Pheasant Cooked with Ceps and Herbs

One of the best ways of cooking any game bird is a recipe inspired by the great food writer Elisabeth Luard, who wrote “Classic French Cooking” in 2004 (published by Octopus Books).  We have simplified the recipe to make life as easy as possible so that as many cooks who read The Foodie Bugle will find it interesting. It is an exemplary one-pot dish, using a Falcon enamel dish (which was sourced from the shop Found in Bath and dried ceps which can be bought at any good delicatessen.

Ingredients to serve 2 people

1 pheasant, washed and trimmed.

25 g. butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped into eight pieces

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into eight pieces

1 celery stalk, chopped into eight pieces

A bouquet of bay, thyme, rosemary, sage

120g dried ceps

200ml white wine

Sea salt and pepper

Olive oil

Method

Soak the ceps in the wine for at least 15 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees C.

Place the chopped vegetables at the bottom of the baking tin, and place the pheasant on top of the vegetables. Place the herbs inside the cavity along with a little bit of butter. Place the remaining butter under the breast skins. Season with sea salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil

Place the soaked ceps around the bird, and pour the wine over the pheasant and the vegetables.

Cover the baking tin with aluminium foil and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the foil and turn the bird round, so that the breasts now face downward (this is one of the best ways of ensuring that the breast does not dry out. Keep the foil off and cook the pheasant for another 10 minutes or so.

The flesh needs to be just slightly pink when cooked, but when a skewer is inserted in the thickest part of the thigh the liquids should run clear.

Rest the pheasant for a good ten minutes on a warm platter, then carve.

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The cooked dish.

The dish as it went into the oven.