| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 5 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw bacon, chopped (about 1/2 pound or 6 to 8 slices)
- 3 (2 to 3 pound) pheasant, separated into legs, breasts, and thighs
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 pound pearl onions, blanched for 2 minutes in boiling water and skins slipped off
- 1 teaspoon cracked peppercorns
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- Salt, to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 6 small sprigs fresh mint, for garnish
Instructions
- Render bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pheasant parts and sear on all sides, then add red wine and onions. Sprinkle cracked pepper, bay leaves, tarragon, salt and mint over pheasant parts. Reduce heat to low and cover pot. Cook until tender and juices run clear (no longer pink), about 25 minutes. Remove pheasant carefully to a utility platter, cover and set aside to keep warm. Transfer liquids from pot to a heat resistant glass container (such as a 2 or 3 cup measuring vessel) and allow the layer of fat to rise to the top. Spoon or pour off most of the fat and return the rest of the juices, herbs, bacon and onions to the pot over medium heat. Add cranberries to the sauce and cook until the berries pop to make a rustic sauce. Remove from heat, discard bay leaves, and whisk in honey and sour cream.
- Arrange pheasant on serving dish, spoon sauce over, and garnish with mint.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 1093 |
| Total Fat | 55 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 16 g |
| Protein | 115 g |
| Cholesterol | 364 mg |
| Sodium | 720 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 1093 |
| Total Fat | 55 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 16 g |
| Protein | 115 g |
| Cholesterol | 364 mg |
| Sodium | 720 mg |
Reviews
My husband and son in law went pheasant hunting. I used this recipe and my husband went CRAZY over it. I did marinate the birds for a couple of hours in olive oil,lemon juice, salt and pepper. I didn’t have pearl onions, so I used 1/2 of a regular onion. The sauce was amazing. Can’t wait to make it again!
What quantity of cranberry and are they fresh or dried?
The pheasant turns out very tough. 25 minutes is not enough cook time to get it tender. The bacon is overwhelming making it hard to taste anything else. If bacon is what you want consider skipping the pheasant.
We are enjoying this dish 2 nights consecutively! (freshly made both times
I used six quail instead of pheasant. I clipped the backbone out of them with a pair of scissors so that they laid flat and proceeded with the recipe as directed. Yum!!! This dish was definitely the hit of the party. The sauce is AMAZING (but then, how can anything with that much bacon be bad?). I had to add some chicken stock because I didn’t have much liquid left after cooking the quail, and I used just over 1 cup of cranberries. The quail were perfectly tender after 25 minutes of cooking time.
I really liked this recipe! I guessed & used 12 oz of cranberries. I might try 8 oz next time as that was a little on the tart side, but everyone loved it anyway. I didn’t use mint as I don’t like it & I added about 1 C of stock to thin out the sauce. What a fabulous blend of flavors! I would highly recommend this recipe.
So in case some one else noticed, the amount of cranberries is omitted from the recipe list – uh oh! I guessed and added about 1 cup. The taste was very good though. This was a good recipe, except for a few things. It was a little bit too much onions. And i would cook the pheasant a little longer in all the wine, so that it was a little more tender.
I just finished eating this wonderful dinner and had to tell someone how much I enjoy this dish. It had my husband?s and my taste bud tingling. My husband is an avid hunter and is always bringing home something. Being a city girl I?m not able to just fry something up, so? I log on to food network and print of a tantalizing recipe. My husband and his hunting buddies think I?m a culinary genius.
Wow – tarragon aroma and taste is so enticing and the mix of tartness and pepper. This is a make again receipe! Estim Calories: Bacon 8 oz/1192 vs Turkey Bacon 8oz/560 ; Fowl 48oz/3840 ; Red Wine 8oz/192; Pearl Onions 16oz/144; Honey 2 oz/120, Sour Cream 2 oz/60; Cranberries ?8oz? 336