Game Recipes

Game Recipes...

We thorughly enjoy eating the product of our hard labour and thought we would share some of our recipes with you, as well as some just jolly good ones we have tried, if you have some favourites you would like to add please email them to us.

Rabbit Chasseur

1 Rabbit, cut into serving pieces

200ml Dry White Wine

200ml Chicken Stock

100g Button Mushrooms

50g Butter

1 Onion, chopped and peeled

2 Carrots, peeled and sliced

1 lemon

1 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tsp Tomato Puree

4 sprigs Thyme, use dry if you do not grow your own freshly

1 Bay Leaf

Salt

Black Pepper (freshly ground).

Method:

Put the rabbit in a large bowl with the lemon.

Cover with cold water and leave overnight. Drain, rinse under cold running water then dry.

Heat the butter and oil in a pan.

Add the rabbit and cook gently until golden brown on all sides.

Add the onion, carrots and mushrooms.

Cook for a further 4 minutes, stirring constantly.

Stir in the wine, stock and tomato puree and bring to the boil.

Add the thyme, bay leaf along with the salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and simmer for 1 to 2 hours or until the rabbit is tender.

Remove the bay leaf and serve.

My choice of vegetable would include leeks and cauliflower accompanied by baby new potatoes.

Pheasant Casserole

2 Pheasants, cleaned

50g Butter

1tbsp Olive Oil

12 Mini Shallots, peeled

4 sprigs Thyme, use dry if you do not grow your own freshly

1 Bay Leaf

50ml Red Wine

2 tbsp Tomato Puree

200ml Chicken Stock

4 Rashers of Streaky Bacon

Salt

Black Pepper (freshly ground)

Method:

Melt the butter and oil together in a heavy based deep pan then season the pheasants.

Place the pheasants into the pan and seal on all sides.

Add the shallots and brown then add the bacon and fry for two minutes.

Add the red wine and stock and bring up to a simmer.

Add the bay leaf, tomato puree and the sprigs of thyme.

Cover with a lid and place into the oven, cook gently for approximately 1 hour, until tender.

When cooked remove the bird and keep it warm.

Strain the liquid into a saucepan and reduce by half.

To thicken add a piece of beurre manie and whisk in. (Beurre manie - French for kneaded butter. Equal parts of softened butter and flour, used to adjust the thickness of sauces and soups).

Bring back to the boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for five minutes.

To serve, pour the sauce over the pheasants on a platter and portion at the table. You can either add baby new potatoes to the casserole or serve them on the side with peas and carrots.

p.s. after you pluck a pheasant, scorch it gently with a blow torch for a few seconds and that will get rid of those little feathers you can't pluck!

Roast Pheasant

2 Pheasant, cleaned

8 Rashers of Streaky Bacon

150 ml Chicken Stock

150 ml Dry White Wine

1 Lemon

Salt

Black Pepper (freshly ground)

8 Slices of Slightly Stale Bread

Olive Oil

Method:

Rub the pheasant inside with salt and pepper and sprinkle outside with lemon juice.

To truss the pheasant: thread a trussing needle with cooking thread and take it through both wings, then through the legs and tie firmly so that the legs and wings lie close to the breast. Cover the back, breast and legs of each pheasant with 1 rasher of bacon each and secure in place with thread.

Place the pheasant on their sides in a roasting tin. Roast the pheasant on the second shelf from the bottom of a hot oven (220‚°C, 425‚°F, gas 7) for 60 - 90 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time, remove the bacon and return the pheasant to the tin.

After 60 minutes, test to see if the pheasant are cooked.

Transfer the pheasant to a warm plate, turn off the oven and leave the meat to stand in the oven for 15 minutes with the door slightly ajar. Add the bacon to the plate with the pheasant. Remove the trussing thread.

Dilute the roasting juices with little hot water, strain into a saucepan, and stir in the dry white wine and chicken stock. If you have the pheasant livers, chop them into small pieces, crush with a fork and stir into the sauce, cook for a few minutes, . Season the sauce liberally with salt and black pepper and serve separately with the pheasant.

To make the gromits, whizz the bread up in the magimix until they are crumbs, then saute the bread crumbs in a little olive oil.

Serve with cranberry sauce, gromits, peas, carrots and roast potatoes.

Welsh Rarebit, Nigel style

25g/1oz Butter

25g/1oz Flour

150ml/5fl oz Milk

175g/6oz Cheddar Cheese, grated

150ml/5fl oz Brown Ale

1 tsp English Mustard

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and Black Pepper

2 egg yolks, preferabley free range or organic

4 slices of Toast

Method:

Make a roux with the butter and flour, and leave to cool.

Bring the milk to the boil, then whisk it into the roux. Bring to the boil once again, whisking to ensure that it does not burn and also that the sauce is free of lumps.

Add the cheese, beat in and remove from the heat.

Reduce the ale, English mustard and Worcestershire sauce. When thick, add this mixture to the cheese sauce. Season well with salt and pepper and beat in the egg yolks.

Spoon on to the slices of toast and grill until bubbling. Serve with extra Worcestershire sauce handed separately.

Turkey and Sweet Leek Pie

2 Rashers of Smoked Streaky Bacon

1/2 bunch of fresh Thyme

Olive Oil

A Large Knob of Butter

2 kg Leeks, washed, trimmed, white end chopped into chunks, green end finely sliced

Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper

800 g cooked white Turkey, torn into large chunks (brown too if you like it)

2 healed tbsp of flour plus extra for dusting

2 pints of Turkey, Chicken or Vegetable Stock

2 tbsp of Creme Fresh

1 x 500g packet of Puff Pastry

12 jarred or vac packed Chestnuts peeled and roasted

2 sprigs of Fresh Sage

1 egg preferably Free Range or Organic, beaten

main courses | serves 6 – 8

This is dead simple, completely versatile and absolutely gorgeous. It’s not a pretty-boy pie; it’s a proper, old-school pie that everyone will be over the moon to see on the table. I’m putting leftover white turkey meat to good use here, but you could also mix brown meat in there too.

Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Put your bacon in a large pan on a medium heat and add your thyme leaves. Add a lug of olive oil and the butter and let it all fry off a few minutes. Add all of your prepped leeks and fry them off for about 3 minutes so they are well-coated in the butter. Add a pinch of salt and pepper then pop the lid on top, turn the heat down to medium and let them cook away gently for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes to make sure they don’t catch. There’s going to be enough moisture in the leeks to keep them happy in the pan so they should be soft and melt in your mouth once they’re done.

When your leeks are ready, add the turkey meat to them and stir. If you’ve got a bit of stuffing mixed in there you can put that in too. Add the flour, mix it in well then pour in your stock and stir again. Add the crème fraîche then turn the heat up and bring everything back up to the boil. Have a taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if it needs it then turn the heat off. Pour the mixture through a sieve over another large empty pan and let the wonderful gravy from the mixture drip into the pan while you roll out your pastry.

Get a deep baking dish roughly 22 x 30cm. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with a bit of flour and roll your pastry out so it’s about double the size of your dish. Crumble the chestnuts over one half of the pastry then tear a few of the sage leaves over the chestnuts. Fold the other half of pastry on top then roll it out carefully and evenly so you have a rectangle big enough to cover your baking tray. Don’t worry if a few bits stick out here and there.

Spoon that thick leek mixture from your sieve into the pie dish and spread it out evenly. Lay your pastry on top, tuck the ends under then gently score the pastry diagonally with your knife. Add a pinch of salt to your beaten egg then paint this egg wash over the top of your pastry. Pop your pie in the oven for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the pastry is puffed up and golden brown. When the pie is ready, re-heat the lovely gravy and serve with your pie, along with some peas tossed in butter, lemon, salt and pepper and everyone’s happy!

(This is a Jamie Oliver recipe but never fails and is amazing)

Construction Carbonara

• onion

• garlic

• olive oil

• pepper

• pheasant breast (one per person)

• mushrooms

• pasta

• eggs (one per person)

• Parmesan (1oz for two people)

• fresh tarragon

• single cream (¼pint for two people)

Method:

1. Finely dice the onion and garlic and fry in some olive oil. Season well with pepper. Slice the skinned pheasant breast into long, thin strips and fry with the onions, stirring occasionally. Add the thinly sliced mushrooms and cook through.

2. Meanwhile boil a large pan of water with a splash of olive oil. When the water is boiling hard, cook the pasta (four minutes for fresh, 12 minutes for dried, or according to the instructions on the packet).

3. Crack the eggs into a bowl and add the grated Parmesan cheese and a handful of fresh tarragon leaves. Whisk until well mixed.

4. Turn the heat up on the pheasant, add the single cream and allow to bubble. Remove from the heat and cover. Drain the pasta and add it straight to the game mixture and stir well. Into the same pan add the raw egg mixture and stir it all together. The heat of the pasta will cook the eggs. Serve immediately.

Tips
There is no need to add salt as the Parmesan cheese is salty enough. Pick the tarragon from the woody stalks and keep the leaves whole or you can use parsley as a substitute. Use a large frying pan or wok. If you are having the builders in and doing some game cooking, be prepared for the surveyor, building inspector, electrician, gas-fitter, skip-driver, chippy, floor-fitters and project manager all to arrive around lunchtime the next day!

(One of Mark Hinge's recipes from the Shooting Times)

Pigeon Cesar Salad

• pigeon breast

• olive oil

• butter

• garlic

• pepper

• sliced bread

• mayonnaise

• Dijon mustard

• capers

• lime

• Worcester sauce

• balsamic vinegar

• chilli or Tabasco sauce

• Parmesan

• lettuce

Method:

1. Skin and dice the pigeon breast into small pieces.

2. Fry the pigeon, turning so that it cooks evenly for five minutes in oil and butter with the chopped garlic and a grind of pepper, until just done or slightly pink.

3. Remove the meat to one side with a draining spoon.

4. Cut the sliced bread into postage stamp-sized squares for croutons and fry gently in the remaining oil. Turn until brown and slightly crispy. Remove the croutons and drain on kitchen towel.

6. Into a bowl add three large tablespoons of mayonnaise, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, half a dozen chopped capers, the juice of a lime,a splash of Worcester sauce,a dash of both balsamic vinegar and chilli or Tabasco sauce.

Mix well with a dash of water.

7. Take your lettuce (Romaine is the traditional lettuce used for Caesar salad), chop it roughly and lay it on a plate. Place the pigeon on top and spoon over the sauce, add the crispy croutons and grate some Parmesan cheese.

Tips
I use economy-white bread for croutons. No capers? Then use some more Worcester sauce. No balsamic vinegar? Don’t worry. You can add chopped sun-dried tomatoes or fresh chilli if you wish.

Don’t get hung up on complications, most of the ingredients come from a jar. There is no need to use salt as there is plenty in the cheese.

(Another one of Mark Hinge's recipes from the Shooting Times)

Pheasant Burgers

1 Pheasant, oven-ready, or 2 Pheasant breasts
1 onion
A bunch of Tarragon
1 Egg
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Burger buns

Method:

Cut up the pheasant breasts into very small pieces by hand.

Dice the onion, chop up the tarragon and add these to the meat.

Break the egg and separate the yolk.

Add the egg yolk to the pheasant, onion and tarragon, and mix well and season. Form into burger shapes.

Fry in a little olive oil remembering that pheasant, unlike chicken, does not need to be well done. Serve in burger buns.

(From the Shooting Times, perfect for the Pheasant you still have in the freezer)

Game Nuggets

• one pheasant breast per person

• 3tbsp maple syrup

• two garlic cloves

• one egg yolk

• chilli (optional)

• plain flour

• salt and pepper

• dried mixed herbs

• olive oil

Method:

1. Cut the skinned pheasant breast in half lengthways and then into thumb-sized nugget chunks check the meat for shot.

2. Place the nuggets in a bowl with the maple syrup, finely diced garlic and an egg yolk. Add the finely chopped chillies/flakes if you want spicy nuggets.

3. Mix together well and leave to marinate for an hour or so.

4. Into another bowl place a cup of flour, season well and add the dried herbs, then mix well.

5. Put three good glugs of olive oil into a frying pan and heat well. One by one, remove the marinated nuggets and coat them completely in flour. Place each nugget gently into the oil and fry for three to four minutes or until golden brown.

6. Serve with chips.

Tips

This recipe is great to teach children about basic food hygiene. Crack the whole egg on to a plate and place an inverted egg cup over it then you can pour and separate the egg yolk from the white.

Maple syrup can be bought in most shops these days don’t use honey as it is not as heat tolerant. Your frying pan will fill with fried flour, but don’t worry, it is easy to clean afterwards.

The nuggets should cook for about one and a half to two minutes each side. Turn each one with a fork to ensure even browning.