Orange Roasted Pheasants Recipes

ORANGE-ROASTED PHEASANTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• In small bowl, stir butter, orange peel, salt, pepper, honey and green onions until well mixed.
• Place pheasants, breast sides up, in shallow roasting pan. For each pheasant, starting at the back opening, gently separate skin from breast, using fingers. Spread butter mixture on pheasant breast under skin. Secure skin to flesh with toothpick if necessary. Insert meat thermometer so tip is in thickest part of inside thigh muscle and does not touch bone.
• Bake uncovered about 45 minutes or until thermometer reads 180°F and legs move easily when lifted or twisted. Remove pheasants to serving platter; cover loosely with foil to keep warm.
• Pour orange liqueur and broth into roasting pan, scraping up browned bits from pan; pour mixture into 1-quart saucepan. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; boil about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced to 1 cup. Serve sauce with pheasants.

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.

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.

QUAIL ROASTED WITH HONEY, CUMIN AND ORANGE JUICE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Rub the quail with half the olive oil, then sprinkle all over with salt and pepper. Put them breast side up in a roasting pan just large enough to accommodate them. Combine remaining ingredients and brush about half of this mixture over the birds; put in oven.
• After about 10 minutes of roasting, baste with remaining mixture, then continue to roast until done, about 10 minutes more. Serve birds hot, with pan juices, or warm or at room temperature.

PHEASANT BREAST à L'ORANGE WITH DRIED APRICOTS & PROSCIUTTO

Steps:

• Cut each pheasant in half across the middle, lengthways so that you have 4 thin slithers of breast. Cut the apricots in the same way. Lay out 3 overlapping slices of prosciutto or bacon and place a sprig of thyme on top. Pop a piece of breast on top of this and lay 3 pieces of apricot on top of the breast. Season with salt and pepper, then wrap the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant to form a parcel. Repeat with the remaining pheasant, prosciutto and apricot to make 4 parcels. You can make these the day before and chill overnight.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat a heavy-bottomed frying pan over a high flame and add the butter and 1 tbsp oil. When the fats are sizzling, add the pheasant parcels and cook for 3-4 mins on each side until the prosciutto is crisp and golden. The heat from the pan will seal the prosciutto tightly around the pheasant breast.
• Pop the breasts onto a baking tray and roast in the oven for 5-7 mins to finish cooking. Meanwhile, add the zest and juice from the 2 oranges, cinnamon, honey and soy to the pan juices and simmer to reduce until syrupy. Toss the watercress with the remaining oil and a squeeze of orange juice. Serve the pheasant parcels with the orange sauce, watercress and rice.

PHEASANT IN ORANGE SAUCE

Steps:

• Wash pheasant and pat dry.
• Sprinkle on both sides with paprika.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and cook pheasant on both sides till browned.
• Add more butter if needed.
• Mix water and bouillon and pour over pheasant.
• Lower heat and cover and simmer for thirty minutes until tender.
• Add water if needed and turn meat several times.
• Combine remaining ingredients.
• Let liquid on pheasant cook away and then baste orange sauce over the meat.
• Simmer uncovered and baste frequently for 10-15 minutes.
• Serves 2. Great served with rice.