Bringing back hanging

[macferret]

We always used to hang pheasants until they were gamey and I thought that's just how they tasted. But then about 20 years ago I had shot a bird too close and decided the next afternoon that it was so mangled that I would just salvage the breast meat. I fried it on a high heat for 3 or 4 mins and then finished it in the oven, deglazed with port while the meat was resting, and sat down expecting not much. But it was much much nicer than any pheasant I had eaten before - pink in the middle, mild and slightly nutty in flavour.  Since then I have never hung pheasant for more than 48 hours.
You can tell by the feet how old they are, by the way. Age is not much of an issue for a driven shoot (where most or all of the birds are this year's) but I'm not rich enough to shoot driven birds and everything I brought home was therefore rough shot.  Older birds need to be casseroled, of course. This is a very nice recipe that works well for any pheasant, young or old:

Pheasant in Curry Sauce with Game Chips
SERVES 2
1 pheasant, whole
2 chef's spoons olive oil
1 med onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
2 tbsp good curry powder (or use your own mix powder)
1/3 bottle dry white wine
500 ml good chicken stock
1 tsp finely sliced lemon zest
Sprig fresh thyme and a bay leaf
1 chef's spoon parsley, finely chopped

5 tbsp creme fraiche
Butter to finish

FOR THE GAME CHIPS (otherwise known as home-made potato crisps, ahem)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced with a mandolin or potato peeler; reserve them in cold water with a little lemon juice
Veg oil to deep fry

1. In a heavy casserole, heat the oil until smoking and then brown the bird all over, moving every couple of minutes.
2. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook until translucent but not brown.
3. Sprinkle over the curry powder and fry it in for 2 mins.
4. Deglaze with the wine.  Boil hard for 2 mins.
5. Add the stock and lemon zest. The pheasant should be at least half covered.  Bring to the boil.
6. Cook with the lid on in the oven for 30 mins or until the pheasant is tender.
7. Put the pheasant on a warm plate and cover with foil to rest.
8. Reduce the sauce over a high heat until treacly.  Stir in the cream and heat gently. Finish the sauce with butter to make it glossy.
9. Meanwhile pat the potatoes dry on a towel and heat the deep fryer to 180C.
10. Cook the game chips until light brown and crispy.
11. Carve the pheasant and serve with game chips and a sprinkle of parsley.

[Onions]

How big is a chef spoon.

[macferret]

1 chef spoon = 2 or 3 tablespoons

[Onions]

heers- it seems a variable amount sometimes!

[Invisible Mike]

We always claim our brace and they always get used, but I take your point on leaving them out for the wildlife and they will be deposited in the Essex countryside later today.

I commend you, T63.  (But I'd still eat them myself, if they were even half-way on the safe side of "putrid" !  Cooking in a good full-bodied red with plenty of ceps can mask even the flavour of a well-OTT pheasant in my exeperience ...).

** Phil.

Do you pick ceps Phil?

[Ghoulie]

Last pheasant i had was a gift from a shooter - frozen stuff his missus had 'processed' into various bits.  This was breast.  Tough as old boots.  Must have been an old bird & only fit for casserole cooking style. Went into the bin after one mouthful.

[macferret]

Not your fault Ghoulie.  The last time someone gave me some meat it was a frozen leg of their own lamb. When I defrosted it a month later to do a nice Sunday roast, it turned out to be not just "well hung" but completely rotten. They must have had a freezer break down. I had to do the kids fish fingers with roast potatoes and yorkshire puddings!
Beware anyone bringing gifts of meat.....

[Madrasandy]

1 chef spoon = 2 or 3 tablespoons

Quite a big variation there, 3 is half us much again as 2

[Peripatetic Phil]

Do you pick ceps Phil?

I do indeed.  With the exception of fairy-ring champignons, Coprinus comatus and parasol mushrooms. they are the only mushrooms that I can identify with sufficient certainty to eat them without consulting a field guide.  I have a rather nice string hanging in the conservatory at the moment, collected from the grounds of a local crematorium after helping to inter the ashes of a late friend.

** Phil.

[macferret]

Quite a big variation there, 3 is half us much again as 2

Fair point. It's tablespoons that cause the problem because a lot of people use dessertspoon to mean tablespoon. I should have been more accurate and said:

1 chef's spoon = 3 dessertspoons = 2 tablespoons.

I don't think chef's spoon is an actual measure is it? Correct me if I'm wrong. It's a useful measure when descriing BIR because curry chefs tend to use just one large cooking spoon for everything - diced onion, garlic/ginger mix, spices, etc.