Pheasant season is definitely a time of the year that makes us smile.  It’s full of friends, family, and you guessed it, delicious pheasant recipes to share around the table.

By now you’ve had your family heirloom dishes but still have some birds left in the freezer.  We hunted for some new pheasant recipes to try and narrowed it down to these 3 favorites:

Teeth Tip: With any pheasant recipe, be thorough cleaning the birds to remove any shot. You wouldn’t want anyone to crack a tooth eating your delicious creation!

PHEASANT, LEEK & BACON CASSEROLE

Image and Recipe via BBC GoodFood

INGREDIENTS

3-½ tbsp. of butter

7 oz. of bacon, cut into chunks

4 leeks cut into large chunks

3 celery sticks, sliced

3 carrots, halved lengthways and sliced

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp. plain flour

1-¼ cup apple cider

2 cups of chicken stock

2 tbsp. of heavy cream

6 pheasant breasts, skinned and cut into large chunks

3 tbsp. wholegrain mustard

1 tbsp. cider vinegar

17.5 oz. puff pastry

Plain flour, for dusting

Egg beaten with a little milk, to glaze

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat and cook bacon for 1 minute or until mostly cooked.
• Add leeks, celery, carrots and bay leaves, and cook until they start to soften.
• Stir flour into the vegetables and bacon until the flour turns a sandy color, then splash in cider and reduce heat.
• Pour in the chicken stock, stir, and slowly add cream. Once cream has been added, bring everything to a simmer.
• Add the pheasant and gently simmer for an additional 20 minutes until the meat and veg are tender.
• Stir in mustard and cider vinegar, then turn off the heat and cool.
• Heat oven to 400°F
• Tip pheasant mixture into a large casserole dish (12”x 9”).
• Roll pastry puff sheets out on a floured surface, place over the dish and trim round the edges, leaving an overhang.
• Brush the pastry with egg, then decorate with any leftover pastry, if you like.
• Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden.

PHEASANT SOUP

Recipe via Ultimate Pheasant Hunting

Ingredients:

1 cut up pheasant

2 tbsp. butter

2 chopped carrots

2 chopped onions

1 clove of minced garlic

1 stalk of chopped celery

8 cups of chicken stock

1 lb. mushrooms sliced

1 sprig of thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• First heat butter in pan.
• Sauté pheasant pieces until brown.
• Remove the sautéed pheasant from pan and set in a bowl.
• In the same pan, sauté onions, garlic, celery, and carrots and cook until tender.
• Next, add stock and return pheasant to the kettle.
• Let this cook on low for approx. 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add mushrooms and thyme, seasoning with salt and pepper, and cook on low until meat is tender.
• Remove pheasant pieces. With your fingers, pull meat from bones, cut up meat, and return to kettle.
• Reheat if needed and serve.

ROASTED PHEASANT

Recipe via Food

Ingredients:

 2 to 4 – 2½ -3 lbs. pheasants

Honey

Salt

Ground black pepper

Granulated garlic powder

Tarragon

Thyme

¼ cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 500°F.
• Place the pheasant into a baking dish.
• Pour lemon juice over the pheasant.
• Generously spread the honey over the entire bird.
• Season the cavities of the pheasant generously with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Lightly sprinkle the outside of the pheasant with salt, pepper, garlic powder, tarragon& thyme.
• Place into the bottom third of the oven& roast until done, which will be when you puncture the bird& the juices run clear.
• Be careful not to overcook the pheasant, as it is a very dry bird with very little fat.

Already have a great pheasant recipe ready? Check out our blog featuring 5 stellar sides that steal the show, and don’t forget to share your pheasant recipe with us it in the comments below!