Conference turris::cooks

I grew up on game birds and critters my Dad shot...One warning I can offer,
be careful of WHERE a game preparation recipe comes from (region of U.S.)
as the environment of the animal has a direct affect on what has to be
done to the beast to make it edible...for example, venison taken in the
southwest, my home, has to be marinaded for a significant time to make it
taste good, while venison from the Northern/eastern states tasted quite
good with no significant pre-marinade (my experience, anyway).  It has
to do with the amount of water available and what the animal eats most
of the time.  I could see a wild goose causing some problems for the
reason of diet.

Where I come from, pheasant does not require any marinading.  The way
mom always prepared it was to cover the bird with bacon strips and
roast...game birds tend to be really dry because they are very lean.
I presume a "wet roast" method of cooking, where the bird is cooked
on a bed of vegetables in a covered dish with maybe a little wine in
the bottom would also work....brown-in bags might be just the thing.

I have a cookbook approx. 3 1/2" thick that has directions for
EVERYTHING including preparing game food..I'll try to get to it
this weekend and grab a recipe or two and get the name of it.

    L.L. Bean offers an excellent book on how to cook game.

Pheasant must be completely cooked (unlike duck which can and should be
served a little rare) and is best roasted.  If you have wild pheasant,
you will need to bard or otherwise add moisture to the bird before roasting
to insure the meat does not dry out.  Domestic pheasant is generally good
without additional fat added.  Roast as you would a chicken, length of
time depending on the weight of the bird...  Baste with melted butter or
rich broth while roasting.  Do not stuff the birds - not worth the effort,
but do serve with a savory dressing (long grain and wild rice is nice).
My general rule is:

Roast at 350 degrees until the bird's juices run clear, basting approx.
once every 15 minutes.

RE: barding - it can be somewhat involved to discuss without pictures,
    but is simply adding strips of fat to the meat, either by imbedding in
    slits cut in the meat, or by laying pieces of fat in pockets under
     poultry skin, or by tying strips of fat to pieces of meat and removing
    them in time to allow the meat to brown.  Fat can be any type that will
    add flavor (bacon is sometimes used).    

    Re .1  "Do not stuf the birds - not worth the effort"
    
    I'm not sure I understand why it isn't worth the effort.
    
    I have always stuffed my pheasants with an apple stuffing, roast
    them, and smother in raspberry sauce.
    
    Maybe it depends on the size of the birds?
    
    	-Nancy

>RE: barding - it can be somewhat involved to discuss without pictures,
>    but is simply adding strips of fat to the meat, ...

If you have access to a copy of The Joy of Cooking, they go into great 
detail on this, only they call it "larding" (as in adding lard.)  I've 
had good luck using one of those hypodermic-like needles they sell in 
cooking stores.  I just pick up some of the basting juices and inject 
them into the bird while I'm basting the outside.  My brother uses the 
same device, but injects melted butter (sometimes flavored with garlic.)

					>>>==>PStJTT

    I've baked/roasted/fried pheasant but I'm still not wild about the
    flavor. This year I'm going to try smoking a couple. I agree with
    adding "something" to keep the bird from drying out. I covered a
    wild turkey with bacon strips while smoking - EXCELLENT. I highly
    recommend doing this (if smoking make sure you keep the water pan
    is full, too.)
       
    I'll let you know how they turn out.
    
    Pat
    
    P.S. Stuffing IS worth it.

    Apple Stuffing
    
    This recipe is for a 4 lb. bird.  The recipe easily halves or doubles,
    etc.  Regardless of the size of my pheasant, I always make the whole
    batch of stuffing since I like the stuff.
    
    
    Melt 1/3 C butter
    Add and brown 1 onion, chopped
                  and approximately same amount of celery
    Add 3/4 C milk
    Pour over 4 C. bread/toast crumbs that are mixed with 1 egg
        (you may have to add more milk to make it consistency desired)
    Also add 1 T Bell's Seasoning
             1 t salt
             Pepper to taste
    Add 1 C chopped apple  ( I leave skins on )
    
    *********************************************************************
    
    I stuff the bird (either the pheasant or Cornish Game Hens) and
    I bake.  I have never done this "barding" stuff, and it sounds to
    complicated to learn!
    
    About 15 minutes before the bird is done, I throw some of the raspberry
    sauce on.  When I serve, I put the sauce in the "gravy boat".
    
    As for the raspberry sauce, I just take a pkg of frozen raspberries,
    throw them in a blender on high for a couple seconds, sieve half
    of the mixture to get out some of the seeds, maybe throw a little
    sugar in, and then I just keep the bowl of suace on top of the stove
    to get warm from the oven heat.
    
    
    
    Many tiems I will make rice pudding for desert -- dish of rice pudding,
    scoop of vanilla ice cream, and then top with the left over raspberry
    sauce.
    
    
    

First, re: comment about stuffing not being worth it....the birds have
relatively small cavities, so I don't bother stuffing with anything to
be served later...I sometimes stuff with small onions for flavor to the
meat, but that is discarded.  If you want to stuff, enjoy...just make
enough extra for everyone....8^}

re: barding (can be called larding) isn't complicated, a quick picture
would do it, but describing the method without pictures might be confusing.
If the bird is domestic, it has enough body fat, it isn't an issue.  IF
cooking wild bird, then you will want to add fat or the meat will be really
dry.  I bard with real smoked bacon fat on the legs, and lay strips of
the bacon (thick sliced by my hand) over the chest of the bird.  Some
other technicques work as well....including injecting melted butter under
the skin, and then basting with the juices often.

    
    My husband has the best recipe for pheasant nuggets.  He breads
    them with his special recipe and them lightly fries them in oil
    in the wok.  THE TASTE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD.  If anyone is interested
    in obtaining this recipe send a self addressed stamped envelope
    along with $5 shipping and handling charge....   ONLY KIDDING. 
    If you're interested in this recipe, just send me mail and I'll
    send it right out to you.  I would have just posted the recipe here,
    but I have no idea how he makes them, so I am going to have to ask
    him how he makes his special batter.
    
    See ya.
    
    Oh ya - caution to anyone eating pheasant - be careful for the
    pellets!!
    
    Donna
    

    My grandfather was English and he always cooked his pheasant this
    way. Chicken is also good cooked this way.
                                     
    1 3-5lb pheasant                 Sauce:1 large can mushrooms
    1/4 lb Butter                          1 pint sour cream
    salt                                   1/2 pint heavy cream
    pepper
    1 1/2 tablespoons rosemary
                                                               
    1. Cut pheasant into pieces.
    2. In frying pan large enough to hold all pieces, melt butter; add
       pheasant, salt and pepper(to your taste), and rosemary. Fry until
       brown.
    3. Remove pheasant from frying pan and place in an ovenproof casserole
       dish large enough so you only have one layer. Pour some of the
       drippings over pheasant(use your own judgement).
    4. Make the sauce: Mix the sour cream and the heavy cream together
       and add the mushrooms.  Pour this over the pheasant also and
       sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon more rosemary.
    5. Cover and bake for 40 minutes at 350*F.
    
    Serve over rice using the sauce as gravy.  This is very rich tasting
    so I usually serve a dry white wine with the meal.
                              
    

    .9 has the best recipe for tender meat... game is very lean and thus,
    tough, and it needs a lot of slow cooking to make a juicy, tender, and
    savory meat, the oven dries the meat too much.
    
    My son just cought a pheasan, I split it in four parts (one for each of
    us). I browned a large onion in olive oil, added 1/2 lbs of sliced
    mushrooms, put in a plate and in same pan brown the pheasant pieces
    adding a bit more oil if needed.  When brown, add 2 bay leaves, salt
    and pepper, 2 cloves of garlic mashed with some peppercorns, add a
    glass of wine, cover and slowly cook till tender, adding a bit of water
    if gets too dry, when tender, add the onions and mushrooms, rectify
    salt, and add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and serve over white rice or your
    favorite vegies.  It was delicious! I served it with fetuchini alfredo,
    a salad, and good red wine followed by apple pie... my son was very
    proud of his trophy!

    I hunt pheasant and I never keep the whole bird. I usually take
    the breast out and the legs which I cook and feed to the dog.
    I find the legs to be too stringy. Anyway, I de-bone the breast
    and use Jeff Smith's recipe for Chicken Marsella, which is the
    same as veal marsella. Maybe someone could point us towards that
    note. I seen it in here before.

    Jim

re .-1

	I searched the files, and couldn't find Jeff Smiths
	version..  However, you might want to try 

		47.2, 1677.11 

	for starters...

    
    Jim, don't feed the legs to the dog. Do what I do, I cook them in
    my spaghetti sauce. When done the meat falls off the bone and
    tendons. It tastes just as good as chicken.
    
                                               Walt