Cooking Classes

1.11.12

Hunting Season and I Scored Some Pheasant

It is nice to have friends who hunt. Kim and her husband actually raise pheasant to be released into the wild.  Her husband is also a hunting guide. As a result of the guiding, they often have more pheasant than they can eat before freezer burn sets in. So lucky me! I put in my offer to help them eat their pheasant and today when the phone rang it was the farthest thing from my mind.

It was lucky because I was home today and I was also caught up in getting ready for the market on Saturday. I was so happy that I had made my Saskatoon Berry and White Chocolate scones and I sent Ron home with a dozen.

These are wild pheasant and not ones that were released. You can tell because the farm raised and released are banded on their leg.


I have never cleaned a bird before but Ron gave me a quick lesson. Don't look too closely at the wings! I can hardly wait to make these lovely birds into something extraordinary. I kept the livers and hearts, too. I was amazed to hear that most hunters simply 'breast' the bird and discard the legs and thighs. I believe in utilizing as much as possible.

I have dreams of crystal clear pheasant consommé, braised pheasant with madeira, a lovely pheasant stew with risotto, pheasant pot pie and a wild pheasant terrine. Hmmmm....what should I make first?

6 comments:

  1. You could go with my favorite standby, roasted pheasant with wild rice stuffing. It's always a winner. I'm hoping my dentist, Kevin, will offer me some venison this year. That would be fun, too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can't wait to see what you do with them! My husband goes pheasant hunting every year with his Grandpa, Dad & cousins. I'm stymied about just what to do with them though. I bought some lapsang souchong tea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lapsang_souchong) with the thought of trying a tea-smoked sort of treatment, but I dunno.

    I need to use these bad boys before they end up freezer-burned and only fit for the dogs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. And soon you will be able to do something awesome with moose meat!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That sounds like an offer to me, Gloria!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm an artist and I would love to have pheasant feathers to work with. I have no hunter friends. Can I buy them from you?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey Sarah! It's nice to hear that you're able to have some good catch. Hope I'll be able to have some too when the our next pheasant hunting trip kicks.

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comment! Please visit often.