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Pot-roast pheasant with an apple, cider and sage cream sauce
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 2 whole pheasants, trussed for roasting
- light olive oil, for sealing and frying
- 2 cooking apples
- 4 sage leaves
- 330ml dry cider
- 150ml double cream
- sugar, to taste (if needed)
- chicken stock, to thin the sauce (if needed)
- 150ml game bird jus (see recipe, below)
For the game bird jus
- 1kg game trimmings (mainly drumsticks from birds, no fat)
- 2 large carrots, finely diced
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 1 celery stick, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves (skin on), cut in half
- 2tsp tomato purée
- 1⁄2 bottle red wine
- thyme sprig
- 6 litres game stock (approx.)
Method
Season the trussed pheasant and seal in a hot pan with oil, turning the bird so that there is an even seal all over and it colours well, then take out and put to one side. Peel, core and slice the apples.
Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F/Gas 6. Take a deep cooking dish with a lid, place half of the apples on the base of the dish, then place the sealed pheasant on the apples and cover with the rest of the apples. Add 4 sage leaves and the cider, bring everything to the boil and cover with a lid. Place in the oven for 10 minutes, then turn down to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and cook for a further 25 minutes.
Once cooked, remove the pheasant, drain all the cooking juices back into the cooking pot and allow the bird to stand and rest for 5 minutes in a warm place. Meanwhile, add the cream to the apples and cooking juices and liquidise to a fine purée.
If the sauce is too thick, add a little chicken stock to thin it. Taste it and if you find it too sharp, a little sugar will take the edge off.
Remove the trussing string from the pheasant and remove the legs. Cut the legs in half so that you have a drumstick and a thigh. Retain the thighs and discard the drumsticks as they have too many sinews. Remove the breasts from the carcass and serve a breast and thigh together as a portion. Warm the sauce but do not boil. Serve with some of the sauce and a small amount of game jus.
For the game bird jus
Fry the game trimmings with a little oil to give a good colour, a bit at a time. Remove each batch from the pan and keep to one side. Fry vegetables and garlic in the same pan with a little more oil, to give good colour.
Add the meat trimmings to the vegetables and add the tomato purée. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the wine and thyme and reduce by half. Add the stock, season and reduce by two-thirds.
Strain through a fine strainer.
The jus should be the consistency
of single cream. If you would like it a thicker consistency (a
game glaze), reduce further but
be careful not to burn it. The jus
freezes well. Use as needed.
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