A Pot Roast Pheasant With Celery Root Mash Recipes

POT-ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the pheasants with the flour, then heat the oil in a large flameproof dish. Brown the pheasants all over, then remove from the dish.
• In the same dish, fry the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs with 1 tbsp of the dusting flour for 5 mins, until the vegetables start to colour. Put the pheasants and any resting juices back in the dish, pour on the Marsala, wine and stock, add the sugar, then cover and cook for 1 hr 30 mins - 1 hr 50 mins or until the leg meat easily comes away from the bone. Serve with bread sauce.

SAVORY MASHED ROOT VEGETABLES

Steps:

• Place all the vegetables and garlic in a large pot and fill with cool water to cover; season with a teaspoon of salt. Bring to boil over medium heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the vegetables are very tender.
• While the vegetables are cooking, combine the heavy cream, butter, and herbs in a pot and heat over low flame to melt the butter and infuse the herb flavor into the cream ¿ do not allow to boil. Shut off the heat, cover, and let steep until needed. When ready to use, remove the herb stems and the bay leaves.
• Drain vegetables and put them into a large mixing bowl. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in the warm cream mixture and mix until the liquid is absorbed and the vegetables are smooth; season with salt and pepper. Put the mashed root vegetables in a serving bowl, garnish with chopped chives and drizzle with a healthy dose of olive oil.

CREAMY CELERY ROOT-POTATO MASH

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add celery root and potatoes and return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain well and mash together. Stir in cream and season with salt and pepper.

CREAMY CELERY ROOT MASH

Steps:

• Place celeriac into a large pot and cover with salted water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• Mash celeriac, sour cream, and dill together in a large bowl with a potato masher until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

POT-ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Start with the potatoes. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the wider side off the potato and cut into 2 thick slices, so each side sits flat in the pan. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan and fry the bacon for 2 mins until crisp. Push the bacon aside; then, over a very high heat, brown the potato slices really well for about 3 mins on each side.
• Add the thyme, splash in the stock and place in the oven while you cook the pheasant.
• Season the pheasant really well. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and add the pheasant pieces. Spend about 10 mins making sure the meat is well coloured on all sides, using tongs to turn the pieces when needed.
• Remove the meat from the dish and add a splash more oil. Sizzle the bacon for 1 min, then add all the vegetables and the thyme. Turn up the heat and brown the vegetables really well. Nestle the legs amongst the vegetables and sit the breast on top. Place in the oven, uncovered, to roast for 25 mins.
• Remove the dish from oven, lift out the breast and leave somewhere warm to rest. Pour the chicken stock over the legs and return to the oven for 20 mins to braise. Meanwhile, gently reheat the carrot purée in a pan, stirring in a touch of butter.
• Remove the legs from the dish and set aside. Use a potato masher to squash the veg into the sauce to thicken. Season well and strain the sauce into a bowl. Remove the potatoes from the oven, and finely chop the bacon from the potato pan into small bits - you are now ready to carve the pheasant and plate up.
• Neatly cut each breast away from the carcass. Slice into 2 and cut each leg through the joint into 2 pieces. Cut each potato in half on an angle. Smear a large spoonful of carrot purée along one side of the plate. Lean the pheasant pieces against each other and lay a piece of potato alongside. Scatter the pheasant breast with the chopped bacon, spoon over the sauce and serve.

CELERY ROOT MASH

Steps:

• Peel and roughly chop 3 pounds celery root. Place in a pot and cover with equal parts milk and water (about 2 1/2 cups each); add a pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer and cook until soft, 20 to 25 minutes; drain. Puree with 1/3 cup heavy cream and 2 tablespoons butter. Season with salt, then add 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard and pulse to combine.
• TIP: Use a food processor or immersion blender to puree these veggies-they're too fibrous for a potato masher.

POT ROAST PHEASANT WITH CELERY, WHITE WINE & FENNEL SEEDS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160°C/gas mark 2 ½ . Over a medium high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil in a flameproof casserole dish large enough to fit both pheasants snuggly. When it is foaming, add one of the pheasants and fry until crisp and golden all over. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the other bird, also transferring in to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to a minimum, add the shallots and cook for around 10 minutes or so until they are soft and translucent. Add the celery (reserving the leaves), garlic and fennel seeds, stirring well to coat in the buttery juices. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Pour in the wine, return the pheasants to the pan and bring up to a simmer. Cover with a lid or tightly fitting piece of foil and transfer to the oven. Cook for an hour to an hour and a half, until the meat from the birds in falling away from the bone.
• Turn off the oven. Remove the pheasants from the pot and pulling off the legs and carving off the breast in one piece. Transfer the meat to a serving platter, cover loosely with foil and return to the oven to keep warm.Recipe: Fenland Celery

ROAST PHEASANT IN A CLAY POT

Steps:

• Place clay pot in cold water and let soak for 10 minutes. Drain well.
• Rub the pheasant with olive oil and place the juniper berries inside the birds. Season with salt and pepper inside and out.
• Place the bacon over the breasts and put the birds in the clay pot. Place in a cold oven and set at 450 degrees. Bake for one-and-a-half hours.

CELERY ROOT AND POTATO MASH

Steps:

• Cook celery root in large pot of boiling salted water 5 minutes. Add potatoes to pot; cook until all vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Drain. Return vegetables to pot; stir over medium-high heat until dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; add butter. Using potato masher, mash vegetables until butter is incorporated. Add 1/2 cup milk; mash until almost smooth, adding more milk as needed. Stir in celery leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
• What to drink:
• The lemony pork is great with Pinot Grigio, a white that's also known for its lemony notes. One to try: CUPCAKE VINEYARDS 2009 PINOT GRIGIO (Trentino doc, $14), a charmingly bright wine with citrus, pear, and pineapple flavors.

A POT-ROAST PHEASANT WITH CELERY ROOT MASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Warm the oil and the cubes of pancetta in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot set over medium heat. When the pancetta fat starts to color, add the pheasants and brown them lightly on all sides.
• Peel the garlic cloves and slice each one in half lengthwise. Add them to the pot with the sage leaves, then pour in the Marsala. Let it come to a boil, cover the pot with a lid, and put in the oven for forty minutes. Turn the pheasants once during cooking.
• To make the mash, peel the potatoes and celery root and, keeping them separate, cut them into large pieces, as you would for boiled potatoes. Put them in separate pans of cold water and bring to a boil, starting the potatoes ten minutes before the celery root. As soon as both are tender, drain them, mix the potatoes and celery root together, and mash with the butter. I do this with a potato masher, followed by a good whipping with a wooden spoon, but you could do it in a stand mixer if you don't mind the washing up.
• To serve, divide the mash among four warm plates. Lift the pheasants from the pot and put them on a chopping board. Using a heavy chef 's knife, cut each one in half lengthwise (this sounds scary if you have never done it before, but you will find one good push should do it). Place half a bird on each pile of mash, then spoon over the hot juices and pancetta from the pan.