Spicy Pheasant Leg and Tomato Bridies

 

Pheasant and tomato bridie with simple salad

Bridies are a type of pasty, believed to have originated near the town of Forfar on the East Coast of Scotland. They are traditionally made with beef and onion but in modern times the fillings have evolved to vary considerably. In this instance, I slow cooked some pheasant legs for 10 hours, plucked off the meat and combined it with a spicy homemade tomato sauce before encasing the lot in puff pastry to delicious effect.

Cook Time

Prep time: 3 hours (including cooling times for pheasant legs and sauce, plus bridie resting time)

Cook time: 10 hours 30 min

Ready in: 13 hours 30 min

Yields: 4 bridies

Ingredients

• 6 whole, large, skinless pheasant legs
• Salt
• 14 ounce (400g) can chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
• 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated or very finely chopped
• 1 red birds' eye chilli, topped and finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried coriander (cilantro)
• Black pepper
• 1 pound (450g) puff pastry
• Flour for dusting/rolling pastry
• 2 egg yolks, beaten

Method

Put the pheasant legs into your slow cooker, season with salt and pour over enough cold water to ensure they are comfortably covered. Cook on the low setting for 10 hours. I find it most convenient to do this overnight.

Remove the cooked pheasant legs from the slow cooker to a deep plate or bowl, cover and leave to rest and cool for at least 1 hour.

Assembled spicy tomato sauce ingredients

As soon as the pheasant legs are out of the slow cooker, start preparing the sauce. Pour the tomatoes into a saucepan and add the chilli, garlic and coriander. Season with salt and pepper and place on to a medium heat. Stir well until the mixture reaches a simmer. Reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened, stirring regularly. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to cool.

Pheasant leg meat plucked from the bones

When the pheasant legs are rested and cooled, pluck all the meat in smallish pieces from the bones. This is a bit of a time-consuming and laborious task in relation to the legs proper in particular due to the bone structure but it is essential to take your time and do it properly to avoid small bones being incorporated in your finished dish. Add all the meat to a large glass or stone bowl.

Spicy tomato sauce added to pheasant leg meat

It is very unlikely you will need to add all the prepared sauce so it is important to add it in stages. You want the sauce to coat the meat but you don't want an excess of sauce that could cause the pastry to become soggy during cooking and not rise properly. Start by adding a couple of tablespoons to the pheasant leg meat.

Spicy tomato sauce is stirred through pheasant leg meat

Stir the sauce carefully through the meat with a wooden spoon. Add more if necessary but remember to incorporate only enough to coat the meat. Any sauce leftover can be added to a suitable dish and refrigerated for up to 3 days to be used for an alternative purpose.

Plate is used as a template for cutting pastry

The pastry in this instance was in the form of two, half-pound (225g) blocks. These should be removed from the fridge around 20 minutes prior to use to allow the pastry to come up to room temperature and make it easier to roll.

Cut the first pastry block in half. Roll out the first piece of pastry on a floured surface to a square just large enough that you can use an 8" (20cm) diameter plate as a template to cut from it a circle.

Spicy meat is spooned on to pastry circle

Carefully spoon some of the meat and sauce on to one half of the pastry. You want just enough that the empty half of the pastry can be comfortably folded over the top and sealed. Leave a half-inch (1.25cm) or so border around the edge, which should be lightly glazed with a little of the beaten egg yolks, using a pastry brush.

Pastry is folded over filling to form bridie

Fold the empty half of the pastry circle over the filling as shown and lightly press down around the edge to seal.

Bridie is crimped around the rounded edge

I used the thumb and index finger of my right hand to crimp the pastry but you can use the handle end of a spoon or fork if you prefer. Assemble all the bridies in the same way before transferring to plates or trays and refrigerating for a minimum half hour. This allows the pastry to rest and helps prevent it tearing or bursting in the oven.

Glazed bridies are ready for the oven

Put your oven on to preheat to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Lay a sheet of non-stick, greaseproof baking paper on a large oven tray and arrange the bridies as shown, making sure there is sufficient space between them. Brush them all with beaten egg yolk and cut a steam vent in the centre with the point of a very sharp knife. Don't forget to cut the steam vents or your bridies may burst in the oven! Place the tray into the oven for 30/35 minutes or until the pastry is beautifully risen and golden.

Cooked bridies are removed from the oven and allowed to rest

When the bridies are ready, take the tray from the oven and sit it on a heatproof surface. Allow the bridies to rest for a minimum 20 minutes.

Halved pheasant leg and spicy tomato sauce bridie

The bridies can simply be enjoyed as they are, or perhaps served with a simple salad as in the photo at the top of this post.