Honey Roasted Pheasant Recipes

ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Brine the bird. Make a brine by bringing the water, salt, bay leaves, juniper and sugar to a boil. Cover and let cool to room temperature. When it cools, submerge your pheasant in the brine and keep it in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours. The longer you brine, the saltier the pheasant will become. I brine pen-raised birds for 4 hours, old roosters for 8 hours.
• Optional step: If you really want a crispy skin, take the birds out of the brine and set them uncovered in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours. This dries out the skin (but not the meat} and helps you get crispier skin.
• When you are ready to cook, take the pheasant out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to an hour. Heat your oven. Get it to 500°F if possible, but at least 400°F. Give yourself at least 15 minutes of preheating, and up to a half hour. Oil the bird. You can do this with olive oil or you can smear butter all over it. Crack some black pepper over the bird.
• Stuff with a piece of onion or apple and a few fresh herbs. A cut lemon is a good choice, too. Do not pack the cavity. Truss the bird if you want. I do this often because it helps the pheasant cook more evenly. (Here's a video on how to truss a chicken, which is basically the same thing as a pheasant.)
• Roast the pheasant uncovered for 15 minutes at your high temperature. Take the pheasant out and lower the temperature to 350°F. Leave your oven door open to speed this process.
• Optional step: Baste the bird with either butter or a glaze. When I do this, I like to use a boiled-down combination of butter and maple syrup.
• Return the pheasant to the oven and roast uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. You want the internal temperature of the thigh meat to be about 155°F to 160°F and for the bird's juices to run pretty clear. A little pink in the juice - and in the bird - is what you want. The higher end of this cooking time will give you a well-done bird, which I try to avoid but many people prefer.
• Remove the pheasant and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes. This resting time is vital, as it lets the juices redistribute within the pheasant. It will also finish off the cooking process through carry-over heating.

EMERIL'S FAVORITE ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.
• Season the cavities and the outside of each pheasant liberally with salt and pepper. Divide the chopped onion and carrot equally among the cavities of the pheasants. Squeeze the juice from both halves of the orange and set aside. Cut 1 of the squeezed halves into 3 pieces, and tuck inside of the cavities along with the veggies. Insert 1sprig of thyme into the cavity of each pheasant.
• Arrange the pheasants in a large roasting pan, breast sides up. Lay 2 strips of bacon over the top of each pheasant, cutting the bacon into pieces if necessary to cover as much of the pheasant as possible. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove the bacon strips and continue roasting for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear. (It is important to not overcook the pheasants, as they are very lean birds.) Remove the pheasants from the oven and transfer to a serving platter, loosely tented, while you make the sauce.
• Using a spoon, carefully remove as much extra fat from the pan as possible. Place the roasting pan over high heat and, when hot, deglaze with the reserved orange juice and Madeira, using a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the orange juice and Madeira have reduced by half, add the chicken stock and continue to cook until sauce has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes. Swirl in the butter and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Remove the back bone from each pheasant, then cut along the breast bone to divide the birds into two halves. Serve 1/2 pheasant per person, napped with some of the sauce and with some of the Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding.
• Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the Essence, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 3/4 teaspoon of the pepper, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender and have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan and until the mixture is almost dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of Essence, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and whisk well to combine. Add the mushroom mixture and cheeses and stir well. Add the bread cubes and let sit until the bread has absorbed the liquid, 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with the butter. Add the bread crumbs, shaking to cover the bottom evenly. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and uncover. Continue baking until risen and firm in the center, and golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

BAKED PHEASANT IN GRAVY

Steps:

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine flour and brown sugar; add pheasant pieces, one at time, and shake to coat. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown pheasant on both sides in butter. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish., Combine soup, water and broth until blended; pour over pheasant. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40 minutes. Sprinkle with onions. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until juices run clear. Serve with potatoes or rice.

ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Stir the chopped rosemary and thyme into the olive oil and set aside. Rub the pheasant inside and out with salt and pepper. Place into a close-fitting roasting pan. Pour the herb oil over top.
• Bake the pheasant in the preheated oven for 1 hour, then cover with aluminum foil, and continue baking an additional hour, or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone reads 180 degrees F (82 degrees C). Remove from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing. Baste the pheasant with the hot oil and juices from the pan every 30 minutes while cooking.

HONEY ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
• Place the pheasant into a baking dish.
• Pour lemon juice over the pheasant.
• Generously spread the honey over the entire bird.
• Season the cavities of the pheasant generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Lightly sprinkle the outside of the pheasant with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Place into the bottom third of the oven& roast until done, which will be when you puncture the bird& the juices run clear.
• Be careful not to over cook the pheasant, as it is a very dry bird with very little fat.

PLEASANT PHEASANT

Steps:

• Marinate the pheasant breasts over night (or for as long as possible) in your favorite marinade, or mix together the soy sauce, garlic, onion, honey and vinegar for a yummy asian-inspired marinade.
• Remove pheasants from marinade, and coat in flour. We do not rinse off marinade, or allow to drip off, so that the flour makes a nice coating on the pheasant.
• Heat a frying pan with butter, and place coated pheasant in pan.
• Allow to brown on each side, then add 1/4 cup of chicken broth, or enough to create some liquid on the bottom. Add cilantro.
• Cover and allow pheasant to cook for 4-6 minutes per side, until cooked through. Don't let all the chicken broth cook off, or it could burn. Add more if necessary.
• Once done, take pheasant out of pan, and add chicken broth, a little at a time, scraping the bottom of the pan to create a gravy.
• Serve with rice, or noodles.
• Variations:
• instead of chicken broth, use chicken noodle soup and some water! Or,
• use your favorite marinate. Or,
• after browning, and adding liquid (or soup with some water), put it in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes - then proceed as directed.