If pheasant opener left you with anything, it was most likely, birds in the freezer. The question is how one goes about eating them. No longer are hunters bound by the code of Cream of Mushroom soup and a crock pot. There are many exciting ways to prepare pheasant recipes and what follows are just a few recipes for dishes that will have your family and friends excited to sit down at the table.
Pheasant Kabobs
Ingredients:
Two whole pheasants, meat de-boned from breasts and thighs, cut into chunks
One package of thick cut bacon
2 Onions, cut into two-inch chunks
2 Bell Peppers, cut into two-inch slices
One package medium mushrooms
Glaze or marinade of your choice
Directions: If desired, put the pheasant meat and your marinade of choice together in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator for four hours.
Place a chunk of pheasant meat and a slice of onion or pepper together and wrap one slice of bacon around them. Skewer three or four of these combinations onto a kabob stick. Take the leftover vegetables and mushrooms and skewer them on separate sticks. Using a marinade brush, put the leftover marinade on the veggies to add some flavor.
Place tinfoil on the areas of the grill you will be using to cook the kabobs and spray the tinfoil with non-stick oil, such as Pam. Ignite the grill and heat to high and then bring back down to low. Cook the kabobs on the foil - preferably on an upper or raised rack - on low heat for 10 to 12 minutes or until the kabob meat is done. The vegetable kabobs will finish before the meat kabobs, so remove them a few minutes earlier.
Honey glazed Pheasant
Ingredients:
Legs and breast of 1 pheasant, skinned
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup chopped parsley
2 cups honey
1 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste
Directions: Fillet meat off of the breast and thighs. Cut the meat into pieces of the same thickness. Season the flour in a bowl with salt and pepper and dredge the pheasant meat in the mixture. Dust pheasant pieces with onion powder. Melt 3/4 cup butter in skillet over medium heat. Brown the pheasant pieces and place in a lightly oiled 9x13 glass casserole. Sprinkle with parsley.
Add the honey and 1/4 cup butter to the skillet. Mix well until butter is melted and then pour over the pheasant (should come about halfway up on the pheasant pieces). Seal the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees.
Classic Pheasant Bake
Ingredients:
1 cup raw wild rice
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mushrooms
2 1/2 cups water
Water chestnuts
Four strips of cooked bacon, cut into squares
2 pheasants, cut up, floured and browned
1 pkg. instant onion soup mix
1 can fried onion toppers
Directions: Mix rice, canned soups, water, mushrooms, bacon and water chestnuts in 9x13 glass casserole dish. Add pheasant. Sprinkle with onion soup mix. Cover lightly with foil. Bake for two hours at 300 degrees. Add onion toppers and cook for another 30 minutes.
Pheasant meat is a great alternative to chicken. Try it in soups, hot dishes and other meals that call for chicken. A fall weekend isn’t complete without some wild game, and with dishes like these and so many more, the preparation possibilities are endless for the finest fowl…in our outdoors.
