Pheasant Curry

[Redneck]

Made ( wife did) some Curry with usual ingredients replacing Chicken with Pheasant Breasts from Birds that had been hung for just a day.

Curry taste was the usual delicious flavour but I felt the meat had cooked and finished up a bit tougher.

Any thoughts from the cooks here ?

 

[Primate]

Made ( wife did) some Curry with usual ingredients replacing Chicken with Pheasant Breasts from Birds that had been hung for just a day.

Curry taste was the usual delicious flavour but I felt the meat had cooked and finished up a bit tougher.

Any thoughts from the cooks here ?

Cook for longer on low in the sauce as if you are cooking a lamb curry (couple of hours on low) it'll fall apart. It is a bit tougher than chicken anyway.

 

[jer]

My favorite with pheasant is a casserole using half chicken stock and half cider, spuds, carrots, diced apple, parsnip and the usual herbs and seasoning slow cooked and its as tender as anything plus an awesome taste. A splash of cream when serving completes it.

 

[enfieldspares]

Yes. If it had been done is a slow cooker or "Crock Pot" it would have worked. Just the same as trying to make a curry out of brisket or short rib of beef. The breast were cooked on too high a heat for too short a time. Try a low heat and a long time and all should be OK>

 

[VSS]

My favorite with pheasant is a casserole using half chicken stock and half cider, spuds, carrots, diced apple, parsnip and the usual herbs and seasoning slow cooked and its as tender as anything plus an awesome taste. A splash of cream when serving completes it.

That sounds like "Normandy pheasant", which is one of my favourites too. Although, if I remember correctly, the recipe calls for some celery as well.

 

[Highlandsjohn]

That sounds like "Normandy pheasant", which is one of my favourites too. Although, if I remember correctly, the recipe calls for some celery as well.

Sounds delicious, but how can one tell it is pheasant? Apart from the no. six shot ..

 

[Essexsussex]

Brining for half an hour or so in 10% brine helps a roast pheasant be very nice and tender. I’m sure it would help here.

ES

 

[Redneck]

Thanks gents. I shall pass on my instructions to SWMO. Or maybe I will just give her a suggestion !!!

 

[Primate]

Thanks gents. I shall pass on my instructions to SWMO. Or maybe I will just give her a suggestion !!!

Tread carefully you could end up on beans!

 

[LeftHandGuy]

My wife’s family is Guyanese, so pretty much everything we have will get curried at some point or other (not saying that’s why I married her, but can’t totally discount the possibility!).

If you know you will curry the birds let them hang a little longer (in addition to the other suggestions for tenderizing). The flavor will be stronger, but that’s actually good because it will contrast better with the more robust flavors from the curry. I think that’s true of most game generally.

You can also try a vindaloo recipe. I don’t mean curry house slang vindaloo, (i.e. extra hot although I happen to enjoy that too) but genuine Goan style where the spice paste is mixed with vinegar to form a marinade which will act on the meat for as long as you can resist the temptation to cook it and eat it. 24 hours in the fridge will allow a real penetration of the spices into the meat and the vinegar will help tenderize it.

 

[Woodsmoke]

Brine the meat first. Just a half cup of salt to 8 cups of water, and whatever herbs you feel like. Heat it until the salt dissolves, then let it cool and sit your bird in in overnight. Don't exceed 24 hours though, or it'll be oversalted. Once you've done it this way you won't go back. I brine chicken and turkey, too. If you're using joints, just give they a couple or three hours

 

[RichardAllen]

Check out the Murgh Makhani in Hugh F-W's Meat book, (page 355). The best pheasant curry I have tried, and it has a tenderising yoghurt based marinade too.

 

[Scapegoat]

That sounds like "Normandy pheasant", which is one of my favourites too. Although, if I remember correctly, the recipe calls for some celery as well.

And fresh sage. Absolutely my favourite pheasant recipe.

Try it with a jointed pheasant or two, a couple of sliced onions, a couple of diced apples, fresh sage, cider (no stock) and cook til tender. Then take out the pheasant, blitz the sauce and finish it with a few tablespoons of double cream and a shot of calvados. Serve over celeriac mash.

I hang pheasant for a minimum of four days, longer if it's very cold (I've eaten them after a month during a cold snap) . They can be tough old buggers if you eat them too soon.

 

[VSS]

And fresh sage. Absolutely my favourite pheasant recipe.

Try it with a jointed pheasant or two, a couple of sliced onions, a couple of diced apples, fresh sage, cider (no stock) and cook til tender. Then take out the pheasant, blitz the sauce and finish it with a few tablespoons of double cream and a shot of calvados. Serve over celeriac mash.

I hang pheasant for a minimum of four days, longer if it's very cold (I've eaten them after a month during a cold snap) . They can be tough old buggers if you eat them too soon.

That's the stuff!
I remember cooking it in my halls of residence at university, using roadkill pheasant. I think a few other students thought me mad, but they were existing on a diet of pot noodles so I think being mad was the preferable option!

 

[jcev39]

Check out the Murgh Makhani in Hugh F-W's Meat book, (page 355). The best pheasant curry I have tried, and it has a tenderising yoghurt based marinade too.

Couldn't agree more with this! I made it for my shoot last year. I was a bit nervous as there were rumblings about spicy food but EVERYONE went back for seconds and have done it several times since to universal praise! A great recipe and 2 birds managed to feed 11. I tend to cut the majority of the meat off the bird then quickly roast the carcasses before making stock then picking the remaining meat off to add to the marinating meat.

 

[Pedro]

Well, just had a squint at that Hugh F-W recipe and it's definitely on the list of things to do now. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Primate]

Well, just had a squint at that Hugh F-W recipe and it's definitely on the list of things to do now. Thanks for the heads up.

Ditto to that

 

[User00033]

Our place is covered in pheasants. They wake me every morning at the moment. We have feral peacocks too, which we hunt and eat (a peacock is a million times more wiley than a pheasant).

When they are unlucky enough to end up in my kitchen, both birds species are hung for 2-3 days either outside or in the chiller depending on the season, then thoroughly marinated in a vinegar based curry sauce for 24 hours in the fridge. On occasion they have spent 48 hours in the fridge.

Then they are browned in hot oil and then properly braised in the slow cooker. For 8-10hrs on the lowest setting, adding a small amount of liquid along the way if required.

I like to serve this up to metropolitan fools sorry guests, those that automatically turn their noses up at anything that doesn’t come in a small cardboard box from Tesco’s Express. Along with recently shot venison medallions and maybe a small feral pig. A game platter like that has never failed to convert even the most ardent supermarket food adherent.