I am fascinated with internet traffic and what takes someone to a website. I can sometimes see on my blog stats where traffic has come from and it is often a google search. As a librarian I am interested in which search terms are used: as a food lovin' lady, I am intrigued by which foods are most sought after. A recent cursory look shows that, very unsurprisingly, everyone is looking for ways to eat two things right now: pheasant and Seville orange. Or, as one poor soul in Spain put it 'what else can I make with Seville oranges?' - you can just hear the fatigue!
I notice that Hugh F-W answered the latter with his usual enthusiasm in the Saturday Guardian magazine: Seville-orange meringue pie and orange curd were such wonderful ideas, I can't wait to give them a go. Just as soon as I can find some oranges! I also recommend - no, I URGE - you to make the ice cream in 'Nigella Bites'. Don't frown like that, it isn't at all like making ice cream: no churning or time involved. One merely whips cream then adds sugar and orange zest/juice, then stow into freezer. I once converted a non-ice cream lover to it, which is surely the best recommendation?
The pheasant shooting season is coming to its end: soon the birds will be raising chicks, during which time they are off-limits to us preying on them. Time for a last game-bird hurrah of the year - and a good time to know what to do with leftover pheasant bits.
I can't believe I didn't mention my new year's day meal sooner! My parents gave me a post-Christmas pheasant-present, which they had plucked, singed and done all the gruesome and boring bits of preparation to. The bird was given a streaky bacon blanket and roasted, then served on a bed of bacony, herby lentils. It followed a chicory salad in a Dijon mustard and honey dressing, and the whole thing was hearty, earthy and ever so wintry.
After, I stripped the carcass of its few scraps of meat and made stock with the bones: this makes a lovely winter risotto if you have some flavoursome mushrooms, and add the meat in at the end. Delicious with buttered chard or cabbage. End-of-season heaven!
Showing posts with label pheasant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pheasant. Show all posts
Thursday, 3 February 2011
Monday, 23 November 2009
Two delicious things to do with a pheasant
A delightful visit to the coast brought magnificent eating gifts in the form of Mrs I's roast lamb, a visit to the Millstream (more of that, later), and a pheasant and home-grown butternut squash to bring back to the big smoke. A delicious, Sussex pheasant already plucked and prepared and be-headed. Phew. For some reason I never got round to the gruesome bit of being a country girl, so not having to prep the pheasant was a great relief.
Half of the butternut squash was put to service immediately. It was chopped in two, roasted until soft and roughly scooped / chopped on top of a very plain risotto, made only with white onion and vegetable stock. Sage leaves fried in butter went atop, and some greens alongside. I love some green. It was sweet, filling and heavenly.
A couple of days later, it was time for pheasant. I peeled and chunked the rest of the butternut squash, roasting it with red onion for about half an hour before popping the bird on top and giving it a thin blanket of streaky bacon. After 30 minutes the pheasant was still a little too pink, but another 5-10 minutes rendered it perfect. The gent brought a beautiful red wine along* using his ever-ready skills to match to the dish, and we used a dash to de-glaze the roasting pan and make some gravy. Sprouts are my absolute favourite so I am undoubtedly biased, but I think their bitterness goes amazingly well with the sweet squash and salty bacon (indeed, almost anything): a mid-week feast which ended in a hands-on, thigh-bone-sucking delight.
The gent and I had pretty much demolished the whole pheasant but still the carcass looked tempting, so a few days later the remaining handful of roast flesh was set aside, and the carcass was boiled into a dark stock. Onions, garlic and streaky bacon made the basis of a risotto and the pheasant stock silkily ladled in. Once cooked, a chunk of butter and the handful of leftover pheasant flesh was stirred through, and left for a couple of minutes off-heat. Meanwhile, some roasted chestnuts had been roughly chopped up and nubbled around in foaming butter to pour atop the mound of risotto. The gent came armed with gifts in either hand: a bottle of red he had been nurturing in his wine nursery** and a cheeky young savoy cabbage to steam and sit alongside the risotto. Parmesan was unanimously rejected as being completely wrong.
I actually think I enjoyed this meal more than the roast: using a proper stock makes such a different dish to using vegetable stock (Marigold powder being the staple chez Roy), the whole dish tastes just that bit richer and the rice is more unctuous and never claggy. I can never decide if the leftovers-meal is actually more delicious, or if the joy of using up scraps somehow heightens the eating pleasure? Frugality as salt? Either way, I always save a cup of rice or a few naked bones in the hopes of an unexpected delight the next day.
Well there are three recipes when I promised only two: that's the kind of good service you get round here. Have a nice day! Please tell your family and come again soon!
* el gent: it would be a complete delight if you could name it, for posterity... it was the easy-going fruity one which gave up its delights without a blush
** Casillero del Diablo -?
Half of the butternut squash was put to service immediately. It was chopped in two, roasted until soft and roughly scooped / chopped on top of a very plain risotto, made only with white onion and vegetable stock. Sage leaves fried in butter went atop, and some greens alongside. I love some green. It was sweet, filling and heavenly.
A couple of days later, it was time for pheasant. I peeled and chunked the rest of the butternut squash, roasting it with red onion for about half an hour before popping the bird on top and giving it a thin blanket of streaky bacon. After 30 minutes the pheasant was still a little too pink, but another 5-10 minutes rendered it perfect. The gent brought a beautiful red wine along* using his ever-ready skills to match to the dish, and we used a dash to de-glaze the roasting pan and make some gravy. Sprouts are my absolute favourite so I am undoubtedly biased, but I think their bitterness goes amazingly well with the sweet squash and salty bacon (indeed, almost anything): a mid-week feast which ended in a hands-on, thigh-bone-sucking delight.
The gent and I had pretty much demolished the whole pheasant but still the carcass looked tempting, so a few days later the remaining handful of roast flesh was set aside, and the carcass was boiled into a dark stock. Onions, garlic and streaky bacon made the basis of a risotto and the pheasant stock silkily ladled in. Once cooked, a chunk of butter and the handful of leftover pheasant flesh was stirred through, and left for a couple of minutes off-heat. Meanwhile, some roasted chestnuts had been roughly chopped up and nubbled around in foaming butter to pour atop the mound of risotto. The gent came armed with gifts in either hand: a bottle of red he had been nurturing in his wine nursery** and a cheeky young savoy cabbage to steam and sit alongside the risotto. Parmesan was unanimously rejected as being completely wrong.
I actually think I enjoyed this meal more than the roast: using a proper stock makes such a different dish to using vegetable stock (Marigold powder being the staple chez Roy), the whole dish tastes just that bit richer and the rice is more unctuous and never claggy. I can never decide if the leftovers-meal is actually more delicious, or if the joy of using up scraps somehow heightens the eating pleasure? Frugality as salt? Either way, I always save a cup of rice or a few naked bones in the hopes of an unexpected delight the next day.
Well there are three recipes when I promised only two: that's the kind of good service you get round here. Have a nice day! Please tell your family and come again soon!
* el gent: it would be a complete delight if you could name it, for posterity... it was the easy-going fruity one which gave up its delights without a blush
** Casillero del Diablo -?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
