Pot-roasted pheasant
See this recipe step by step

Pot-roasted pheasant

Gordon's pheasant dish makes an affordable but smart meal for two

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 15 mins

Method

  1. Start with the potatoes. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Trim the wider side off the potato and cut into 2 thick slices, so each side sits flat in the pan. Heat the oil in an ovenproof frying pan and fry the bacon for 2 mins until crisp. Push the bacon aside; then, over a very high heat, brown the potato slices really well for about 3 mins on each side.
  2. Add the thyme, splash in the stock and place in the oven while you cook the pheasant.
  3. Season the pheasant really well. Heat the oil in a casserole dish and add the pheasant pieces. Spend about 10 mins making sure the meat is well coloured on all sides, using tongs to turn the pieces when needed.
  4. Remove the meat from the dish and add a splash more oil. Sizzle the bacon for 1 min, then add all the vegetables and the thyme. Turn up the heat and brown the vegetables really well. Nestle the legs amongst the vegetables and sit the breast on top. Place in the oven, uncovered, to roast for 25 mins.
  5. Remove the dish from oven, lift out the breast and leave somewhere warm to rest. Pour the chicken stock over the legs and return to the oven for 20 mins to braise. Meanwhile, gently reheat the carrot purée in a pan, stirring in a touch of butter.
  6. Remove the legs from the dish and set aside. Use a potato masher to squash the veg into the sauce to thicken. Season well and strain the sauce into a bowl. Remove the potatoes from the oven, and finely chop the bacon from the potato pan into small bits - you are now ready to carve the pheasant and plate up.
  7. Neatly cut each breast away from the carcass. Slice into 2 and cut each leg through the joint into 2 pieces. Cut each potato in half on an angle. Smear a large spoonful of carrot purée along one side of the plate. Lean the pheasant pieces against each other and lay a piece of potato alongside. Scatter the pheasant breast with the chopped bacon, spoon over the sauce and serve.
Try

Carrot purée with star anise

Heat a small knob of butter in a small pan and gently sizzle 3 finely sliced carrots for 5 mins. Pour in 100ml fresh chicken stock and add 1 star anise. Season and simmer for 15 mins until the carrots are really soft - add a splash more stock if needed, but by the time the carrots are cooked you want most of the stock to have reduced. Stir in 2 tbsp double cream and bring back to the boil. Remove the star anise and blend until as smooth as possible.

599 kcalories, protein 49g, carbohydrate 27g, fat 33 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 6g, sugar 12g, salt 1.76 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2010.

Try 3 issues of Good Food magazine for £3 - subscribe now!

Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Julesb

    26 January 2010

    Julesb rated this recipe

    5 stars

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Alice McPalace

    15 March 2011

    Alice McPalace rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    absolutely delicious, looked perfect, tasted amazing. Didn't have any star anise for the carrot puree but was still yummy. the sauce in particular was fabulous, shame we have to wait til september for the shooting season again....

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo tom

    09 May 2011

    tom commented on this recipe

    when it says pot roast, does it mean u hav to throw roasting pots at live pheasants, cos thats very mean.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo C Badarello

    15 January 2012

    C Badarello rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I normally find Pheasant dry, but this was lovely and moist. Carrot purée surprisingly worth the extra effort too

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo Stevie B

    15 January 2012

    Stevie B rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    We didn't make the carrot puree, but really enjoyed the dish without it. We found some of the instructions in the recipe took a bit of working out, particularly concerning the pheasant itself. The legs need to be removed at the beginning leaving a carcass with the breasts on, therefore any references to 'breast' in the method mean this whole carcass piece. We thought the mashed up vegetables were so tasty that it was worth serving a dollop of that on the side, especially as we weren't having the carrot puree. We also had broccoli which made for a good sized meal for two. Pheasant can be dry of course so this was a great way of cooking it so it stayed moist and tender. Good job Gordon!

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo lizleicester

    14 February 2012

    lizleicester rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Enjoyed this as a Valentine treat. Didn't mash the delicious vegetables or extract the bacon from the potatoes, but served them alongside the carrot. All really flavoursome though I agree with Stevie B that the recipe took a bit of working out.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

  • Binder photo crumbortwo

    21 November 2012

    crumbortwo rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Not hard to cook but a lot of effort and so compared to other ratings, surprised to see this described as easy. Was not mad on the carrot. You will like it if you like American thanks giving trimmings (e.g. sweet). The pheasant was OK but there are better ways to cook it. The best bits were the gravy and the potatoes. If you do go for it, read the recipe a couple of times. It is poorly written and there are lots of contradictions.

    Flag as inappropriate

    Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.

Leave a comment or suggestion

You must sign in or register to leave a comment.

Sign in / Register

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 2

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 40 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 15 mins

Ingredients

FOR THE PHEASANT

  • 1 oven-ready pheasant , legs removed
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 smoked bacon rasher
  • 2 carrots , roughly chopped
  • 1 leek , roughly sliced
  • 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • 1 onion , roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic bulb, halved
  • 1 thyme sprig
  • 250ml fresh chicken stock
  • carrot purée, to serve (see recipe below)

FOR THE POTATOES

  • 1 medium potato (Maris Piper are good)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2 smoked streaky bacon rashers
  • 1 thyme sprig
  • 100ml fresh chicken stock
Print this recipe
Add to your binder

599 kcalories, protein 49g, carbohydrate 27g, fat 33 g, saturated fat 9g, fibre 6g, sugar 12g, salt 1.76 g

Advertisement

Your binder

Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:

  • You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
  • You can add your own recipes to this site for others to try; plus, rate and make comments on recipes, and share your views on our blog.

Follow Good Food

Advertisement

All about Good Food

Magazine

Good Food Magazine

Subscribe to Good Food magazine - enjoy 100+ triple-tested recipes delivered to your door, every month.

Order today, and receive your first 3 issues for just £3

On TV

Foodie TV

See your favourite chefs on Sky Channel 247, Virgin TV 260 and find their recipes at goodfoodchannel.co.uk.

Good Food Apps

Good Food Apps

For Good Food on the go, download our apps to your phone or portable device.
Find out more here

Buy ingredients

With just one click, the full list of recipe ingredients will be put into a basket at your choice of provider. Choose from:

mySupermarket Compare prices and choose a retailer you wish to buy them from.

Ocado Let Ocado deliver all you need for this recipe, right to your door

Tesco Buy all the ingredients from our recipes through your Tesco online shop.

new

Asda Shop with Asda? You can now buy ingredients for our recipes via your Asda online shop.

In association with the above providers. Terms and conditions apply.

Close