Cider Braised Pheasant With Pearl Onions And Apples Recipes

CIDER-BRAISED PHEASANT WITH PEARL ONIONS AND APPLES

Steps:

• Make marinade:
• In blender, combine olive oil, ginger, tarragon, orange juice, zest, salt, and pepper and purée until smooth. In large bowl, combine marinade and pheasant and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours.
• Braise pheasant:
• In very large Dutch oven over moderately high heat, heat olive oil until hot but not smoking. Remove pheasant pieces from marinade, scraping off excess, and sprinkle with salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Working in batches, sear pheasant pieces until well browned, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to paper towel-lined platter to drain.
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Skim off all but 1 tablespoon oil from pan, leaving browned bits at bottom, and set pan over moderately low heat. Add butter and heat until melted. Stir in onions, bay leaf, fennel seeds, salt, remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are well caramelized, 30 to 40 minutes.
• Return pheasant to pot. Add chicken broth, cider, and wine. (Liquid should cover half of pheasant pieces. Add more chicken broth if necessary.) Raise heat to high and bring liquid to simmer. Add apples, cover, and transfer pot to oven. Braise, turning pheasant pieces occasionally, until meat is cooked through and tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Using tongs or slotted spoon, transfer pheasant to platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Set pot over high heat and bring pan juices to boil. Boil, uncovered, until sauce is well reduced and thickened, about 25 minutes. Taste and add additional salt and pepper, if necessary.
• While juices are reducing, prepare caramelized onions and apples:
• Bring medium pot of water to boil. Add pearl onions and boil, uncovered, 1 minute. Drain and run under cold water until cool enough to handle; slip off skins.
• In small skillet over moderately high heat, heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add onions, apples, sugar, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Sear, shaking pan occasionally, until onions and apples are dark golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in apple cider, scraping up any browned bits in pan. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until onions are fork tender, about 2 minutes more.
• Serve:
• Spoon some of sauce over pheasant and garnish with onions, apples, and chopped tarragon. Serve additional sauce alongside.

PHEASANT BRAISED WITH LEEKS, CIDER & APPLES

Steps:

• For the pickled apples, put the salt, sugar, vinegar and berries in a small pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the apple cubes and set aside.
• Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, high-sided casserole and season the pheasant joints with salt. Brown them all over, rendering out some of the yellow fat into the pan. Remove to a plate and season with pepper. Add the leeks, bacon and thyme to the pan along with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and fry until the leeks have softened - about 8 mins. Add the apple slices and cook until starting to colour on both sides.
• Spoon in the brandy and cook until evaporated, add the cider and simmer for a few more mins to cook off the alcohol. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and add the pheasant joints back to the pan, covering with a circle of baking parchment.
• After 15 mins, remove the breasts from the pan to a plate and return the circle of baking parchment to the pan. Cook gently for a further 20 mins, then remove all the pheasant pieces from the pan to a plate and turn the heat up to reduce the sauce. Boil hard for a few min until reduced, then stir in the cream and mace and turn off the heat. Return the pheasant pieces to the sauce - the residual heat will warm it perfectly.
• Divide the pheasant between plates and spoon over the sauce. Garnish with the pickled apples and hazelnuts. Serve with our celeriac colcannon.

POT-ROAST PHEASANT WITH PEARL BARLEY & STUFFED ONIONS

Steps:

• First, start to make the stuffed onions. Heat oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1. Lay the whole onions on a large sheet of foil and wrap up to make a parcel. Cook for 1 hr 30 mins or until soft, then remove and leave to cool. Turn up the oven to 180C/160 fan/gas 4.
• While the onions are roasting, heat a medium flameproof casserole dish and add 1 tbsp oil. When the dish is hot, add the pheasant crown and brown on the skin side, then set aside. Add the remaining oil and the onion and fry for 10 mins until soft and starting to brown. Add the garlic and parsnip, cook for a few mins, then add the pearl barley and cider. Simmer until the cider has reduced by half, then pour in the chicken stock and keep on a low simmer for 15-20 mins.
• Remove and discard the core from the baked onions using a teaspoon, making them hollow but still keeping them intact. In a mixing bowl, mix all the stuffing ingredients and season. Spoon the stuffing into the hollow onions, making sure that they are full. Roll any extra stuffing into small balls.
• Add the pheasant crown and any balls to the simmering barley and sprinkle with a little salt, then add the stuffed onions and thyme. Cover with a lid and put in the oven for 20 mins.
• To make the salsa, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the sprout tops until they are just soft, then plunge them into a bowl of iced water. Drain the leaves and squeeze out any excess water, then chop roughly. Add them to the small bowl of a food processor, along with the mace, chestnuts, garlic, rapeseed oil and lemon zest, and blitz until it becomes a rough salsa texture. Add a little seasoning to taste.
• Once the pheasant is cooked, remove the dish from the oven and transfer the pheasant to a plate to rest. Cover loosely with foil. Return the barley to the heat and stir in the mushrooms, apple and parsley - using the mixture to baste the stuffed onions. When it becomes a rich and reasonably thick stew, remove from the heat.
• Remove the breasts from the crown with a sharp knife and trim a little to neaten them. Spoon the pearl barley onto a large serving bowl or plate, put the pheasant breast on top and serve with the braised onions and extra meatballs. To finish the dish, add a large spoonful of the salsa and sprinkle over the crispy sage leaves.