Pheasant Casserole Recipe
This braised pheasant casserole is influenced by the cuisine of North West France and sees a whole bird broken down and slowly cooked in cider with bacon and apples. Features both oven and slow cooker instructions.
Servings 2 Servings
Calories 973kcal
Ingredients
- 1 Pheasant Around 2lbs or 900g
- 125 g Bacon Lardons 4½oz
- 1 Medium Carrot 125g
- 1 Medium Onion 150g
- 1 Large Celery Stick 70g
- 330 ml Dry Cider 11oz Bottle (Hard cider for American visitors)
- 250 ml Chicken Stock 1 Cup
- 8 Juniper Berries
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 1 Medium Granny Smith Apple
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- ¼-½ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Pepper
- 2 tablespoon Flour
- 50 g Softened Butter 3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon
Instructions
- Cut the pheasant into legs and breasts.
- Heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan or skillet over a medium-high heat, and when hot, add the oil.Season the pheasant joints with salt and pepper and sear on all sides until golden brown, and transfer to either a 24cm or 10" cooking pot or a slow cooker (around 3 litres in capacity).Place the legs beneath the breast joints.
- Add the bacon to the frying pan and cook for 10 minutes on a medium heat to render out some fat.
- Add the bacon to the pot with the pheasant, making sure that you only add half of the fat.
- Peel, core and dice the apple into a 1.5cm (½") cube and add it to the pot.
- Cut the onion in half and remove the "furry" part of the root.
- Chop the celery into 1.5cm (½") lengths.
- Return the frying pan to a medium-high heat and add the carrot, celery, and onion; the onion should be added cut side down.
- Cook the vegetables until they start to colour up and then add them to the pheasant and bacon.
- Drain the fat from the pan and return to a high heat, and pour in the cider and scrape to deglaze the pan.
- Pour the cider into the pot and add the chicken stock, bay leaf, and juniper berries.
- Add a lid and cook in the oven at 170°C or 340°F for 45 minutes to an hour, or in a slow cooker on low for 3-4 hours.
- Strain the cooking juices into the frying pan we used earlier and reduce them by 20%.
- Meanwhile, fish out the onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, and juniper berries and discard them, returning the apple and bacon to the pan.
- Add the pheasant to the apple and bacon mix
- Mash together the butter and flour and whisk it a little at a time into the reduced sauce until you get to a thickness that you like.
- Pour the sauce back over the remaining ingredients and mix to coat before serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 | Calories: 973kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 60g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 32g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 182mg | Sodium: 1794mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 30g
