Show Menu

Show Menu

Wild Game Masterclass with Mike Robinson

Episodes

Season 1 Episode 2

Poach and Roast Pheasant

Season 1 Episode 2

Poach and Roast Pheasant Recipe

This dish is all about the bird – and a wonderful technique for keeping the famously dry bird super juicy!

Serves: 4

Poach and Roast Pheasant Recipe

Ingredients

2 hen pheasants
3 liters light chicken stock
1 ounce of salt
Chicken Schmaltz (chicken fat)
Butter, for basting
Honey
1 lemon
Bunch of rosemary

Boulangère Potatoes Ingredients

6 medium rooster potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
2 large onions, sliced
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
Herbs
Salt
Pepper
1 pint dark chicken stock
Butter
Oil

Chicory Ingredients

Chicory x3, sliced
1 chili

Velouté Sauce Ingredients:

2 ounces of butter
2 ounces of flour
Madeira wine
1/2 pint dark chicken stock

Directions

To prepare the pheasant, start with a pan of chicken stock, made of 2/3 water and 1/3 stock and 350 grams of salt. Leave for 20 minutes.
Remove the legs of the pheasant with a cleaver, cut straight through the joint. Once the temperature of the brine has reached 65 degrees, plunge the bird straight into the brine.
Once the bird’s temperature reaches around 50 degrees, remove from the brine.
Cut a lemon in half and place inside the birds’ cavity, along with a large sprig of rosemary. Next, add a teaspoon of chicken schmaltz, a knob of butter and a glug of olive oil to a pan. Drain off any excess juices from the pheasant and add to the pan, along with another sprig of rosemary and some pepper.
Add more butter to the pan and roll the pheasant, covering all sides. Heat your Traeger to 200 degrees and add the pheasant. Roast for 20 minutes.
Baste the pheasant using some chicken schmaltz and drizzle with some honey. Once cooked, remove the pheasant form the Traeger, leave to rest for 5 minutes and then carve.
To make the boulangère potatoes. Slice the potatoes really thinly and pat dry. Add to a bowl, season well with salt and pepper and add a glug of olive oil. Mix well using your hands.
Slice the onions and garlic. Sauté the onions in butter and oil with the garlic on a high heat. Season with sea salt, pepper and some fresh thyme. Allow to caramelize for 10 to 15 minutes.
To make the boulangère base, use a gamebird stock.
Once the onions have caramelized, mix them in with the potatoes. Mix well and add some of the gamebird stock, stir and cover the pan with a lid. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Once cooked through, transfer the potatoes and onions to a smaller nice dish and arrange the top layer in an overlapping style as this is the side your guests will see. Add more stock until it’s just below the level of the top layer, along with a few small knobs of butter and more pepper. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes or until crispy, at 200 degrees celsius.
Once the potatoes are looking crispy, reduce the heat to around 160 degrees celsius and cook for a further 20 – 30 minutes.
To make the chicory, remove the toot, pull the leaves apart, stack it together and slice.
Dice one red chilli (wash your hands after dicing the chilli!) Add a knob of butter to a pan. Next, add the sliced chicory and chilli. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to soften.
Once softened, add a small drizzle of honey and remove the pan from the heat. Transfer to a serving plate and add a sprinkling of chives.
To make the velouté sauce, melt butter in a pan. In another pan add a large splash of Madeira.
Add flour to the melted butter - add equal quantities for butter and flour. Combine together and allow to cool for 2 - 3 minutes.
Once the Madeira has warmed through, add some heat from the gas flames and allow it to catch and set aside whilst the alcohol burns off.
Add the reduced pheasant stock to the pan.
Add the Madeira to the roux and combine. Add some of the stock, small quantities at a time and stir through.
Bring to the boil and whisk. Season with parsley, chives, salt and pepper. Add a spoonful of wholegrain mustard. A small splash of raw madeira and stir.
Serve all together and enjoy.