Cooking pheasant (and other well hung game birds)

Man of Honour
Man of Honour
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I need some advice from all you country folk! My mum brought me up a load of game from her local farm shop. I've got 3 wild rabbits, 2 pheasants, 2 partridges and 6 pigeons. It's all from local shoots and all very well hung.

The rabbit I've been fine with. I butchered it, removed the sinews and made some pretty nice dinner with. I took it off the bone and casseroled the rear legs with leeks, garlic and cream. The front legs I slow-poached in olive oil with whole garlic cloves, a bit like the Italians do. The loins I wrapped in bacon and pan fried. It's pretty strong but rabbit is reasonably mild.

I roasted a pheasant tonight and served it with spring greens wilted in butter and roasted potato wedges. I made a sauce from a reduction of red wine, the cooking juices, cherries and butter to thicken. However, the pheasant has obviously been hung for some time and is incredibly strong tasting, so the sauce was no match for it. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions?

I'm guessing the partridges and pigeons are going to be similar, so any suggestions for those will go down a treat :p

Prep-wise for the pigeons I'll probably take the breasts and legs off, pan fry the legs until cooked through and lightly pan fry the breasts so still rare in the middle. Not sure about the partridges. I don't think I've cooked or eaten it before and it's somewhere between a pheasant and a pigeon size wise. What is the meat like?
 
How about a game-bird pie? Gordon Ramsey did a nice one with Venison added, but i reckon with the other game birds it could be just as nice. You've also got the option of a warm breast of pigeon salad, had it a few times as a starter and it's quite nice if followed by something slightly sweeter.
 
Last time I bought pheasant it absolutely reeked when I was roasting it, stunk the whole house out so I binned it and can't face it now :/
 
For the pigeons, I'd just breast them and then pan fry in a sauce/seasoning of your choice. There's very little meat elsewhere on them. It's a nice dense meat.

For the pheasant, there's not a lot you can do that will hide the fact they have been well hung, I'd suggest slow cooking them as a casserole in a "coq au vin" style.

As a future reference for rabbit, it's fantastic in a cream and tarragon sauce.

Personally I don't hang my game at all, I clean it within a day or so having kept it in a coldroom.
 
How about a game-bird pie? Gordon Ramsey did a nice one with Venison added, but i reckon with the other game birds it could be just as nice. You've also got the option of a warm breast of pigeon salad, had it a few times as a starter and it's quite nice if followed by something slightly sweeter.
Could be a plan. Only issue is it's just me eating it, so I'd have to think about quantities. Game is very lean and doesn't lend itself to reheating like beef does. I guess I could butcher a rabbit, partridge and pigeon and make up a mixed game pie filling :)

am i the only one who had a titter at this?
Of course not. I had to type it out without giggling :p
 
For the pheasant, there's not a lot you can do that will hide the fact they have been well hung, I'd suggest slow cooking them as a casserole in a "coq au vin" style.
That's a good idea. It's actually bordering on too strong for me so a casserole with some good strong flavours should stand up to it.

As a future reference for rabbit, it's fantastic in a cream and tarragon sauce.
Noted. Two more rabbits to go. One is reserved for a French braised recipe with mustard. Cream and tarragon will go on the other :)
 
rabbit goes nice with cider and whole grain mustard if you are making another casserole..leek, carrot, diced turnip/swede all in the same pot and braised for ages, a good quality cider and stock for the liquid.
 
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