My wife saw a pheasant in the freezer case last weekend when we were grocery shopping so we just had to buy it. My dad is a big hunter and he used to give us some of his pheasant whenever we would visit. Now that we live across the country, that doesn’t happen any more. So when we saw it in the store, we had to try it out. Not as good as the wild birds but satisfied the itch. Served it with some mashed potatoes and zucchini to round out my 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 approach that I am trying to get rid of.
For the pheasant:
- 1 pheasant, butchered into 10 pieces saving the carcass
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Put pheasant in a roasting pan and top with olive oil and salt and pepper. Cook for about 30-45 minutes or until done.
For the mashed potatoes:
- 1 lb small yellow potatoes, unpeeled
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- salt and pepper
- pheasant carcass
Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Remove the potatoes to a stand mixer being sure not to throw out the water. Mix with butter, sour cream, salt and pepper until smooth. With the residual water, throw in the carcass and simmer for about 45 minutes (while the pheasant cooks). Pour broth in wider pan to evaporate more quickly with a chicken bullion cube to give it a bit more flavor. When you family asks when dinner is ready, add some corn starch and cold water to thicken.
For the zucchini:
- 1 zucchini, sliced on mandolin
- olive oil
- dried oregano
- dried basil
- salt and pepper
Simple saute the zucchini in the olive oil and heard bur about 2-3 minutes. They were so thin that it was really just about warming them up.
Working Dad Cooks 