Recipe: Potted Pheasant

Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat... I'm not having goose for Yule, among various things me and my guests will be eating...

Potted Pheasant

500g Pheasant Meat - Breast & Upper Thigh

150g Streaky Bacon

1 Onion

4 Garlic Cloves

500ml Crab Apple Wine or Medium Cider

500ml Game Stock

50g Wild Duck Fat or Goose Fat

4 Sprigs of Thyme

5 Points of Star Anise

30 Peppeercorns

1/2 Tsp Ground Mace

1/2 Tsp Ground Cloves

4 Bay Leaves

Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 120 degrees C. Finely chop the onion, grate the garlic and put into a pan with the wine, stock, sprigs of thyme & two bay leaves. Bring to boil and boil hard for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool.

Remove skin from pheasant and chop meat into very small pieces, do the same with the bacon and combine the two meats together in a bowl.

Using a pestle & mortar, grind the star anise & peppercorns. Add the ground mace, clove & 1/2 a tsp of sea salt, mix them together, add to the meats, add the duck fat and then mix together well.

Add the reduced stock/wine and mix again.

Pack mixture into two 500ml kilner jars. Put a bay leaf on top of each jar. Put jars into a tray, fill with hot water to approx 4cm up side of jars and pop in the oven for 1 hour 30 mins.

Once ready, remove from oven, pop lids on and close them; this will create a vacuum as jar contents cool. Leave overnight on a wooden chopping board. Next morning place jars in fridge, they will last for approx 2 weeks if left unopened, once open, use within 3-4 days.

Myself and chef, John Farrar (formerly of Mr Nobody, Leeds) are hosting a Game & Wildfowl Bird Preparation & Cooking event on, Sunday, 21st January 2018, this is one of the recipes I'll be making and bringing along for sampling on the course. If you're interested in how to prepare and cook wild birds then you may wish to join us on this course. More information and booking details can be found here: https://edible-leeds.blogspot.co.uk/p/wild-food-and-foraging-courses-2018.html

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