3712. CASSOULET of BACON and TOULOUSE SAUSAGE with CONFIT PHEASANT

serves eight 


2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
8 Toulouse sausages
400g whole piece of smoked streaky bacon
2 generous glasses of red wine
600g good-quality chopped canned Italian tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
2 x 400g cans white haricot beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
50g fine white breadcrumbs
a little chopped parsley to serve

For the pheasant
4 x 500g jars goose fat
8 pheasant legs, bone in
10 black peppercorns 

Locate your heaviest deep pan (with a lid) and put it over a low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the goose fat. Soften the celery, onions and garlic cloves, then add the sausages and brown them all for about 10-15 minutes (you may have to turn the heat up a bit). 

Remove the rind from the bacon and cut the bacon into 8 square chunks. Add the bacon and rind to the pot and pour in the red wine and tomatoes; I like to put the smoked rind in for flavour then pick it out later. Add the bay leaf and thyme, cover and simmer very slowly for 3 hrs. 

While the base is cooking, prepare the confit. This could also be done well in advance, since it keeps so well. Heat oven to 150ºC/300ºF and season the pheasant legs well with sea salt and pepper. Pack these together tightly into an ovenproof casserole and cover with the goose fat. Add the peppercorns and cook for 2½ hrs, until the pheasant is tender. Remove the legs carefully from the hot fat and drain on a rack above a roasting tray. Increase the oven temp to 200ºC/400ºF. If you are making these ahead, cool and store in the fat in the fridge. To serve, heat gently to melt so you can lift out the legs. 

To finish, tip the sausage mix into an ovenproof dish, stir in the beans with some seasoning and sit the pheasant legs on top. Sprinkle the whole thing with breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes until golden. Scatter with parsley to serve.


bacon recipe source: Mike Robinson, Good Food magazine, November 2009

3154. POT-ROAST PHEASANT with CIDER and BACON

serves four


50 grams butter 

2 pheasants, cleaned

100 grams bacon lardons

1 onion, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

4 sage sprigs, leaves chopped

2 eating apples, cored and cut into large chunks

500 ml cider

300 ml chicken stock

1 savoy cabbage, finely shredded

100 ml double cream

mashed potato, to serve (optional)

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt the butter in a large non-stick flameproof dish. Season the pheasants, add to the dish and brown on all sides. Remove from the dish and set aside. 

Add the bacon, onion, celery and sage to the dish and cook for 10 minutes until the onion is soft and the bacon is crisp. Carefully pour off any excess fat. 

Return the pheasants to the dish and scatter over the apples. Pour over the cider and the chicken stock, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook in the oven for 25 minutes until the birds are cooked through. 

Remove the birds from the dish and keep warm. Return dish to the hob over a high heat. Let the liquid bubble until reduced by half, then add the cabbage, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes. Add the cream, check the seasoning, and continue cooking for 1 minute more. Serve the pheasant on top of the cabbage mixture with some mashed potato, if you like.

bacon recipe courtesy of: James Martin, Good Food Magazine, October 2012

2088. GREEN PEPPERCORN PHEASANT BREASTS with BACON

4 halved pheasant breasts
bacon, ample enough to wrap each half pheasant breast
2 cups dry red wine (such as a Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, or Merlot)
1 chopped onion
3 finely chopped cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of tarragon
1 to 3 teaspoons of green peppercorns (add to suit your taste)
2 cups of heavy cream (whipping cream will do fine)

Cut the four pheasant breasts in half, and wrap them with bacon. You may want to use tootpicks to hold things together. Place the meat in a baking dish and place it under a broiler until the bacon is browned, turning the meat over once duringi the process. Remove the pan from the broiler and set the breasts on layered paper towels to drain off the hot grease.

Remove most of the excess grease from pan, and deglaze the pan with the wine. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan to make your sauce. Add to the saucepan the onion, garlic, tarragon, and peppercorns. Bring the mixture to a slow boil. Reduce the mixture by half by boiling off the lighter fluids.

Place the breast meat back in baking dish. After the sauce mixture has reduced by hald, add the cream. Stir the sauce well, and pour it over the breasts. Put the sauced pheasant breasts in the oven and slow cook them at 250 to 300 F for roughly an hour, or as long as two hours until tender. Serves delightfully over a dish such as risotto or rice pilaf


bacon recipe courtesy of: UplandLife.com

1277. PHEASANT WRAPPED in BACON with BREAD SAUCE, RED CABBAGE and DEVILS ON HORSEBACK

serves 2


1 pheasant
4-5 rashers of bacon
3 sprigs thyme
1 pint milk
½ medium loaf white bread
2-3 pinches of thyme
1 onion, peeled and sliced
5 cloves
2 star anise
6 peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 bay leaf
25 grams butter
½ medium cabbage
125 grams butter
60 ml malt vinegar
170 grams demerara sugar
4 prunes
2 slices bacon
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 190c. Season the bird well. Wrap the bacon all over to prevent the meat from drying out and secure with either cocktail sticks, or by tying with string. Drizzle a little olive oil over the bird and sprinkle over some fresh thyme. Roast, basting occasionally, for 25 –35 minutes, depending on the size of your bird. Remove the pheasant from the oven and rest the bird breast side down (to catch the juices), set the bacon to one side. Finely slice the cabbage and place in an oven–proof pan. Pour over the vinegar, sugar and butter and mix well. Place on the heat and allow to come to the boil. Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and bake in the oven at 180c for approximately 45 minutes – the cabbage should be cooked but still have a bit of bite. Remove from oven, taste and alter seasoning if necessary. Remove the crusts from the bread and cut into rough cubes. Transfer to a food processor, season with a little salt and pepper and ‘pulse’ until well crumbed. Add the thyme flowers and blend again. Sweat the onion in a little butter, add the cloves, star anise, crushed peppercorns and the bay leaf. Pour over the milk and bring to the boil. Taste and season if necessary. Strain the milk through a sieve – using a wooden spoon to push through as much of the flavor as possible. Return the infused milk to the heat and gradually add the breadcrumbs until you’ve reached your preferred consistency. Finally, whisk through the butter to add a little extra richness and gloss. For the devils on horseback, simply slice the bacon in half lengthways and wrap around the prunes securing with a cocktail stick. Pan fry in a little olive oil until the bacon is crispy and prunes have softened. Serve a leg and breast of pheasant along side the bread sauce, red cabbage and devils on horseback.


courtesy of: Gordon Ramsay, The F Word

916. PHEASANT BAKE with BACON

1 cup raw wild rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mushrooms
2 1/2 cups water
water chestnuts
four strips of cooked bacon, cut into squares
2 pheasants, cut up, floured and browned
1 package instant onion soup mix
1 can fried onion toppers

Mix rice, canned soups, water, mushrooms, bacon and water chestnuts in 9x13 glass casserole dish. Add pheasant. Sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover lightly with foil. Bake for two hours at 300 degrees. Add onion toppers and cook for another 30 minutes.

Pheasant meat is a great alternative to chicken. Try it in soups, hot dishes and other meals that call for chicken. A fall weekend isn’t complete without some wild game, and with dishes like these and so many more, the preparation possibilities are endless for the finest fowl…in our outdoors.


courtesy of: Nodak Outdoors, Bismarck, North Dakota, (877) 572-0923

915. PHEASANT and BACON KEBABS

two whole pheasants, meat de-boned from breasts and thighs, cut into chunks
one package of thick cut bacon
2 onions, cut into two-inch chunks
2 bell peppers, cut into two-inch slices
one package medium mushrooms
glaze or marinade of your choice

If desired, put the pheasant meat and your marinade of choice together in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for four hours.

Place a chunk of pheasant meat and a slice of onion or pepper together and wrap one slice of bacon around them. Skewer three or four of these combinations onto a kabob stick. Take the leftover vegetables and mushrooms and skewer them on separate sticks. Using a marinade brush, put the leftover marinade on the veggies to add some flavor.

Place tinfoil on the areas of the grill you will be using to cook the kabobs and spray the tinfoil with non-stick oil, such as Pam. Ignite the grill and heat to high and then bring back down to low. Cook the kabobs on the foil - preferably on an upper or raised rack - on low heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until the kabob meat is done. The vegetable kabobs will finish before the meat kabobs, so remove them a few minutes earlier.


courtesy of: Nodak Outdoors, Bismarck, North Dakota, (877) 572-0923

890. ROAST PHEASANT with BACON and WHISKEY CUMBERLAND SAUCE

1/4 cup Scotch whiskey
2 oranges, cut into 1/8ths
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) pheasants
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices bacon, halved

Whiskey-Cumberland Sauce:
1 cup Scotch whiskey
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 cup red currant jelly
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne

Serving suggestion: Wild rice

For the pheasant: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oranges with 3 tablespoons of the whisky. Rub the pheasants with the remaining 1 tablespoon of whisky and lightly season with salt and pepper. Stuff each pheasant with the oranges and 1 sprig of fresh thyme, and close the cavities with skewers. Wrap the breast of each pheasant with the bacon and set in a roasting pan. Roast the pheasants until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees F., about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes.

For the Whiskey Cumberland Sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the whisky, orange juice, and orange zest, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 50 percent in volume to about 3/4 cup. Add the currant jelly, salt, and cayenne, and stir well.

Cook until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a decorative bowl. Cool slightly before serving.

Remove the bacon from the pheasant breasts, if desired, and cut each bird in half. Discard the oranges and thyme in the cavity. Serve hot with Whisky-Cumberland Sauce and wild rice.


courtesy of: Emeril Lagasse, "Single Malt Whiskey," Emeril Live,, 2001

282. PHEASANT WILD RICE & BACON SOUP

½ lb. cooked wild rice in chicken stock
7 strips bacon, chopped
½ lb. butter
2 onions, diced
1 bunch celery, diced
1 lb. raw mushrooms, sliced
1 ½ cup flour
3 pheasant breasts
2 quarts chicken stock
1 teaspoons white pepper
1 tablespoons Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1 quart heavy whipping cream

Fry bacon in large pot until brown. Add butter to bacon and grease; melt. Add onions, celery and mushrooms; sauté about 5 minutes. Add flour, stir well and continue to cook and stir another 4-5 minutes. Add raw pheasant and stock; bring to boil. Lower hear and simmer 20 minutes. Add seasoning and heavy cream. Continue to simmer for another 10 minutes; adjust seasoning if necessary. Add wild rice at very end. If too thick, thin down with half-&-half or milk. May want to add a little poultry seasoning.


courtesy of: Halverson Hunts, Kennebec, South Dakota

81. PHEASANT WRAPPED in BACON with ORANGE and SAGE STUFFING and ROSTI

(This one goes out to Derek)

serves 1


1 pheasant breast
2-3 sage leaves
2 slices of orange
2 rashers of bacon
1 oz. butter

For the rösti:
drizzle of olive oil
½ potato, grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the jus:
1 orange, juice only
3 tablespoons red wine
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat the oven to 425F. Cut the pheasant breast open and place the sage leaves and orange slices inside. Close up and wrap in the bacon rashers. Gently melt the butter in a non-stick frying pan and pan-fry the pheasant for 3-4 minutes, until golden. Transfer to the oven and roast for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. Meanwhile, to make the rösti, heat the oil in pan. Place the grated potato in the center of some kitchen paper or a tea towel and squeeze out the excess moisture. Scatter the potato in the pan, spreading it out evenly. Season well. Gently fry for 3-4 minutes each side until crisp and golden. To make the jus, heat the orange juice, red wine and balsamic vinegar in a small pan. Simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Thicken with flour if necessary and heat for a further minute. Transfer the pheasant onto a serving plate and serve the rösti alongside. Drizzle the sauce over to serve.


courtesy of: Lesley Waters, Ready Steady Cook