Roasted pheasant with boulangère potatoes and red cabbage

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This stunning roasted pheasant recipe is served with some stunning side dishes for a real feast. The pheasant legs are confit before flaking the meat and serving in layers throughout the beautifully tender boulangère potatoes, while the breast is simple roasted. Braised red cabbage brings an aromatic sweetness to proceedings.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Roast pheasant crowns

Confit pheasant legs

Braised red cabbage

Boulangère potatoes

Equipment

  • Mandoline

Method

1
To begin, prepare the confit pheasant legs for the boulangère potatoes. Grind together the salt, thyme and garlic in a pestle and mortar and use to completely cover the legs. Leave to cure in the fridge for 1 hour
2
Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 1
3
Sweat the shredded red cabbage in butter in an oven-proof lidded pan until bright in colour and starting to collapse. Make sure it doesn't brown
4
Add the other ingredients and bring to the boil. Cover with a cartouche and a lid and braise in the oven for 1 hour
  • 1 apple, peeled and finely grated
  • 150ml of Riesling wine
  • 65ml of cider vinegar
  • 30g of brown sugar
  • 20g of redcurrant jelly
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
5
Place a colander over a pan and tip the cabbage into the colander. Leave to drain for 15 minutes, then reduce the liquid collected in the pan to a thick syrup. Return the cabbage to the liquid and check the seasoning
6
Reduce the heat of the oven to 120°C/gas mark 1/2
7
Wash the cure from the pheasant legs and place the duck fat in a casserole dish set over a low heat. Once the fat has melted, add the legs and turn up to a gentle simmer, making sure the legs are fully submerged in the fat. Place the lid on the dish and transfer to the oven for 1.5–2 hours, or until the meat is very tender and flaking away from the bones
8
Allow the legs to cool in the fat until just warm. Remove the legs from the fat, pick off the meat and discard any skin, bones or cartilage
9
To make the boulangère potatoes, cook the onions in 25g butter in a heavy-based pan until golden brown. Add the flaked confit leg meat mix and picked thyme, season and set aside
10
Wash and peel the potatoes, then slice into thin and even rounds using a mandoline
11
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4
12
Use a third of the potatoes to make an even, neat layer in the bottom of a baking dish. Season then cover with half of the onion and meat mix. Repeat this process again, then add the chicken stock. Finish with a neat layer of potatoes and brush with the remaining softened butter
  • 200ml of chicken stock
  • 15g of butter
13
Bake in the oven until the golden and cooked through
14
To cook the pheasants, preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6
15
Heat an ovenproof pan until very hot, then add the vegetable oil and pheasants. Colour them for 2 minutes on each side, then add the remaining butter and the thyme to the pan and continue to cook over a high heat until the butter starts to foam
16
Baste the pheasants, then transfer the pan to the preheated oven and cook for about 4 minutes on each breast, basting regularly. Remove from the oven and leave to rest in a warm place for 15 minutes
17
Serve on a bed of red cabbage with the boulangère potatoes on the side. Carve the pheasants at the table
First published in 2017

Chris and Jeff Galvin have spearheaded the revival of high quality French bistro cuisine in the UK, offering affordable luxury, family hospitality and ingredient-led, seasonal menus across their restaurant empire.

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