It is gaming season and I saw that the local farmer was selling pheasant, pigeon, quail and other wild birds so I thought I would buy a pheasant.

I have never cooked pheasant before, but my husband loves it so I went onto recipzarr to see if I could find a recipe I liked, and I found this one.(To see this other recipes by this chef click http://www.recipezaar.com/107369).

It turned out really good the aroma in the house from the brine was gorgeous. The pheasant was tender and moist, it did however loose some of the real gamey taste, which I prefer but my husband loves the gamey taste. He did however agree the bird was very tender and moist and had a lovely flavour.

The brine

8 cups water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed (the recipe says “several” garlic cloves; I tend to use about 3)
1 pinch ground cloves
1/2 lemon, juice of (I do use it) (optional)
1 dash cayenne pepper (optional)
1 (2 lb) whole pheasants
2 tablespoons butter

Method

1. Heat together the water and salt until salt is dissolved, then allow to cool to room temperature for about a half hour.

2. Add the sugar, syrup, onions, garlic, cloves, and lemon and cayenne pepper (if using).

3.Add pheasant, cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

5.Place brined pheasant in a roasting pan breast up and insert a tablespoon of the butter under the breast skin. (I also stuffed the solids from brine into the bird cavity)

6.Rub the rest of the butter all over the pheasant, then roast uncovered for about 1-1/2 hours; check after an hour, though.

7.Baste frequently!

8. And if you like, to keep the breast meat moist, you can cover it with bacon strips as well. (I did this)

I served it on a platter dish with roasted thyme and garlic potatoes, roast pumpkin and garlic buttered vegetables.

I reserved the pan juices, added about a cup of the brine, a little chicken stock and thickened it up with cornflour for the gravy it was delicious.

All photo’s taken by me unless otherwise stated.