Pheasant recipes (2024)

FAQs

Which cooking method is best for pheasant? ›

While pheasant meat is versatile, it has less fat than other meat, so care must be taken during the cooking process to ensure that the meat stays moist, otherwise it will dry out and overcook quickly. Pheasant can be prepared in many ways, but roasting and grilling are the most popular cooking methods.

I personally like a little bit of the natural flavor, so I only soak for 12 hours before cooking. Leave as much of the skin on the meat as possible: Pheasants typically have very little fat on them, especially around the breast meat, so they can dry out quickly during cooking.

Brining -- the process of soaking meat in a saltwater solution -- provides a good deal of protection against the undesirable effects of overcooking.

Roberts said prior to cooking the bird, the gamey taste can be pulled out by soaking it in milk and the blood can also be extracted. "I normally soak them (pheasant) overnight in a salt water ... it pulls the blood out," Roberts said.

Hold the pheasant over an open gas flame to scorch off any remaining feathers. If you do not have a gas burner use a blowtorch, but don't get so close to the pheasant as to scorch the skin. Wipe over the pheasant with kitchen paper to remove the remains of any scorched feathers. The pheasant is now ready to cook.

Brown the pheasant all over in hot dripping then put in a casserole dish with onions, carrot & celery. Add chicken or game stock, put the lid on and braise in a medium oven for at least 2 hours. Cooked like that it will never be dry but it will be tender, moist and flavoursome.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the meat and brown on all sides. Transfer to a casserole dish, add vegetables and stock of your choice, cover and cook for 50-60 minutes in the centre of the oven. Cook thoroughly until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork and there is no pink meat.

Cook until golden brown and no longer pink inside (roughly 8 minutes per side). Remove pheasant from skillet and set aside. Cook game meat thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165°F. Using the same skillet, melt butter over medium heat.

Do not be alarmed if the thigh meat is pink. As long as the internal temperature is at least 154° and the meat is not translucent, the thighs will be perfectly safe to eat and much tastier than if overcooked! Farm-raised or wild pheasant can be treated more as a red meat rather than a white meat in the kitchen.

Marinating is an easy way to tenderize, add moisture, and enhance the flavor of wild game meat. Acids, such as vinegar, wine, citrus, and yogurt help break down muscles and connective tissue.

Does pheasant need to be brined? ›

"Brining really is the way to go with pheasant, to keep it moist and also to "cut" some of that rich gaminess.

“A lot of times people will overcook pheasant just because they are thinking the time and temp needs to be the same as chicken when it doesn't.” Many people use heat that's too high or cook pheasant too long, Hill said. A slow cooker is a great way to help avoid that trap. Another method: marination.

The distinct game flavor of either birds or animals will be milder after soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in either a salt or vinegar solution. 2. Vinegar solution - 1 cup per quart of cold water. Use enough solution to cover the game completely.

For wet brine, add sugar and salt to water. Stir until dissolved. Add peeled, smashed garlic cloves and smashed ginger, along with peppercorns. Completely submerge one pheasant in brine and soak overnight, approximately 12 to 14 hours.

I actually prefer the flavor of a pheasant that's only been wiped clean with a damp cloth. I find that thorough rinsing and brining leaches flavor and makes a pheasant little more than a boring chicken. You'd think tossing the birds on a bag of ice in a cooler would be a good idea, right? It is and it isn't.

Because farm-raised game birds are usually young and tender, they can be roasted, sautéed, grilled, and barbecued. The most important thing to remember about them is they are usually very lean. Therefore, they are best served slightly rare. If cooked to well done, they become dry.

Lightly salt and pepper and cook to no more than medium-rare. Fun tip: Consider cracking fresh black pepper over the heart and fry in bacon grease. Neck: I rarely (if ever) save the neck on pheasants as very little meat exists here, but if you are persistent you can likely pick off some bits if you toss in a gravy.

Moist cooking methods are techniques used for meats with more connective tissue and involve long, slow cooking. Moist cooking options are suggested for older and tougher birds and include boiling, stewing (cooking in liquid or sauce with vegetables), braising, simmering, poaching, and steaming.