 minutes. Pour into
prepared pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Turn
out onto rack immediately and cool before serving.

If desired, dust lightly with confectioner’s sugar just before serving. If
cake is to be stored more than a couple of days, wrap tightly and
refrigerate.

Tips:
- Stick with name brand vanilla wafers, such as Nabisco. The store brands
don’t seem to have much vanilla flavor.
- The original recipe called for only 1 tsp of cardamom. If you find the
flavor too strong, go ahead and reduce it to this amount.