Indian Spiced Pheasant Breast Salad

Curry spiced pheasant breast summer salad

When I came up with the idea a couple of nights back to make a curried pheasant breast dish, I did not fully consider how appropriate that would be for dinner on a particularly hot summer's evening. Fortunately, I came up with this plan to make a cold, curry spiced pheasant breast Indian themed salad instead. I essentially served the cooled pheasant breasts with Indian spiced chickpeas (essentially just spiced onions with the onions substituted by chickpeas) and an experimental simple salad in what is actually homemade pakora sauce. The only element of the combination served warm is the naan bread. 

Cook Time

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 8 min

Ready in: 23 min (plus cooling time for pheasant)

Yields: 2 servings

Patting pheasant breast in curry seasoned flour

Ingredients

• 2 skinless pheasant breast fillets
• 2 tablespoons plain/all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon (or to taste) hot curry powder
• Salt
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 14 ounce/400g can chickpeas in water, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup (1 each for chickpeas and mixed salad)
• 2 teaspoons mint sauce (1 each for chickpeas and salad)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder (1/4 teaspoon each for chickpeas and salad)
• 1 teaspoon runny honey
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon dried coriander leaf/cilantro
• 3 tablespoons natural yoghurt
• 6 crisp Little Gem or Romaine/cos lettuce leaves, rolled and shredded
• 10 baby plum tomatoes, halved down through the core
• 4 inch (10cm) piece of cucumber (variety known as English cucumber, US), halved down through the core and sliced
• 3 or 4 slices from peeled and halved brown onion, separated into strands
• 2 mini garlic and coriander/cilantro naan breads

Spicy floured pheasant breasts are added to frying pan

Put the flour and curry powder in a flat bottomed bowl and season further with a generous pinch of salt. Use a table knife (yes, honestly!) to stir/combine and you will not create lumps in the mixture.

Pour a little oil into a large frying pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Pat the pheasant breasts on both sides in the flour mix to ensure even covering, gently shake off any excess flour and fry on a medium heat for four minutes each side.

Pheasant breasts are turned to fry on second side

When the pheasant breasts are done, lift them to a plate, cover and leave them to rest and cool completely.

Spicy sauce for chickpeas ingredients

To a large glass or stone bowl add 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup, 1 teaspoon mint sauce, 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek, 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder, the honey, the lemon juice and the dried coriander/cilantro. Stir well with a wooden spoon to properly and fully combine.

Chickpeas are added to spicy sauce

Add the rinsed chickpeas to the spicy sauce and carefully stir fold with the wooden spoon to ensure even coating.

Simple pakora sauce ingredients

Put the yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 teaspoon mint sauce and 1/4 teaspoon chilli powder into a second bowl. Season with a little salt and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Salad ingredients are added to pakora sauce

Add the salad elements to the bowl with the pakora sauce and carefully stir fold to ensure even coating.

Lay the rested and cooled pheasant breasts on a chopping board and slice at a 45-degree angle. Arrange 1 pheasant breast on each serving plate, flanked in each instance by half the salad and half the spiced chickpeas. Heat 2 naan breads in a hot oven or under a hot grill/broiler, or per the instructions on the pack. Note that it is sometimes a good idea to sprinkle them with a little cold water prior to heating to ensure they are moist. Cut the naan breads in half and plate a half at either end of the sliced pheasant.

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.

Pheasant Leg Meat Three Ways and Devilled Duck Egg Summer Salad

Pheasant leg meat three ways salad

In this second recipe featuring the batch of pheasant legs I slow cooked in the previous post, I have opted to serve the meat three very different ways. I hope you like the colourful presentation and the simple but tasty ideas I have come up with to enjoy this tasty wild game to the full.

Cook Time (not including Pheasant Legs)

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time: 10 min

Ready in: 30 min

Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 small white onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons mint sauce (1 for spiced onions and 1 for cucumber log)
• 1 teaspoon runny honey
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek
• 1/4 teaspoon hot chilli powder
• Salt and pepper
• 1 duck egg, around 10 days old (fresher duck eggs do not hard boil at all well)
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons pheasant leg meat (small pieces, cooked as in Pheasant Leg Meat Doner Kebab recipe post)
• 2 tablespoons grated/shredded cheddar or similar hard cheese
• 2 inch (5cm) piece cucumber (English cucumber, US)
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Generous pinch dried dill
• 6 to 8 baby spinach leaves
• Generous handful pea shoots (or similar green leaves)

Diced onions are added to spiced tomato paste

Method

The spiced onions should ideally be prepared a couple of hours in advance or even the night before, just to let the flavours infuse, but this is not essential. Start by combining the tomato ketchup, 1 teaspoon of the mint sauce, honey, lemon juice, chilli powder and ground fenugreek in a large glass bowl. Season with a little salt and pepper and stir in the chopped onions, ensuring even coating. Cover and refrigerate until required.

Put the duck egg in to a pot of cold water and the pot on to a high heat until the water starts to boil. Reduce the heat to achieve a moderate simmer and continue to cook in this way for precisely 6 minutes.

Halved and seeded tomatoes

Put your kitchen grill/broiler on to preheat to its highest setting.

Cut the tomatoes in half around the central circumference by making cuts at alternate 45-degree angles, all the way around and through to the core. The halves should fairly easily pull apart at the end of this process. A teaspoon can then be used to carefully scoop out and discard the seeds before the insides are patted dry with a wad of kitchen paper.

Pheasant meat and cheese

Add 2 tablespoons of the pheasant leg meat and the cheese to a bowl and season with black pepper. Use your fingers to lightly mix and combine.

Tomato halves filled with pheasant meat and cheese

You can use a teaspoon but I find it easier to use my fingers to fill the tomato halves with the cheese and pheasant leg meat combination. You can press down lightly to fully fill but don't compact too much or the cheese won't melt as it should. Lay the tomato halves on a suitable tray and place under the heat for a couple of minutes until the top of the cheese is melted and lightly golden. Sit aside to cool.

Lift the pot containing the duck egg to your sink and run cold water into it for a couple of minutes to help cool the duck egg quickly. Leave it sitting in the cold water while you continue your preparations. 

Pheasant leg meat and mint sauce

Add 1 of the remaining tablespoons of pheasant leg meat to a clean bowl along with the second teaspoon of mint sauce. Stir gently but well.

Cucumber and minted pheasant leg meat logs

Cut the cucumber piece in half down through the core. Use a teaspoon to scrape out and discard the seeds. Carefully fill the resulting groove with the pheasant and cucumber mix.

Pheasant leg meat and spiced onions

Put the final tablespoon of pheasant meat into a bowl along with a tablespoon of the spiced onions. Mix well. The remaining onions will keep in your fridge in a suitable container for several days.

Arrange the spinach leaves around the inner edge of a small ramekin and fill with the pheasant and spiced onion combination.

Removing yolk from duck egg halves

Crack the shell of the duck egg all over against a hard surface and carefully peel. Cut the egg in half down through the yolk and carefully scoop the yolk halves out of the white with a teaspoon and add to a small bowl.

Duck egg yolk, mustard and dill

Add the Dijon mustard and pinch of dill to the egg yolk before mixing well together with the back of a teaspoon. Carefully spoon half the mix into the empty cavity in each of the two egg white halves.

Plating up pheasant three ways salad

Arrange the pea shoots in the bottom of a deep serving plate and sit the ramekin of the spicy pheasant and onion mix in the centre. Lay a tomato half at each of the main points of the compass.

Arrange the cucumber logs in opposite gaps on the plate and the duck egg halves in the remaining two and serve.

Pheasant Leg Meat Doner Kebab

Pheasant leg meat doner kebab

Today's post is the first in a series of three relating to the slow cooked meat from pheasant legs. We are obviously well out of pheasant season but I still have a small supply of both legs and breasts tucked away in my freezer. Normally when I defrost and slow cook a batch of pheasant legs, I use the meat to batch cook such as chillies or curries and freeze it in smaller portions for subsequent use. In this instance, I decided to experiment a little bit further and this doner kebab (of sorts!) is the first dish I came up with.

A traditional doner kebab sees strips of lamb arranged around a skewer and cooked via a rotisserie grill. In the UK, versions of this dish are normally associated with late night takeaways for those leaving pubs or nightclubs but I hope this is a version you may want to try at home for sober consumption, whether you use pheasant leg meat or something more traditional and readily available.

Stage 1 (provides pheasant leg meat for all 3 recipes in series)

Cook Time

Prep time: 5 min (plus resting and cooling time for cooked legs)

Cook time: 10 hours

Ready in: 11 hours, approximately

Yields: Meat for 3 single serving recipes

 

Pheasant legs ready for slow cooking

Ingredients

• 8 whole, skinless, fresh or fully defrosted pheasant legs
• 1 white onion, peeled and quartered
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and lightly crushed
• 2 whole small red chillies
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Water

Slow cooked pheasant legs

Method

Put the pheasant legs, onion, chillies, garlic and salt into your slow cooker. Pour in enough cold water to ensure the legs are comfortably covered. Put the lid on to your slow cooker and switch it on at its low setting. Cook for 10 hours. I usually do this overnight but maybe leaving it to do its job while you are out at work during the day would suit you better?

Pheasant legs removed from slow cooker

Use a large slotted spoon to remove the onion, chillies and garlic from the slow cooker and discard. Lift the pheasant legs to a deep plate, cover and allow to rest and cool sufficiently that they may be comfortably handled. (Note:  around a pint of the pheasant cooking liquid needs to be reserved for part of the kebab preparation.) I then like to break the drumsticks and thighs apart before carefully plucking off all the meat in small clumps. Be aware that this can be pretty time consuming in the case of the drumsticks due to their unusual bone structure. 

Stage 2 (Pheasant Leg Meat Doner Kebab)

Cook Time

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 5 min

Ready in: 15 min

Yields: 2 servings

Combining ingredients for kebab sauce

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons Greek (or plain, natural) yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons mint sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon hot chilli powder
• Salt
• 3 or 4 Little Gem lettuce leaves, rolled and sliced
• 6 to 8 baby plum tomatoes, halved
• 3" (7.5cm) piece of cucumber (English cucumber, US), seeded and roughly chopped
• Black pepper
• Generous handful pheasant leg meat
• 1 pint pheasant leg cooking liquid
• 2 pitta breads

Method

Spoon the yoghurt, ketchup and mint sauce into a small bowl. Season with the chilli powder and salt before mixing very well to combine. Refrigerate until required.

Combining kebab salad ingredients

Add the lettuce, tomato and cucumber to a large bowl or suitable dish and season with salt and pepper. Carefully mix by hand to ensure even distribution of the seasoning and ingredients.

Re-heated pheasant leg meat

Pour the pheasant cooking liquid into a small saucepan and bring it up to a gentle simmer. Add the pheasant leg meat, stir well and continue to simmer for 2 or 3 minutes, just until the meat is heated through. Drain through a sieve at your sink.

Pheasant meat is added to pitta pocket

Reheat the pitta breads per the instructions on the pack, ensuring they puff up like filled envelopes. Carefully slice each one open along a long edge and use cooking tongs to divide the warmed pheasant meat between the two pockets.

Pitta pockets are filled with salad

Fill each pocket with salad and drizzle the sauce over the top before serving.

Pheasant Breast Burger and Poached Duck Egg on Stilton Cheese Toast

Poached duck egg and pheasant burger on Stilton toast

The pheasant burger used in this recipe was one of a few which were gifted to me, so although they were homemade, I did not make them personally and cannot therefore share the recipe. I do know they were made with pheasant breast, pork fat and a few herbs and spices. I would suggest though that this idea would work equally well with any type of burger, wild game or otherwise, and hope you like the general concept enough to give it a go.

Cook Time

Prep time: 5 min

Cook time: 10 min

Reay in: 15 min

Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

• 1 pheasant burger
• Vegetable oil for frying
• 1 slice of bread for toasting
• 2 or 3 slices of Stilton cheese, as required
• 1 fresh duck egg
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• Salt
• Pinch of dried parsley to garnish

Starting to fry pheasant breast

Method

Pour a little oil in to a non-stick frying pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Add the pheasant burger to fry for 4 to 5 minutes each side until done.

Add the vinegar to a pot of cold water (about 2"/5cm deep) and put it on to reach a boil. Break the duck egg carefully into a small drinking glass.

Put your kitchen grill (broiler) on to preheat to a high setting.

When the vinegar water starts to boil, reduce the heat and very carefully pour the duck egg into the water, holding the lip of the glass just above the water level and releasing the egg in one smooth movement. Do not let the lip of the glass actually touch the water. Simmer very gently for 3.5 minutes.

Cutting a circle from hot toast

Make the toast and use a suitable drinking glass or other item as a template to cut as large a circle from it as possible.

Stilton slices laid on hot toast

Arrange the Stilton on the toast to form a single layer, breaking the slices up as and when required to ensure even cover.

Stilton melted on toast

Put the Stilton covered toast on a tray or the grill-pan and back under the heat, just until the cheese melts. Remove to your serving plate.

Pheasant burger is laid on toast

Lift the pheasant burger with a spatula on to the Stilton toast.

Poached duck egg on pheasant burger and Stilton toast

Lift the poached duck egg form the water with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on the spoon for a few seconds. Sit it carefully on the pheasant burger, season with a little salt and garnish with the dried parsley to serve.

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.