“I brought you a gift,” my husband said.
I stopped myself from turning around right away. I carefully  measured the wet ingredients for cornbread muffins. Interruptions during the measuring process frequently cause interesting results when I’m cooking, so I finished the job before turning to see my gift.
Nate spent the day filming a commercial for high performance dog food. The client brought hunting dogs and pheasants for the animal talent. Naturally, Nate and his coworker, Tyler, went pheasant hunting after shooting the ad. Thus my present.
I’ve never cooked pheasant before. I don’t recall ever eating pheasant. This shocked my husband because I grew up in a home that ate venison and trout. I didn’t even know how Sloppy Joes made with hamburger tasted until I was a junior or senior in high school. So now I’m in a quandry and need help. How do I cook this?
I’d be ever grateful for any recipes or pointers. Thanks!
Sorry, I don’t have any suggestions for you. I was just surprised that it is red. I would expect pheasant to be white like chicken or turkey.
But if I may say something from my lack of cooking skills, everything tastes good in the slow cooker.
Pheasant a La Jack
Ingredients
8 pheasant breast
8 slices thick cut bacon
2 (8 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 (8 ounce) can water
2 cups cooked white rice
Directions
1) Wash the pheasant breasts down well to ensure they are free of feathers.
2) Wrap one strip of bacon around each breast and secure with a toothpick.
3) Place in an electric skillet that’s been pre-heated to 350 degrees and cover with cream of mushroom soup and water.
4) Simmer until Pheasant is cooked through.
5) Serve over rice.
I’ll bet you can come with a great variation to this for a slow-cooker đŸ˜‰
So the reason that the meat is red is because they are birds that fly. Birds that fly will always have a dark meat breast. Ducks and Grouse are the same way.
So I had never had it until your brother brought it home. I had never cooked it either obviosly. SSSOOO, I winged it!! Ha ha no pun intended!
Anyway I usually cook them in BBQ sauce but I make my own (you being the culinary marvel that you are can do that right) or don’t just use whatever you like. I always add some Sweet onion and a sliced apple to the mix. I just use enough BBQ sauce to cover it all. Then I bake it or I cook it in the Dutch Oven.
I do hope this makes some sort of sence to you. If not let me know and I will write this over. I will also check my Game cook books and see if there is anything that sounds good.
I WILL BE BACK!!!
Do any of these sound interesting?
Pheasant a la creme (It sounds like a chicken a la king)
Pheasant Breast Salad with Grapes and Blue cheese
Pheasant Cobb Salad
Pheasant Stroganoff
Pheasant in a Red Sea Bag (sounds spicy. Cajun) I may try this one.
Pheasant Kathleen Salad (has a poppy seed dressing and strawberries) Picture looks good.
Pheasant nest Omlets (omlets with pheasant meat in it.)
Walnut pheasant breast with Strawberry salsa. (has a 3 day marinade and a breading crust you bake it in)
I am glad you got me to get this book out! I have some new stuff to try!!
@L.A. I agree, the slow cooker is the way to cook meat.
@Jack, Did you make that up?
@Annika, You are a veritable storehouse of recipes. Now I wish I had more pheasant so I could try out a few more of these recipes like the Red Sea Bag, Kathleen Salad, and the Walnut Pheasant Breast with Strawberry Salsa. You’ll have to report back with your results.
Ahh, this brings back memories. Not the recipes, the pheasant. My dad always went pheasant hunting, and this is how my mom cooked it. She dipped it in egg, then in seasoned flour, fried it in a small amount of oil, then put the lid on the frying pan and let it saute/steam until done. It was absolutely delicious. Not crispy like fried chicken, but tender with a soft doughy crust. Very flavorful.
We had either pheasant or grouse once. I’m thinking it was probably grouse since it was so small and there was hardly any meat on the bones.
Wow Annika! You might have a recipe collection to rival mine!