Pheasant Recipes

Picante Marinated Pheasant

• 4 skinless pheasant breasts
• 1/2; cup picante sauce
• 1/4; cup Dijon-style mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 16 ounces of pasta

In a glass bowl, combine picante sauce, mustard and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly. Use a meat mallet to reduce the pheasant breasts to one-half their original thickness.

Add the pheasant to the marinade while making sure the breasts are thoroughly covered. Cover and marinade in the refrigerator for one hour. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.

Remove the pheasant breasts from the marinade and sauté until browned on both sides. Add the remaining marinade and simmer until the pheasant is tender. Remove the pheasant to a serving dish and keep warm. Cook the marinade for an additional 5 minutes. Place the pheasant on a serving of your favorite pasta and pour the remaining marinade over the dish.

Creamed Pheasant

• 3 lbs. potatoes, sliced
• 2 lb. bag carrots
• 1 onion, sliced
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 2 pheasant
• 1 cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 pt. half & half or cream

Coat pheasant in seasoned four and fry in hot oil or butter until browned. Place all ingredients in roaster. Cook uncovered for about 2 hours in 350 degree oven until cream curdles and is thick. Note: Pheasant is not done until cream curdles.

Cheesy Pheasant

• 2 pheasants
• 1 onion
• 1 celery
• 1 can chicken gravy
• 1 carrot
• 1 box Uncle Ben’s® cheesy- broccoli rice
• Salt &amp Pepper to taste
• 1/4; c. soy sauce

Cook onion, celery, and carrots in butter until transparent. Add pheasant or chicken (deboned.) Stir fry for 4 to 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and gravy. Serve over rice (directions for rice on box.)

Pheasant with Rice

• 2 cut up pheasants
• 1/4; cup butter
• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. long grain and wild rice
• 1/4; c. white wine (Sauterne)
• 1 (13 oz.) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1/2; c. sliced celery
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup cream of chicken soup
• 1 tbsp. chopped pimento

Season pheasant with salt and pepper. Brown in butter in skillet. Prepare rice using package directions. Spoon rice into greased baking dish; top with pheasant.

Combine soup with remaining ingredients in saucepan; blend well. Bring to a boil; pour over pheasant. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover. Bake for 15-20 minutes longer or until tender.

Pheasant for Crockpot

• 1 pkg. chicken gravy mix
• 2-3 pheasants
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp. parsley
• 1 small apple, cubed
• 3-4 tbsp. butter
• Flour, salt & pepper

Saute celery, onion and parsley in 2 tablespoon butter. Add chopped apple, sauté slightly. Wash and dry and dust pheasant with flour, salt and pepper.

Push sautéed vegetable and fruit aside and add the rest of the butter in middle of frying. Brown pheasant slightly.

Place in crock pot on low. Add the gravy mix. Time 3-10 hours. Number of servings is according to number of birds. You can substitute Cornish hens for the pheasant.

Baked Pheasant with Dressing

• 1 young pheasant
• 1/2; cup chopped onion
• 3 cup chopped oysters
• 6 cup dry bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2; cup chopped celery
• 1/4; cup butter
• Salt & pepper
• 1/4; c. oyster liquor or water pheasant was boiled in

Boil pheasant in water for 45 minutes or until tender. Cook celery and onion in butter until soft. Drain oysters, reserving liquid. If needed, add pheasant stock to oyster liquid to measure 1 3/4; cups. Add bread crumbs, oysters, egg, seasonings, and liquid to celery mixture. Mix thoroughly and stuff pheasant. Place pheasant in roasting pan. Place any remaining dressing around bird in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Yields 4-6 servings.

Wild Game Dressing

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 4 cups soft bread crumbs
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 1/2 tsps salt
• 1/2 cup scalded milk

Mix all ingredients together and top with the scaled milk. Let set for 10-20 minutes; toss lightly and serve with your favorite wild game recipe.

Pheasant Casserole

• 4 Pheasant Breasts
• 1 cup flour
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 cup white wine
• salt & pepper to taste

Salt & pepper, to taste, the pheasant breasts; roll in the flour.  Melt the butter/margarine, and then add the chopped onions.  Brown the meat; place in casserole dish.  Sprinkle with the curry powder; top with the undiluted soup and white wine.  Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Serve with Wild Game Dressing (recipe above).

Filet Prep

Remove filet from bone, being careful to leave inner "Tenderloin" attached. Lightly score silverskin side of filet with a sharp knife to minimize shrinkage.

Lay tenderloin open, and make a pocket cut in the thick portion of the fillet opposing the tenderloin.

Stuffing

• 1 fresh French bread, cubed or chopped in a food processor
• 1 pound of sausage
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 cup chicken or pheasant stock

Seasoning can include using seasoned sausage, such as chorizo (Mexican), Cajun, Italian, etc., or you can use traditional stuffing seasoning such as sage and thyme.

Brown sausage and sauté vegetables in skillet. Place bread and other ingredients in large bowl and mix stock in thoroughly. The stuffing mixture should be like stiff cookie dough.

Final Prep

Place several tablespoonfuls of stuffing in pocket and cover with tenderloin. Pin tenderloin in place with 2-3 toothpicks and brown filet in small amount of butter or margarine.

Place browned filets in uncovered baking dish and bake at 325 degrees to internal temp of 180 degrees, or 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Remove from baking dish, and make white gravy using pan drippings, flour and milk.

Serve with gravy.

Options include adding or changing stuffing ingredients, such as sautéed mushrooms, different sausages, or other types of bread, including cornbread.

Ground Pheasant or Pheasant Sausage

When preparing filets as above, save meat from thighs, back and upper drumstick and freeze in airtight containers. (Should yield 8-10 ounces per bird.) Other parts can be included, such as shot-up breast pieces of pheasant, quail or ruffed grouse.

When you have accumulated a supply of meat grind with beef fat at about 4-5 parts pheasant with 1 part fat.

For a low-fat, low-cholesterol version of this I've discovered that adding 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil will work as well. This is handy for grinding in small batches in a hand-operated grinder. Bigger batches are best left to a game processor.

This ground meat can be used for patties, meatloaf, hamburger steak, and hamburger gravies. It can also be seasoned to make an excellent breakfast, or Italian. Because it is white meat, it will work well for anything that calls for pork sausage.

Beer Battered Pheasant

• Mix beer and flour until soupy.
• Cayenne pepper to taste.
• Quick fry to crispy. Bake in oven 1 hour at 300 degrees.
• Serve with sweet & sour sauce.