A Bird in the Pot is Worth….
 | Author:
Eileen Clarke - Rifles and Recipes
Author: Rifles and Recipes |
This is pretty Italian, but no Parmesan cheese. Instead I used the Boursin cheese crumbles I bought at Costco, mostly because it was a big tub and I wasn’t eating it fast enough. (I’d been pairing it with fresh garden cukes and cherry tomatoes, but that season is ending….) I admit this was a bit of an experiment, but it was a very successful one. Lots of flavor, between the red pepper flakes, garlic and Boursin cheese, and lots of attitude. I would serve this with a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. My dad would have had it with a sprightly Miller High Life.
One word about bones. If you’ve ever ended up in the emergency room with a bone caught in your throat, you’ll agree: It’s no fun. So. Always err on the safe side. Thighs and drumsticks each, essentially, have one bone. The drumstick has two, but they are fused together, and each of those leg bones is easy to spot. On the other hand, breast meat sits on the rib cage which is lots of bones, some fairly little. So, bone out the breast meat, but leave the legs intact.
Finally, if you don’t have pheasant in the freezer, any pale-meated upland bird will do. Just add about 1 pound of meat. Even commercial chicken from Bob’s. That’s about how much meat a pheasant will yield, if relatively intact.
FYI: We’re not ‘browning’ the pheasant pieces, nor are we ‘dry-cooking’ them, so the meat stays quite moist while gathering up flavor.
Creamy Garlic Pheasant
Serves 2
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons oil
1 onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons minced garlic (5-7 good-sized cloves)
1 pheasant, parted out (drumsticks and thighs too)
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped (about 1 ½ cups)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon BTB chicken base (reduced sodium)
2 cups egg noodles
¼ teaspoon red chili flakes
2 tablespoons dry leaf basil
3 tablespoons Boursin Crumble—garlic and fine herbs variety
Cooking
1. In a 3 quart Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat, and when it starts to sizzle, add the onions. Cook until they soften and the edges start to brown, about 5-6 minutes.
2. Clear a small opening in the middle of the onions and add the garlic with a bit more oil. Cook another 3-4 minutes, stir the garlic up into the onions then gently stir in the chopped tomatoes, water, chicken base, red chili flakes and basil. Bury the pheasant pieces into the mixture.
3. Bring to a slow simmer, cover and cook on low, about 30 minutes.
4. Add the egg noodles and simmer until the noodles are done. (About 10-12 minutes depending on what type of pasta you use.) Just before serving, add the Boursin cheese, stirring it into the sauce until the cheese has melted. Serve hot.
All seven of Eileen’s wild game cookbooks, including her Upland Game Bird Cookery, published originally by Ducks Unlimited are on sale at https://www.riflesandrecipes.com/406-521-0273. Enter the phrase 43News in the coupon box when checking out and get 1/3 off the regular price of any of Eileen’s game cookbooks now through Christmas.
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