Partially Plucked Pheasant
The other day I was given a pheasant by a friend. Most of you will think, what a great gift. I would too, if the pheasant wasn’t still fully feathered and attached to a dog!
The lovely tempered retriever was wagging its tail madly and looking up at its very aggitated owner who, with hands stretched out to me, shouted, ‘Do something! I can’t touch it! – She wont drop it!’ I know my friend hates anything that isn’t ‘normal’ meat, like beef or chicken. And that has to be cooked and on the plate.
Without too much drama I eased the bird from the dogs mouth and holding it by it’s feet, looked at the beautiful cock pheasant almost completely undamaged. (It must have died of fright.) I strung it up, in the garden shed to mature.
I’ve often bought pheasant from the local butcher but having to prepare the whole thing from scratch, was a new experience. After five days of hanging, I had to pluck the bird and if that wasn’t real enough, then I had to gut it. Whoah, the smell! One of the Glam Teens assured me it was just the smell of the stomach, how does he know? It was almost enough to put me off completely. But not quite.
Pheasant Stuffed with Black Pudding and Wild Boar Sausagemeat with Garlic
Usually I pot roast pheasant for a couple of hours with ricotta and sage stuffing but I wanted to try something new. I boned the bird, leaving the legs and then stuffed it with wild boar sausage meat and black pudding.
The boning was less complicated than I’d thought it would be and makes carving and serving much easier.
Boned Stuffed Pheasant
Sliced Boned Stuffed Pheasant
- 1 boned pheasant with wings off and legs on (check link for video to bone the pheasant)
- 2 wild boar sausages, squeezed from their skins. Or very good quality pork sausages
- 2 thin slices of black pudding
- 1 clove of garlic
- 4-6 sage leaves depending on size. If very large tear them in half
- salt and pepper
- 7 rashers of pancetta or streaky unsmoked bacon
- 150 mls red wine
- 2 carrots peeled and halved; 1 stick of celelry; 4 shallots halved; 40 grammes of butter for basting
Plucked Boned Pheasant With Wings Removed
- set oven to 160
- Lay the bird out flat on a sheet greaseproof paper, skin side down
- Put one sage leaves evenly spaced on the flesh not forgetting the thighs
- Place the two slices of blackpudding down the centre of the bird
- In a bowl mix the sausage meat and the garlic to combine evenly
- Make a rough roll shape out of the sausage meat and place on top of the black pudding
- Using the paper to help you, if necessary, roll the sides of the bird towards the centre, overlapping the skin and turn the over
- Tie around the body with cooks twine, looping around the ends of the legs to keep them in place
Boned, Stuffed and Tied Pheasant
- Cover with the pancetta or bacon and leave to one side
Boned Pheasant Wrapped In Pancetta
- Place the carrots, celery and shallots in a roasting dish to form a trivet for the pheasant to sit on
- Top the vegetables with the butter and season
- Place the pheasant in the dish and put into the oven for 40 minutes
- After 40 minutes Baste with the juices in the pan and pour in the red wine
- Cover the pan tightly with tin foil and cook for a further 40 minutes
- Remove from the oven and leave to stand for 20 minutes before carving into thin slices
I was a bit suss riiiight up until I saw that you wrapped it with pancetta. Sold.
Aslso, did the dog at least get the scraps? Poor fella.
No, poor thing but my dog did!! GG
Wow, what an amazing job. A whole bird with all the feathers and the head might have been too overwhelming for me, buy you have managed to create a truly elegant dish.
*kisses* HH
Thank you. I did have to momentarily switch off the squeamish button. But a real sense of achievement to have done it. GG
I have never cooked pheasant before! Looks really nice to cook the whole bird like that!
It is much more tender cooked this way, GG
i can’t believe you boned the pheasant and everythign yourself! the dish looks amazing, and i just happened to be watching this episode of the hairy bikers where they did something similar with a chicken! (:
Thank you. I like the Hairy Bikers, but I’ve missed the one where they did something like this, it would have been handy to have tips. GG
Well done GG! What a fantastic challenge-the results look fantastic too! 😀
Thank you, It was a challenge but nothing ventured and all that. GG
That is an amazing process you went through. I am so impressed with this pheasant dish and the fact that you can make it from farm to table. I’ll bet it was delicious.
I thought it might be difficult to do the whole process but it was easier than I thought, now i want to try other game. GG
oh..I don’t think I can deal with a whole bird…pretty challenging. Looks nice when wrapped up with bacon.
A friend told me that you can switch off your yuck impulse. I discovered he was right. If you do then dealing with the whole bird is easy. GG
Wow, you have truly defined cooking a bird “from scratch”! Hats off to you for a job well done (I can’t even bear to buy a fully-plucked and gutted whole chook with the head still attached. I’m fine with a headless one though).
it was a challenge, but having done it I want to try some other game bird recipes. You can’t buy a chicken here with it’s head on, I don’t think! Bet yours have more flavour than our battery raised birds. GG
Your stuffed pheasant looks incredibly good! I love pheasants, they are my favourite game together with roedeer. You are so lucky to have been offered it! On the other hand I would panic with the feathers (even though I still remember my grandmother plucking a hen…). You seem to have made everything perfectly well and I love you bold attitude. If you plan game bird preparation classes, please put me on the list 🙂
Not a bad idea, I’ll keep a place for you! GG
I can’t imagine cleaning that bird. From the look of the finished dish ,it was well worth all the trouble.
It was a daunting prospect but worth it. GG
I’ve not cooked pheasant neither. I’m convinced to give it a go at least. One day soon when I’m experimenting in the kitchen.
Oh my. I can’t say that I am a fan of raw meat. And raw meat in it’s original state?
There is no way I could have handled this. You are a star.
Thank you. GG
Wow! You are amazing. I wouldn’t have known where to begin! Thank you for sharing such a tempting meal with me, and thank you for your kind words on my blog! I hope you are having a happy start to your week!
You aced it here!! I thought I did quite a good job, but you nailed it ever better 😀
You aced it! GG
Very brave indeed! I would have palmed it off to my husband for cleaning. It sounds so delicious with the stuffing, something for a special occaision, yumm…
OH I’m so with you. I really believe in men’s chores, but Mr Glam has a limit and this was it! GG
Oh my word. Impressive stuff. Last year I jugged a hare and was astonished by the smell- you’ve inspired me to go the extra mile with pheasant- this is just gorgeous.
Thank you, I’ve never jugged a hare but I’m hoping to try more game. GG