This dish is all about the bird – and a wonderful technique for keeping the famously dry bird super juicy!
Ingredients:
- 2 Hen pheasants, though cock birds work fine too.
- 3 litres light chicken stock
- 30 g or 1 oz salt
- Chicken Schmaltz (chicken fat)
- Butter for basting
- Honey
- 1 lemon
- Bunch of rosemary
- Boulangère potatoes
- 6 medium rooster potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
- 2 large onions, sliced
- 6 cloves of garlic, sliced
- Herbs
- Salt and pepper
- Dark chicken stock x1 pint
- Butter and oil.
- Chicory x3, sliced
- Knob of butter, 1 chili
- Velouté sauce:
- 2 oz butter
- 2 oz flour
- Madeira wine (get a bottle)
- Dark chicken stock – 1/2pint.
Method
Start with a pan of chicken Stock, made of 2/3 water and 1/3 stock and 350g of salt. Leave for 20 minutes.
Remove the legs of the Pheasant with a cleaver, cut straight through the joint. Once the temperature of the brine has reached 65 degree, plunge the bird straight into the brine.
Once the bird’s temperature reaches around 50 degrees, remove from the brine.
Cut a lemon in half and place inside the birds’ cavity, along with a large sprig of Rosemary.
Next, add a teaspoon of Chicken Schmaltz, a knob of butter and a glug of olive oil to a pan.
Drain off any excess juices from the Pheasant and add to the pan, along with another sprig of Rosemary and some pepper.
Add more butter to the pan and roll the pheasant, covering all sides.
Heat your Traeger to 200 degrees and add the Pheasant. Roast for 20 mins
Baste the Pheasant using some Chicken Schmaltz and drizzle with some honey.
Once cooked, remove the Pheasant form the Traeger, leave to rest for 5 minutes and then carve.
Boulangère
Slice the potatoes really thinly and pat dry. Add to a bowl, season well with Salt and Pepper and add a glug of Olive Oil. Mix well using your hands.
Slice the onions and garlic
Sauté the onions in butter and oil with the garlic on a high heat. Season with sea salt, pepper and some fresh Thyme. Allow to caramelised for 10 – 15 minutes.
To make the Boulangère base, use a gamebird stock
Once the onions have caramelised, mix them in with the potatoes. Mix well and add some of the gamebird stock, stir and cover the pan with a lid. Allow to cook for 5 minutes.
Once cooked through, transfer the potatoes and onions to a smaller nice dish and arrange the top layer in an overlapping style as this is the side your guests will see. Add more stock until it’s just below the level of the top layer, along with a few small knobs of butter and more pepper. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes or until crispy, at 200c.
Once the potatoes are looking crispy, reduce the heat to around 160c and cook for a further 20 – 30 minutes.
Chicory
Remove the toot, pull the leaves apart, stack it together and slice.
Dice one red chilli (wash your hands after dicing the chilli!)
Add a knob of butter to a pan. Next, add the sliced chicory and chilli. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to soften.
Once softened, add a small drizzle of honey and remove the pan from the heat.
Transfer to a serving plate and add a sprinkling of chives.
Velouté
Melt butter in a pan.
In another pan add a large splash of Madeira
Add flour to the melted butter – add equal quantities for butter and flour. Combine together and allow to cool for 2 – 3 minutes.
Once the Madeira has warmed through, add some heat from the gas flames and allow it to catch and set aside whilst the alcohol burns off.
Add the reduced pheasant stock to the pan.
Add the Madeira to the Roux and combine. Add some of the stock, small quantities at a time and stir through.
Bring to the boil and whisk. Season with parsley, chives, salt and pepper. Add a spoonful of wholegrain mustard. A small splash of raw Madeira and stir.