Recipe Sections
4
MARINADE
1kg (no. 10) Pheasant
1/2 cup olive oil
1 orange zested and juiced
7 sprigs thyme
3 bay leaves
1tbs juniper berries
FILLING
puff pastry*
60ml verjuice
60g butter
2 crushed garlic cloves
1tbs chopped rosemary
350g mushrooms sliced*
30g plain flour
250ml duck stock
40g double cream
1 lemon zested
40g chopped walnuts (no skins)
2tbs fresh oregano
Preheat oven to 200C. Chop down pheasant into quarters. Mix marinade ingredients together and place pheasant in to marinade for at least 10 minutes.
Season pheasant well with salt and pepper and place pieces skin side up on baking tray and put into oven.
Roast for 10 minutes and then turn over. Cook legs for a further approx 5 minutes and breast sections for a further 9 minutes. If a prick to the thickest part has the juices running clear from the meat, they are ready. Once out, splash the verjuice over and allow to sit and rest for 15 minutes.
Turn up oven to 230C
Roll out pastry and fit to a baking dish and the pastry lid. Refrigerate.
In a frypan, melt butter and fry garlic and rosemary and then add mushrooms until the mushrooms are soft and half in size. Add a teaspoon of salt and the flour and cook for 3 minutes. Pour in the stock. Bring mixture to the boil, then add the cream and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off and place mixture in fridge to cool.
Take all the pheasant meat from the bones and cut into bite sized chunks. Add the lemon zest, oregano and the mushroom mixture all together.
Put filling into cold pastry case and place over pastry cover/lid. Ensure pie is cold before putting into oven. If pastry has gotten warm from filling, refrigerate again.
Cook for 5 minutes in oven, then turn temp back to 220C for a further 20 - 25 mins until golden and cooked through.
*If you have time try making you own pastry.
*Why not try some pine or forest mushrooms.