Pheasant Leg Meat Spicy Salad Platter

Pheasant leg meat salad platter

This is the third post consisting of the pheasant leg meat taken from a batch of legs I slow cooked recently to use in a variety of dishes. It is a bit of a varied creation but, even though I do say so myself, I think it looks very colourful and attractive when fully assembled. This platter should comfortably serve two people and plates like this are widely available on Amazon or similar online/offline retailers. 

Cook Time

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 20 min

Ready in: 50 min

Yields: 2 servings

I know this ingredients list is fairly lengthy (!) but the good news - as I hope you can easily see - is that it is infinitely variable.

Ingredients

• 1 medium white onion, peeled, halved and finely sliced
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon mint sauce
• 1 teaspoon runny honey
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/4 teaspoon hot chilli powder
• Salt
• 6 to 8 baby new potatoes, halved but not peeled
• 3 duck eggs, 10 to 14 days old (fresher duck eggs do not hard boil well)
• 3" (7.5cm) piece of cucumber (English cucumber, US), seeded and roughly chopped
• 8 pitted black olives, halved down through the core
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Generous pinch dried dill (plus extra for garnishing eggs)
• 8 baby plum tomatoes, halved down through core
• 3 small fresh basil leaves, rolled and shredded
• Black pepper
• Generous handful pheasant leg meat in small chunks (see Pheasant Leg Meat Doner Kebab post for cooking instructions)
• 1 tablespoon grated Cheddar cheese, or similar cheese
• 6 baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• 4 closed cup mushrooms, quartered
• 2 large garlic cloves, peeled and grated
• Generous pinch dried sage

Method

The order in which you prepare the component parts of this dish can be altered to suit your preferences and time available. I prefer to start with the spiced onions, to give them maximum time for the flavours to infuse. This part could very easily be completed the night before with the onions refrigerated in a suitable dish overnight.

Sliced onion is added to spicy tomato sauce

Put the ketchup, mint sauce, honey, lemon juice, fenugreek and chilli powder into a glass or stone bowl. Season with a little salt and mix very well to form a smooth paste. Add the sliced onion and stir carefully but well to ensure even coating. Cover and refrigerate until required.

Put the halved potatoes into a pot of cold, salted water and on to a high heat until the water just starts to boil. Adjust the heat to achieve a moderate simmer and maintain for around 20 minutes or until the potatoes are just softened.

Put the duck eggs into a separate pot of cold water and bring to a modest simmer for precisely 6 minutes.

Cucumber is combined with black olives

Put the cucumber and black olive pieces into a small bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and season with a little salt and dried dill. Stir carefully but well.

Baby plum tomatoes and basil

Add the halved tomatoes to a separate small bowl, along with the shredded basil leaves, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper. Stir carefully but well.

When the duck eggs have been simmering for the 6 allotted minutes, take the pot to the sink and run cold water into it for a couple of minutes until the eggs are cool enough to handle. Crack the shells carefully on a hard surface and peel. Very importantly, return the peeled eggs to the pot of cold water and let them sit for a few minutes to cool completely. Cooling them quickly like this rather than leaving them to cool naturally prevents the harmless but unattractive blue/grey discolouration occurring around the edge of the yolks.

Starting to plate up meal components

While the duck eggs were cooling and the potatoes were completing cooking, I began assembling the different components of the meal on my attractive platter. The well in the centre was perfect for the spiced onions, while the cucumber and tomato combinations went into separate compartments and the pheasant leg meat into a third. The cooled eggs were then carefully halved down through the centre with a very sharp knife and arranged in dedicated slots on the platter before being seasoned with salt and dried dill. The sixth egg half constituted chef's privileges...

When the potatoes are cooked, drain them at your sink and return them to the empty pot. Allow them to sit and steam off/dry out for a couple of minutes while you prepare the garlic mushrooms.

Mushrooms are sauteed in garlic and olive oil

Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil into a small saucepan and grate in the peeled garlic cloves. Put the pot on to a medium heat until the oil is just hot before adding the quartered mushrooms. If you add the mushrooms before the oil is hot, they will start to soak up the oil before they get a chance to cook and develop an unpleasant, slimy texture. Season with salt, black pepper and the dried sage and saute for a couple of minutes only, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Spoon the mushrooms into the appropriate area of your plate with a slotted spoon.

Cheese and spinach are added to hot potatoes

Add the cheese and spinach to the still hot potatoes and season with a little black pepper only. Very carefully stir fold for a minute or so to partly melt the cheese before spooning straight into/on to your plate and serve your meal immediately.