Pheasant with Chorizo and Pimentón

pot roasted

February 20th, 2012

I haven’t tried cooking pheasant with chorizo and pimentón before, but it was so good I’ll be doing it again soon. The smoke and heat of the pimentón went really well with the gamey taste of  pheasant. For a less spicy recipé (including plucking and dressing) see my post here.

The shooting season for pheasant ended at the beginning of February, but there are still lots available from good butchers and at the farmers market. Pheasants are still cheap and quite large now.

Pheasant with Chorizo and Pimentón recipe (serves 2):

1 large pheasant (plucked and dressed)
4 rashers of streaky bacon (chopped)
Half a hot chorizo ring (chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
2 sticks of celery (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
1 leak (chopped)
6 mushrooms (chopped)
6 pieces of garlic (finely chopped)
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
2 squirts of anchovy paste (to taste)
3 teaspoons of ground herbs (rosemary, sage and thyme – ground up in a mortar and pestle with coarse sea salt and black peppercorns)
2 bay leaves
1 large pinch of crushed chilli
1 heaped teaspoon of hot smoked pimentón
1 heaped dessertspoonful of plain flour
a glass of red wine
a splash of sherry vinegar
a pint of homemade chicken stock
olive oil for frying

browning the pheasant

Using a cast iron casserole, brown the pheasant a little all over, in hot olive oil. Once it has some colour, take it out and set it aside while you cook the vegetables.

bacon, chorizo and onion

Fry the chopped onion and a large pinch of crushed chilli in the same oil, followed by the bacon and chorizo.

pimenton

Stir in a heaped teaspoon of hot smoked pimentón,

mirepoix

before adding the carrots, celery, garlic and leak.

herbs

Next mix in the chopped mushrooms and the ground herbs.

flour

Sprinkle on the heaped dessertspoonful of flour – stir that in well, along with the anchovy paste and tomato purée.

add chicken stock

Finally pour on the chicken stock, red wine and sherry vinegar. Bring the casserole up to simmering and taste the sauce to see if it seems right. This is a good time to add a little more purée or anchovy paste (in place of salt).

ready for the oven

When the sauce tastes about right, return the pheasant to the pot, put the lid on  and place it into a preheated oven at 120º C. Cook slowly for about 2 hours – turn the pheasant over and taste the sauce about half way through. Add more wine, vinegar, salt pepper, etc. if necessary. Likewise, adjust the seasoning at the end too, if needed.

Carve before serving with the sauce and mashed potato or celeriac.

Other pheasant posts