Pheasant recipe - Game on the menu

A huge number of pheasants are shot every year, and this bird is fantastic eating. Here is a recipe that requires time and a certain amount of culinary skill, but the result is stupendous!

Game on the menu

It's only when the end of the hunt sounds that chef Jakob Mielcke's work really starts. He gets as much satisfaction from utilising the bagged game as from the shoot itself: "As a chef, I feel an obligation to make full use of the raw materials. We must take care of the resources available to us here on Earth. I find it difficult to see food go to waste, and more things can be eaten than most people think. For example, the giblets are a healthy and often overlooked dish", explains Mielcke.

The chef goes hunting at the Danish estate known as Broksø Gods, for example, and gets a lot of inspiration here for the menu at his restaurant: "I often find myself standing in front of a diner presenting a dish made from game I personally have shot and vegetables I have grown in the restaurant's kitchen garden. It's great to be able to serve your guests something unique", enthuses Mielcke, whose own personal favourite is a special recipe using home-shot pheasant and home-grown vegetables.

“It's great to be able to serve your guests something unique"

PHEASANT WITH WILD MUSHROOMS AND GARLIC PURÉE

1 pheasant • 50 g chanterelles • 50 g hedgehog mushrooms (pied de mouton) • 50 g wood blewits (Clitocybe nuda) • 15 wild garlic shoots • 20 g dried morels • 100 g butter • 20 g sherry • 500 g field mushrooms/button mushrooms • 50 g fresh morels • 15 g salted redcurrants • 1 chestnut • 50 g. oil • 10 g dried blackcurrants • 50 g black garlic

Preparation

Clean the field mushrooms of soil under water and vacuum-seal with a splash of water. Steam at 80 degrees for approx. 12 hours. Remove the mushrooms and drain until the liquid is reduced by half. Pluck the pheasant, gut it and clean it. Cut the breasts off and vacuum-seal with a small pat of butter.

Clean any dirt off the wood blewits, chanterelles and hedgehog mushrooms using a brush. Peel the cloves of black garlic and blend for about 10 minutes with 10 g of sherry until completely smooth. Soak the dried morels and drain the liquid from them once they are soft. Finely chop and fry the mushrooms. Clean the wild garlic and remove the white skin on the bottom.

Use a small knife to cut a cross into the base of the chestnut. Heat the oil to 180 degrees and fry the chestnut for about 5 seconds. Wearing gloves, peel the chestnut using a small knife to remove the outer and inner shells. Blend 50 g of butter and 10 g of sherry to a uniform consistency. Blend the dried blackcurrants to a powder. Heat the reduced mushroom bouillon and blend in 50 g of cold butter. Cook through for 10 minutes with the chopped morels and pass through a fine sieve or cloth. Salt to taste. Place the vacuum-sealed pheasant breasts in a bain marie at 50 degrees for about 30 minutes. Just before serving, remove them from the bag and flash fry on each side.

Let them rest for 2 minutes before cutting them to a suitable size. Cut across the breast! Fry the mushrooms in a hot pan with the sherry butter. Add the chopped fresh morels and wild garlic. Cut the chestnut into very thin slices using a mandolin.

Presentation

For presentation, sprinkle blackcurrant powder on the plate. Place three slices of breast in the middle, and then arrange the fried mushrooms, garlic and morels. Finally, garnish with a couple of salted redcurrants, black garlic purée and chestnuts.

Jakob Mielcke, Chef