Roast Pheasant with Cherries
Ingredients:
- 1 or 2 pheasants, cut in half
- salt and black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 large onion, sliced
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 cups port
- jar pitted morello cherries, drained and liquid reserved
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
Instructions:
Rinse the pheasant halves and pat them dry with paper towels. Rub them all over with salt and pepper, and place them in a dish.
In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, onion, bay leaves, port, the cherry liquid (should be about 1 cup). Pour this marinade over the pheasant, and leave to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours, turning and basting 2-3 times.
Preheat the oven to 160 (c). Transfer the pheasants and marinade to a metal roasting pan. Pour chicken stock over pheasant.
Cover the roasting dish with tin foil and place in the oven for about an hour. Then take the cover off and turn the oven down to 150 (c) and cook for another 30 minutes,. Remove from the oven, and set the pheasants aside to rest for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, make a sauce by thickening the pan juices. Either start with butter and a bit of flour and make a roux, and gradually add pan juices until you get to the right consistency, or just heat a cup or two of the juices and stir in 1 Tbsp of corn-flour mixed to a paste with 2 Tbsp water. Either way, add about 1 cup of the cherries from the jar.
Place a pheasant half on each plate and spoon the sauce over them. Serve with potatoes, and your choice of seasonal vegetables.
Rinse the pheasant halves and pat them dry with paper towels. Rub them all over with salt and pepper, and place them in a dish.
In a bowl, mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, onion, bay leaves, port, the cherry liquid (should be about 1 cup). Pour this marinade over the pheasant, and leave to marinate in the fridge for 24 hours, turning and basting 2-3 times.
Preheat the oven to 160 (c). Transfer the pheasants and marinade to a metal roasting pan. Pour chicken stock over pheasant.
Cover the roasting dish with tin foil and place in the oven for about an hour. Then take the cover off and turn the oven down to 150 (c) and cook for another 30 minutes,. Remove from the oven, and set the pheasants aside to rest for 20-30 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, make a sauce by thickening the pan juices. Either start with butter and a bit of flour and make a roux, and gradually add pan juices until you get to the right consistency, or just heat a cup or two of the juices and stir in 1 Tbsp of corn-flour mixed to a paste with 2 Tbsp water. Either way, add about 1 cup of the cherries from the jar.
Place a pheasant half on each plate and spoon the sauce over them. Serve with potatoes, and your choice of seasonal vegetables.