So my freezer is a bit like Danny champion of the world’s. The shooting estate kills so many birds that they can’t get rid of them. So I think I’ve had 20 in the last couple of weeks. I’m at the stage I’m just taking the breasts off them. But am running out of ideas and ways for them not to be dry/tough.
So any recipes for skin off breast?

My mum uses them for everything. The big battle is keeping things moist. Casserole is king.

Wrapping them in bacon during cooking is key to moistness (says the vegetarian).

Sous vide, cooked to perfection every time. Basically put into sous vide bag with seasoning and any herbs, vacuum seal bag and immerse in a heated water bath. If you don’t have a fancy water bath, you can get a stick sous vide heater/circulator (anova) that clips into suitable pot or container and will hold the water to exact desired temperature meaning no guessing or overcooking. If you have no vacuum sealer, you can use a ziplock bag and squeeze air out of it before zipping close. Once cooked through, you can then remove, pat dry and then sear in a very hot pan to put some colour on it.

Best way to cook any steaks, chops, duck breast etc.

If you are roasting them rub lard on to them before putting them in the dish and cover with foil, uncover for the last 10 minutes if you want some colour. I find pan-fying works the best for succulency and accuracy depending as it’s easier to judge how well done they are. Lard is also better for cooking with as butter burns quicker

Flour the breasts , pan fry with a bit of chopped onion , add red wine and pink peppercorns reduce down a bit then add a bit of basic brown sauce ( not the kind you put in your bacon butty ) gravy will do ‘ simmer until breasts are cooked remove from heat stir in about 1/2 oz of butter and bobs your uncle . I used to serve it on a bed of stir fried beetroot and with the potato dish of your choice .

We got a pheasant last year after my son went beating for the local shoot. This recipe sounds weird but was delicious…..should work with just the breasts

Pot roast pheasant (gypsy style) recipe for Christmas Eve

Pheasant katsu curry. Bloody lovely. Really easy to do.

We have a few pheasants every year from our neighbours, so have got quite creative with what we do with them.

I’ve been substituting pheasant into a pork pie recipe. Add blackberry jelly it’s great.

You should take the thighs too though. Don’t pluck or draw any of it, just skin them and take the meat off

Makes a good curry.
Or butterfly the breasts and beat them flat, dip in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs and shallow fry for a schnitzel.

Skin the bird and joint it. Fry it to brown it. In a casserole add a large cooking apple, sliced onion and sage. Add cider and casserole until it’s tender. Remove the pheasant and blitz the sauce, finishing it off with double cream and a shot of brandy or calvados.

Slow cooker.
Cider, onion, sliced potato, pepper.
Works every time.

Cool some good ideas.

Confit them. Then they will also keep for ages. I did this with some xs rabbit i had as that can be dry

We had a similar dilemma last week.

I had 2 pheasants and 3 of us eating. I chose the 3 nicest breast fillets (skinned) and the 3 chunkiest thighs. Everything else went into a saucepan with onion and carrot and got boiled down to make a lovely stock.
2/3 of the stock got put in a pan with dried ceps, chopped shallot, red wine and a splash of creme de cassis. Boiled down, strained, put back in the pan with some redcurrant jelly…and wait

1/3 put in a pan with a couple of finely chopped leeks and white wine/ Noilly Prat. Simmer till leeks are soft and the moisture is reduced.

Then gently pan fry the legs in butter and add the breasts a good bit later. When they’re almost done but still moist, take out the pheasant and rest it in a warm place. Add some of the juices to the red wine sauce to give a bit of polish and reduce it to a nice pouring consistency, bung some double cream into the leeks and add lots of Saxa ground white pepper (a seriously underrated condiment) then spoon this onto the plates. Place the pheasant pieces on top and pour over the red wine and mushroom sauce. Serve with sauteed potatoes and something like boiled French beans tossed in garlic butter.
Serve with a red wine that’s a bit more than your everyday plonk and thank me later.
If you haven’t got some of those ingredients, substitute away; it won’t spoil the experience. Leeks, wine, cream and mushrooms of some sort are the essentials. Works well with duck. If you use a stock cube don’t use too much as it gets salty quickly.

^ I’d eat that

Butterfly the breast. Insert a slice of Stilton. Wrap in bacon, or something like a Parma ham if you prefer.

Fry with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve with some fresh spinach and spuds au au choix.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/dec/11/game-recipes-hugh-fearnley-whittingstall

This is amazing. Well worth the effort.

Casserole, curry, rissotto etc – roasting skin off breasts is pretty much guaranteed way to dry and cardboard-like meat!

Pheasant Normandy is also a good one – cream, apples, onions etc

I’ve done a pheasant casserole in the past using sausages and Savoy cabbage that was easy and tasty. Stuffing pheasant with black pudding also works well.

https://www.food.gov.uk/safety-hygiene/lead-shot-game

You’re all adults and probably know thia, but worth noting that its a real risk if you’re eating a lot.

Wrapping them in bacon during cooking is key to moistness (says the vegetarian).

That has the unfortunate effect of making pheasant taste like bacon – you may as well just eat bacon.

Pot-roasted whole birds FTW.

Have a look here:

Pheasant Recipe

Its stonkingly good.