If you are a fan of game hunting and you happen to have a pheasant in your arsenal, or if your friends treated you to a pheasant carcass, then you can prepare a wide variety of dishes from the meat of this forest bird. Pheasant can be baked with fruits, mushrooms or vegetables, prepared as a delicious pate or stewed in red wine. Or you can cook pheasant in a slow cooker with sour cream and herbs.

Pheasant meat is rightfully considered dietary, as it contains a minimal amount of fat and a large amount of B vitamins, as well as iron, zinc and phosphorus.

Wash the prepared pheasant carcass thoroughly under cold water and dry with paper towels.

Remove the skin and cut the pheasant carcass into small pieces.

Peel the onion, wash it and cut it into small cubes.

Pour sunflower oil into the multicooker bowl, set the “Frying” mode on the multicooker display and, stirring occasionally, fry the game pieces until golden brown. Add onion, stir and fry for another 2-3 minutes.

Then pour water into the bowl, set the “Stew” mode and time on the display to 1 hour 20 minutes, close the multicooker lid and cook until the sound signal. Then add sour cream, finely chopped dill, salt to taste, bay leaf and peppercorns, stir, close the lid and cook on the same program for another 15 minutes.

A tasty and juicy pheasant dish is ready. Serve vegetables or porridge as a side dish.

We invite everyone to the table to taste the game!

Previously, pheasant meat was obtained by hunting. Nowadays, pheasants are successfully kept and bred by farmers. The meat of this bird is very tender in taste, more tender than chicken. It does not have any characteristic aftertaste that needs to be added with spices or pre-treated to eliminate it before cooking. I won’t compare it with rabbit meat, they have different tastes. When cooking pheasant, do not add a lot of spices and herbs; they will overwhelm the taste of the tender meat.
I bought a pheasant carcass weighing 1400 grams. The bird was already cut up and oiled.

I prepared the dish in a slow cooker, but you can also cook it in the oven.
I cut up the carcass, the meat turned out to be lean and reddish in appearance. Based on this, I concluded that it is better to cook pheasant meat in a sauce so that the delicate dietary meat does not become over-dried. In the end, I was not mistaken. For stewing I took the legs and wings. I left the backbone and breast for the broth.

Lightly grate with salt, pepper and leave for a few minutes.
I cooked homemade pheasant in a slow cooker. I heated olive oil in a frying pan and fried garlic in it, which I did not peel, but simply crushed with the handle of a knife.

Then I fried the dressed bird in garlic-scented oil.

You can fry it in the multicooker itself, but it will take longer. I was in a hurry, so this time I fried it in a frying pan.
Placed the fried meat in a slow cooker and poured a small amount of boiling water over it. Simmered for 40 minutes on the “baking” program. If you don’t have a slow cooker, you can put the pheasant in the oven.

I prepared the sauce. For the sauce I needed the following products:

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• mushrooms

To do this, in the oil remaining after frying the poultry meat, I fried an onion, cut into half rings, and one grated carrot. When the vegetables were fried, poured in sour cream combined with mayonnaise and cold boiled water.

After the sauce had simmered for a couple of minutes, I poured it into the slow cooker with the meat. I have forest mushrooms in the freezer, harvested in the fall. I defrosted them in the microwave and added them to the dish. Mushrooms can be taken in any quantity, to your taste. For spices I added bay leaf and allspice. I turned on the multicooker to the “stew” program for an hour and a half.

In total, preparing this dish took a little over two hours. The wild mushrooms did not overpower the taste of the meat; everything went together very well. I will definitely cook this bird again, but definitely in sauce.
You can make any sauce - red, white, from wine, the wine should be dry or semi-dry. To make game meat juicy and cook faster, it can be pre-marinated in an acidic liquid. It could be grape vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or just water with lemon juice. Do not use table vinegar for pickling; it has a very aggressive effect on food. Cooking wild bird meat stuffed with apples or quinces will also give good results. When cooked, apples and quinces release lactic acid, which makes the meat softer.
Have fun cooking, don’t be afraid to experiment and everything will work out for you. Good luck!

Pheasant dishes are valued by true gourmets all over the world. The meat of this bird was always present on the tables of royalty of various ruling dynasties. Recipes for cooking pheasant are varied, in this article we have selected the best and are happy to share them with you. It's time to pamper your loved ones with perfectly prepared game. Should you cook a tender roast, a crispy-skinned pheasant roast, or something special? How best to cook pheasant is up to you, we present recipes to choose from. First, let's get acquainted with the features of preparing a carcass.

Preparing the bird

Before getting acquainted with the recipes, we will tell you how to properly process a carcass. It is necessary to go through two stages - plucking and cutting.

1. Plucking should be done from the bottom up, and should start from the abdomen. The easiest way to remove fluff is to take small areas, pressing the back of your thumb as tightly as possible to the skin of the game. Under no circumstances should you scald the bird. When the plucking is completed, you need to treat the carcass using fire, and then rinse it well under running water so that the smell of burnt feathers does not remain.
2. When cutting, the first step is to remove the larynx, crop and esophagus. After this, the carcass is cut to the tail itself, and the remaining entrails are removed. You need to act extremely carefully so as not to accidentally damage the intestines and gallbladder.
3. After cleaning, the bird should be rinsed well under warm water, then dried with paper napkins.

Preliminary processing

Many people do not like to cook pheasant, because the bird is endowed with a specific smell. Someone, having cooked such meat once, forever abandons subsequent culinary experiments. The thing is that most novice cooks do not know the subtleties of processing a carcass in order to eliminate the unpleasant odor.

Plucked and cleaned poultry must be completely immersed in cold water. It is necessary to keep the meat this way for about twelve hours. The water needs to be changed periodically. You will know that the meat has aged when the carcass noticeably brightens.

The processing does not end there; after soaking, the bird is placed in the refrigerator for three hours so that the smell is sure to dissipate.

Wild pheasant baked in the oven

An oven is an essential item in any housewife’s kitchen. Using this device you can prepare a lot of dishes, including delicious baked pheasant. We will offer several recipes for cooking in the oven, choose the one you like best.

For the first option you will need the following ingredients:

• half a liter of kefir;
• 150-200 grams of lightly salted lard;
• Big apple;
• spoon of vegetable oil;
• salt and pepper.

The pheasant carcass should be divided into two parts, placed in a deep container and filled with kefir. After an hour, the meat is taken out and rubbed with your favorite spices and salt.

On a baking sheet, pre-greased with vegetable oil, place the apple cut into rounds. Place the bird on top of the apples.

We cut the lard into thin strips and cover the top of the pheasant with it in the form of a coat. Next, you need to cover the baking sheet with a baking sleeve, make one small hole in it so that excess steam escapes, but the bird does not dry out.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, place our pheasant in it for two hours. After this, the sleeve must be removed and baking extended for another ten minutes.

Roasted pheasant marinated in wine

How to cook pheasant at home? The recipe that we are about to offer is quite simple, but the preparation will take a lot of time, since the bird will need to be marinated. Having tried pheasant prepared this way once, you simply will not want to deny yourself such pleasure in the future, regardless of the hours of personal life taken away.

We will need:

• a glass of table white wine;
• raw pork lard - 0.3 kg;
• salt and curry.

Cooking pheasant should begin by rubbing the carcass with a mixture of salt and curry. We keep the bird like this for thirty minutes, after which we place it in a deep container and pour wine over it. Dip the carcass well on all sides in wine and put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Turn the meat steadily to ensure it marinates evenly.

After 24 hours, the carcass should be removed from the marinade and blotted with a paper towel. We evenly distribute thin pieces of lard throughout the bird, and secure them with toothpicks to keep them in place.

The prepared carcass should be placed in a baking sleeve, placed on a baking sheet and placed in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. After 40 minutes, the sleeve will need to be cut and the meat left to bake for another half hour.

Roast

Today we are learning how to cook pheasant dishes. Cooking pheasant should be varied, you don’t just need to bake it. The roast of this bird is simply delicious. Let's see what will be useful to us:

• pheasant weighing about a kilogram;
• 300 grams of any mushrooms (preferably real forest ones, for example, boletus or honey mushrooms, so that they are fragrant);
• a glass of dry white wine;
• three tablespoons of vegetable oil;
• salt and favorite seasonings.

How to cook pheasant meat to make a delicious roast? Let's look at it step by step:

1. The bird needs to be cut into portions and fried in vegetable oil in a goose pan until a beautiful golden crust appears.
2. Place the pieces into pots.
3. In a goose pan, in the oil left over from frying the pheasant, fry the coarsely chopped mushrooms and onions, then spread the mixture onto the pieces of poultry.
4. Salt and add seasoning, pour wine in equal parts.
5. Cover the pots with lids and place in an oven preheated to 220 degrees for an hour.

Pheasant with celery and bacon

How to cook pheasant at home? The recipe we are about to offer is restaurant-quality, but you can handle the preparation quite well. This delicious dish is suitable for a dinner party and will please even the most picky guests.

Ingredients:

• medium weight pheasant carcass;
• four celery leaves;
• four thin sheets of bacon;
• medium onion head;
• one hundred grams of mushrooms;
• a quarter cup of vegetable oil;
• salt to taste;
• Bay leaf.

Preparation:

1. Rub the carcass well with salt.
2. Place celery leaves and bay leaves inside the bird.
3. Place bacon on the chest of the pheasant and secure it with toothpicks so that it does not slide off during baking.
4. Chop the onions and mushrooms very finely, place them on a baking sheet, and place the bird on top.
5. Place the baking sheet in the oven, preheated to 190 degrees, and bake for about an hour and a half.

During the entire baking time, you need to pour the resulting juice on top of the bird. We turn the carcass every half hour.

When ready, remove the celery and bay leaf, and you can serve.

Hunting pheasant recipe

The dish turns out delicious, aromatic and juicy. To prepare it you need to take:

• a kilogram carcass;
• one hundred grams of fresh lard;
• salt and pepper;
• two tablespoons of vegetable oil;
• 250 grams of mushrooms;
• 1/8 liter of white wine, the same amount of any meat broth;
• 4 tablespoons of butter, the same amount of sour cream;
• starch - teaspoon;
• medium sized onion.

How to cook?

The recipe for stewed pheasant, hunter's style, is simple, like all those discussed above; you need to start preparing it by rubbing it with salt and pepper. Next, cut the lard into thin pieces, cover the bird on all sides, and tie it with thread.

Pour vegetable oil into a frying pan and fry the carcass on all sides until the skin turns golden. After this, transfer the bird to a stewing container, pour in broth and wine, bring to a boil and reduce heat.

In the oil in which the pheasant was fried, you need to fry finely chopped mushrooms and onions. When the mixture is almost ready, add butter and fry until the end.

Place the finished bird on a dish, and add sour cream, salt and starch to the remaining broth. Bring to a boil, mix with fried mushrooms and onions.

When serving the pheasant to the table, you can pour the sauce over it immediately, or you can pour it into a separate container so that guests can add it to their own taste.

Pheasant fillet with lingonberry jam

This dish will be appreciated by true gourmets. It is very juicy, aromatic, and the taste of pheasant meat combines quite interestingly with sweet and sour lingonberry jam.

To prepare you will need:

• half a kilo of pheasant fillet;
• kilogram of potatoes;
• 3 eggs;
• 50 grams of butter;
• salt and pepper;
• white bread breadcrumbs;
• lingonberry or cranberry jam.

The fillet must be cleaned of tendons and excess fat and beaten through cling film. Salt the pieces, dip each in mixed eggs, then into the breading, fry well in butter until crispy.

Peel the potatoes, grate them on a coarse grater or finely chop them into strips, drain the juice. Fry in vegetable oil, then place on the prepared pheasant slices.

There is no need to pour jam over the dish; it is placed in a separate cup or on the edge of the plate when serving.

Pheasant on skewers

To prepare pheasant kebab at home you will need:

• fillet from a whole bird;
• one hundred grams of fresh pork lard;
• large onion;
• a couple of large bell peppers;
• half a glass of cognac;
• vegetable oil;
• pepper and salt.

The lard and fillet should be cut into small pieces, salt and pepper, and allowed to soak a little. After this, take skewers and string fillet, lard, round onions and peppers onto them one by one.

The “kebabs” need to be well fried on both sides in hot oil. When the crust is fried, place it on plates. Before serving, the meat is poured with cognac and set on fire.

If there is a skeleton left of a bird, then do not rush to throw it away, it is quite suitable for making a delicious soup.

Pheasant pilaf

Are you wondering how to cook pheasant at home? You will definitely like the recipe we proposed. Many people have already fallen in love with this original preparation of pilaf. The unique taste of game in combination with rice will surprise you.

To prepare, take:

• quarter of a bird;
• two tablespoons of vegetable oil, the same amount of tomato paste;
• a quarter of an onion;
• fifty grams of rice;
• salt and spices;
• carrot;
• a teaspoon of flour.

Preparation:

The pheasant should be cut into small pieces and fried in vegetable oil in a cauldron. Next, add carrots cut into rounds and onions in half rings, fry for several minutes until the vegetables acquire a golden hue. Add tomato paste, salt and spices, fry a little, add flour, add water so that it covers the meat.

Simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the washed rice, cover with a lid and simmer until done.

You can boil rice separately, but not like porridge. After the rice is ready, you need to rinse it so that excess starch is removed and it becomes crumbly. Next you need to mix it with stewed pheasant and sauce.

Pheasant schnitzel

You can diversify the preparation of pheasant. At home, you can prepare a real royal schnitzel - juicy on the inside, rosy and crispy on the outside. Absolutely any side dish goes well with poultry schnitzels: mashed potatoes, rice, buckwheat, stewed and fresh vegetables, pasta.

What you will need for cooking:

• half a kilo of pheasant fillet;
• one hundred grams of lard;
• small onion;
• pepper and salt;
• egg;
• breadcrumbs.

Preparation:

Poultry meat, onions and lard need to be twisted through a meat grinder; it is advisable to install a large grate. Season the minced meat with salt and pepper to your taste, add the egg, mix well.

Form schnitzels, roll in breadcrumbs and place in hot oil, pat the top a little so that they are slightly flattened. It is necessary to fry under the lid, on both sides, until a crispy golden brown crust appears.

Place the finished schnitzels on a paper towel to absorb excess oil. Then you can serve it to the table just like that, or garnish it with fresh herbs and sour cream.

Royal grilled pheasant

Grilled food is low in fat and has a unique taste, especially when cooked over aromatic charcoal. But pheasant cooked in the oven on the grill will be quite tasty. To keep the meat from drying out, we need a lot of lard. Don't worry, all the excess fat will drain off, leaving the meat tender and tasty. To prepare, take:

• 150 grams of pork lard;
• large onion, salt, pepper.

You need to fry the onion in vegetable oil. Stuff the pheasant carcass with this onion, add a little lard, and sew it up. Place on a spit, cover with thin pieces of lard on top, and secure with toothpicks.

You need to cook until a golden brown crust appears. Some people like it toasty, while others want only a slight blush. The bird is served to the table whole, and before that you need to rip open the belly and take out the onion and the remaining fat.

Now you know how to cook pheasant at home. The recipes we offer are quite simple; even a novice cook can handle the preparation. Experiment with side dishes, because the taste will play differently with each one.

Several years ago, my husband worked with a couple of enthusiastic hunters who literally bombarded him with pheasants. I had never dealt with pheasants before and therefore studied book and online recipes for a long time before taking them on. Moreover, I definitely wanted to cook them according to some Russian recipe.
Alas, my first attempt at baking in the oven with periodic coating with sour cream according to a recipe from the Internet was not crowned with success. The bird turned out tough and dry. The next experiment, using ideas from the Exchange of recipes from the now deceased Culinary forum, was much more successful - pre-marinated and fried pheasants were baked in the oven in stewed cabbage with apples. I documented this recipe and used it for many years. The next time I prepare for it, I will certainly post a report here. It turns out pheasants soft and juicy.
But today another recipe came up on its own, which my husband liked even more than the cabbage version.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take pictures of it during the cooking process, because it was a complete improvisation. There is no photo on the plate either, because we only appreciated it while eating it. The only photo is a finished bird in a pan.
My pheasants were semi-wild, that is, previously raised somewhere and then released into the forest for shooting. That is, all three were very different from each other in size and fatness. In addition, since they were shot and not stabbed to death, the integrity of the skin in some places was significantly damaged by the shot. In short, before cooking, I decided to remove this unattractive skin completely. After that, I cut the pheasants into small pieces (breast into four parts, legs into two), and also cut out the backbone and wings for the broth. By the way, the broth made from them turned out to be unexpectedly tasty and rich.
I sprinkled the pheasants cut into pieces, washed and dried with paper towels with kosher salt and dry Italian herbs. I used Emeril’s Original Essence, which, in addition to herbs, also includes dried garlic and paprika, since this was the mixture I had on hand, but I think that just oregano would have been enough. After that, I put the pheasant pieces in a bowl and left them on the counter to marinate for about an hour while I did other things. Then I soaked a handful of dried porcini mushrooms in hot water.
After an hour, I fried the pheasant pieces over high heat in hot peanut oil. Peanut butter is good because it has a high smoke point and a very neutral taste, which is not at all noticeable in the finished dish. I fried the pheasant until golden brown on both sides in the same pan, where I then stewed it, but not all at once, but several pieces at a time, so that the pheasant would not release juice. Placed the fried pieces into a bowl.
Next, in the same pan and in the same oil where the pheasant was fried, I lightly fried the onions with chopped soaked and drained mushrooms. By the way, I also pre-fry the mushrooms with onions in mushroom soup, because this way the mushrooms give much more flavor.
I added fried pieces of pheasant to the pan with onions and mushrooms. In a separate container, I mixed sour cream, an almost full bottle of light, non-bitter beer and the strained liquid from soaking the mushrooms. When mixing, it is best to add beer to the sour cream little by little, stirring constantly. If you pour it all at once, it is more difficult to stir, especially if the sour cream is fatty. Add a little salt there and pour this mixture over the pheasant in the pan. The liquid should be almost level with the meat.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, add coarsely chopped fresh mushrooms and a few crushed juniper berries, cover and simmer until the pheasant is soft. It took me about an hour and a half. After about half an hour, you need to taste for salt and add it if it’s not enough. You can use champignons as fresh mushrooms, but I decided to use canned oyster mushrooms from a Chinese store.
I served pheasant with stewed potatoes and a Provençal salad made from homemade sauerkraut. They drank beer with it, of course, not wine. Next time I'm thinking of serving it with pasta.
Approximate proportions for three small pheasants, 600g each - one very large onion, a handful of dried mushrooms, about 200g of good fat sour cream, about 250ml of beer, about 200g of fresh or canned mushrooms, a dozen juniper berries.