This tasty curry is a great way of using up pheasant thighs that you often have an abundance of as you head through the season. Its always best to cook the thighs with the bone in, but remember how many there are so that you take the right amount of bones out before serving!!

Serves 4-6

8-10 pheasant thighs
2 tblsp oil (rapeseed, olive or veg)
2 tblsp cumin seeds
1 tblsp fennel seed
1 tblsp coriander seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
6-8 cardamon pods
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 onions chopped in half
1 inch of peeled root ginger
4 cloves garlic
500ml stock (fresh game is best, but chicken will work too)
1 tsp Pataks madras paste
1tblsp turmeric
2 tsp honey
250g spinach (optional)

Firstly brown off the pheasant thighs in the oil over a medium heat in a heavy bottomed pan. Turn a couple of times so that they get a good colour all over.

Whilst the thighs are browning blitz all of the seeds and peppercorns, but not the cardamon, in a spice blender until you have a course powder. Sprinkle this over the thighs in the pan and continue to cook.

In a food processor add the tin of tomatoes, the halved onions, ginger and garlic cloves and a splash of stock. Blitz until you have runny paste and add to the pan. Then add the rest of the stock, turmeric, cardamon pods, madras paste and honey and give everything a good mix.

Place a lid on you pan and put in an oven at 140’C for 2-3 hours (we always cook this in the baking oven in the Aga) checking every hour or so that the curry hasn’t dried out. If it does look a little dry add a cupful of water.

The curry is ready when the meat is falling off the bones. Pick the bones out and give the curry a good stir. If you are going to add the spinach do so at this stage. Place the lid on the curry and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes so that spinach wilts. Again stir everything together and serve with rice and home made flat breads.

Enjoy!

This recipe is reproduced with permission from ‘Venison: the Game Larder’ by author Jose Souto published by Merlin Unwin Books (© 2015).

Venison: the Game Larder Steve Lee’s stunning photographs showcase more than 50 modern, international recipes from master game chef Jose Souto and his culinary friends they impart venison butchery practices and best cuts, a how to on smoking and curing venison and much more.

Serves 2

veg oil
300g venison dice
Sal and pepper
25g flour
750ml dar½ onion finely chopped
1 large clove garlic
dark chicken or dark venison stock
25g dried porcini mushrooms
1 tsp tomato puree
100ml red wine
2 sprigs thyme
100g pearl barley
40g butter
2 slices of fresh white bread

Heat up a little oil in a large low sided pan until very hot to the point of smoking.

Take half the diced venison, season and dust in the flour then fry in the hot oil to seal and colour well.

Once the meat is well coloured remove add a little more oil and repeat with the rest of the venison.

When all the venison is sealed add a little more oil and turn the heat down, then add the onion and garlic allowing to cook without any colour and until soft.

Meanwhile bring stock to boil and add the dried porcini mushrooms then bring to simmer.

Once the onion and garlic are soft add the venison to this and add the tomato puree, then cook for 3 min. Next add red wine and allow this to reduce by half.

Now add any flour you have left over, stir well.

Next add the stock with mushrooms again stirring well. Finally season and add the thyme sprigs then allow to cook out on a low simmer for at least 90 min or until meat is cooked.

Wash the pearl barley in some cold water then place into a pan with 300ml of cold water, bring to boil and cook for 30 min then drain and refresh in cold water ready to add to stew once it is cooked.

Cut the slices of bread into a large round shape with a pastry cutter then shallow fry in 20g of butter and a tad of oil so that they go golden brown on each side. Once cooked place on a paper towel to drain any excess butter.

When the meat is tender and cooked if the sauce is a little loose then remove the meat carefully and place in a covered bowl, Now allow the sauce to reduce until it just coats the back of a spoon then add the precooked pearl barley bring the sauce back to boil (if the sauce is just fine then remove the meat and add the pearl barley straight away).

Once the sauce has come back to the boil take down to a simmer and then add the remaining butter in knobs stirring them in to give a rich gloss to the sauce.

Finally add the meat stirring in carefully serve on top of the Bread croute or in a small dish with the croute on top.

This recipe is reproduced with permission from ‘Feathers: The Game Larder’ by author Jose Souto published by Merlin Unwin Books (© 2018).

In Feathers: the Game Larder Steve Lee’s stunning photographs showcase more than the 55 modern, international recipes from master game chef Jose Souto and his culinary friends they impart the beauty of game birds in the field, from source to plate.

Serves 2

1 whole Mallard Duck
1 Breasts of Pheasant
2 Breasts of Woodpigeon
150g Cumberland Sausage meat

Remove the skin and fillets from both the Pheasant and the Pigeon breasts

Remove the wish bone from the Duck.

Starting from the backbone skin the Duck completely so that you remove the skin as a whole piece.

Remove the Duck breasts from the skinned Duck carcass.

Place 1of the Duck Breast in the middle of the skin and season.

Spread a 50g of the sausage meat onto the Duck breast then place the Pheasant breast on this and season.

Again spread another 50g of the Sausage meat onto the Pheasant breast and then place the Pigeon breasts on this and season..

Fold the Duck skin around the Breast overlapping the skin where it meets and season..

Using some butchers string tie 3 times once in the middle and once either side, not too tight or the Sausage meat will be pushed out during cooking.

Wrap the joint in cling film firmly leaving a bit of cling film each end so this can be tied in a knot.

Go around the bird 10 times with the cling film.

Twist the ends and tie the knots tightly as possible at each end to look like a Christmas cracker.

Bring some salted water to boil drop joint into water and allow to simmer for 20 min.

Remove from water cut one end of the cling film with some scissors and allow to drain any liquid for 5 to 10 min.

Place joint into a cold frying pan and as it gets hot the Duck fat will render down and begin to colour skin.

Turn the joint around to allow all the skin to colour then sit on where the skin over laps and place in oven at 170 °C for 20 min basting every now and then.

Remove from oven and allow to rest for 10min somewhere warm but do not cover.

Remove the string

Slice the ends off and cut into 6 slices serve with a Game Jus or gravy.

This recipe is reproduced with permission from ‘Feathers: The Game Larder’ by author Jose Souto published by Merlin Unwin Books (© 2018).

In Feathers: the Game Larder Steve Lee’s stunning photographs showcase more than the 55 modern, international recipes from master game chef Jose Souto and his culinary friends they impart the beauty of game birds in the field, from source to plate.

Serves 4

Veg oil for frying
2 rib ends of hare chopped up with bones onto 1 inch pieces
1 carrot finely chopped
½ stick celery finely chopped
½ onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
Dessert spoon tom puree
1 good glass red wine
Good sprig thyme
1 litre Game stock or fresh dark chicken stock
2 good sized hare saddles
20g Red current jelly
10g dark 65% Chocolate

Take the hare remove the shoulders and the legs keep for another recipe.

Just in front of the pelvises bones cut straight across the back bone and remove.

Moving up to the ribs cut straight across the backbone, this will give you the saddle chop up the front of the hare including the ribs for the sauce later.

There will be 2 belly flaps on either side of the saddle using a knife and working from the inside of the saddle tease away the belly pulling them around the loin meat do the same on the other side.

Using a sharp filleting knife remove the silver skin around the loin meat.

Fry off the front end and ribs in hot oil to get good colour.

Remove bones from pan and in same pan fry off onion and garlic for 5 min.

Add carrot , celery, cook out for another 6 to 8 min then add bones and tom puree cook for another 5 to 6 min then add wine and reduce by ¾ .

Now add stock and reduce by ¾ then pass through a fine sieve to get rid of bones and veg.

The sauce should be reduced until it is the consistency of single cream.

Bring sauce to boil

Add Redcurrant jelly stir in and allow to melt

Bring sauce down to just a very slight simmer then pull to one side on stove it should stay hot but not boil or simmer.

Heat a frying pan to smoking hot season the hare loin and seal in the pan all over then place in oven at 180C for 10 min.

Remove from oven and rest for 5 min but do not cover

Chop chocolate up into small pieces

Whisk chocolate into the hot sauce off the heat a bit at a time, at first it will separate but as you whisk it will emulsify into sauce.

Cut the Loins off the saddle and slice then serve with a chive mash potatoes and the sauce over the top.

An upgrade on the classic Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie!
For best results, try using a mix of breast and thigh meat. We recommend using a ratio of 70:30.

© Copyright Eat Wild

Serves 6

For the Mince
100ml Water
5ml Rapeseed Oil
60g Diced Onion
3g Salt
3g Garlic Puree
2g Chopped Thyme
1 Large Diced Carrot
1/2 Small Diced Swede
1g Cracked Black Pepper
200ml Dark Stout
1 Knorr Beef Stock
10g Demarara Sugar
250g Pheasant Mince
170g Venison Mince

For the Mash
500g Red Potatoes
100g Butter
50ml Cream
5g Salt

Equipment
2 Saucepans
Potato Masher
Oven proof dish
Wooden spoon

Prep the ingredients
Sweat the onions, carrots, swede, thyme, garlic and minced meats in the rapeseed oil until the vegetables are soft and the meats are light brown. Make sure to season (using about 3g of the salt).

Add the stock
Add the beef stock, as well as the stout and sugar and cook for about 35 minutes until the liquids have reduced to leave a thick consistency.

Set aside the mince
Place the mince in an oven ready baking dish and set aside in the fridge to cool while you prepare the mash.

Prepare the mash
Boil the potatoes with a little salt to make the mash.
Once soft, mash the potatoes together with the cream, butter and remaining salt.

Prepare the pie
Pipe (or spread) the mash over the top of the cooled mince and bake in the oven at 180°C for 35 minutes.

© Copyright Eat Wild

Serves 2

2 Mallard breasts, thinly sliced
3 tsp Sesame oil
250g Peppers, mixed, de-seeded and finely sliced
1 Carrot, finely sliced
2 Small red chilies, finely chopped
2 tsp Root ginger, peeled and chopped
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 tsp Soy sauce
75g Mangetout, thinly sliced
175g Beansprouts
25g Sesame seeds
1 Lemon, zest and juice
1 Lime, zest and juice
1 Orange, zest and juice
4 Spring roll sheets
1 Egg, beaten
for deep-frying Vegetable oil

Hoisin Sauce
4 tbsp Soy sauce
2 tbsp Smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp Dark brown sugar
2 tsp Rice wine vinegar
1 Garlic clove, finely crushed
2 tsp Sesame seed oil
to taste Hot sauce
⅛ tsp Black pepper

1. Start with the hoisin sauce
Put all the ingredients into a food processor or jug and blitz with a stick blender until smooth then put in a bowl for serving.
(This will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three weeks.)

2. Heat the wok
Place a wok on a medium to high heat and add the mallard. When the fat starts to render, remove the mallard from the wok with a slotted spoon then wipe the wok clean.

3. Veggie Time
Heat the sesame oil in the wok and add the peppers, carrot, chili, grated ginger and soy sauce. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

4. Combine
Next, add the garlic, mangetout, bean sprouts, sesame seeds, citrus zest and juice and heat until the mallard is cooked through. Combine well and transfer into a bowl, wipe the wok clean.

5. Heating
Heat a deep saucepan of oil to 180˚C

6. Prepare the rolls
Lightly brush the spring roll wrappers with the beaten egg. Spoon the stir-fried mixture into the centre of each one and roll up, tucking in the ends before you make the final layer.

7. Finally
Deep-fry the spring rolls until golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen roll. Serve immediately with the hoisin sauce.

An ideal light meal for two or alternatively a starter for four, it is a wonderful way to showcase grouse in a new way.

© Copyright, Eat Wild

Serves 4

For the pasta
150g pasta flour
1 large egg and 2 yolks, lightly beaten
½ tbsp Olive oil

Ravioli Filling
1 x tsp Sage butter
1 x tsp Extra virgin olive oil
½ White onion, peeled and finely chopped
½ Fennel, washed and finely chopped
2 Garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 Grouse, cooked
50g Grated Parmesan
2 tbsp Double cream
1 tbsp Finely chopped sage leaves

1. Make the pasta
Put the flour in a food processor with almost all of your egg mixture, oil and a pinch of salt. Blitz to large crumbs – they should come together to form a dough when squeezed (if it feels a little dry gradually add a bit more egg).

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead for 1 min or until nice and smooth – don’t worry if it’s quite firm as it will soften when it rests. Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30 mins.

2. To create the ravioli filling
In a small pan gently sauté the onion, fennel and garlic for 10 minutes, or until soft, in the butter and oil, then place into a food processor. Shred the meat from the grouse, roughly chop then add to the processor with the Parmesan and cream. Season then give a few blitzes – you want a semi-smooth pâté texture – then stir in the parsley.

3. Finishing the pasta
Cut away ¼ of the dough (keep the rest covered with cling film) and feed it through the widest setting on your pasta machine. (If you don’t have a machine, use a heavy rolling pin to roll the dough as thinly as possible.)

Then fold into three, give the dough a quarter turn and feed through the pasta machine again. Repeat this process once more then continue to pass the dough through the machine, progressively narrowing the rollers, one notch at a time, until you have a smooth sheet of pasta. On the narrowest setting, feed the sheet through twice.

4. Adding them together
Put the pasta sheet on a lightly floured surface, then spoon teaspoons of the filling 4cm apart on the bottom half of the sheet. Using your fingers, pat water around each blob of filling. Fold the top half over the fillings and carefully squeeze around, making sure to remove any air pockets.

Cut between each ravioli using a pasta cutter or sharp knife, then pinch around the edges of each ravioli to make sure it is well sealed. Keep on a lightly floured baking tray while you repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling.

5. To finish
Cook the ravioli in a large pan of salted water for 3 minutes and drain. Serve sprinkled with parmesan cheese and sage and a drizzle of olive oil

This recipe was kindly donated for The Country Food Trust Charity Chefs. If you have enjoyed this recipe would you consider donating to The Country Food Trust? Details can be found at www.thecountryfoodtrust.org

Serves 4

1 small onion peeled and finely sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 thumb size piece of ginger grated
2 cloves garlic crushed
1-2 tbsp red or green Thai curry paste
500g minced pheasant or venison
1 tbsp of fish sauce (optional)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Juice of 1 lime
2 tsp brown or white sugar
1 handful fresh basil leaves finely chopped

Fry the onion in the oil until soft and golden coloured.
Add the ginger, garlic and 1-2 tbsp curry paste depending on how spicy you like your curry.
Add the pheasant or venison mince and, using a wooden spoon, break it up and stir fry until cooked through, which will take about 2-3 minutes.
Add the fish sauce, soy sauce, lime juice and sugar
Fold in the chopped basil leaves.
Serve with rice or rice noodles.
This mince is also nice served wrapped in lettuce leaves and it tastes even better the next day.

This recipe was kindly donated for The Country Food Trust Charity Chefs. If you have enjoyed this recipe would you consider donating to The Country Food Trust? Details can be found at www.thecountryfoodtrust.org

Serves 8

Koftas
800g minced partridge
pheasant or venison
1 tsp salt
1 onion peeled and chopped
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried mint
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice
½ tsp cayenne pepper

BBQ Cumin Flat Breads
600g Plain Flour
2 tsp salt
100g butter
370g whole milk
2 tsp cumin seeds
Little bit of oil for cooking
NB: you can also use ready made pittas or flatbread

Minty Yoghurt
200g natural yoghurt
½ tbsp. dried mint
1 small clove garlic minced
salt and pepper

Koftas
Combine all ingredients for the koftas and mix well. Divide the mix into 16 equal portions and shape into thick stubby sausages and place on an oiled tray. Leave to chill for 30 mins in the fridge.
Preheat grill to medium hot and lightly oil the koftas. Cook under the grill (turning every so often to get an even colour on each side) for 8–10 mins. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of thickness of the kofta. You want the meat to be moist and slightly pink still on the inside.
NOTE: these also work well on the BBQ! Same cooking time applies.

Flatbreads
Combine butter and milk and heat until butter is just melted.
Combine flour, cumin salt, melted butter, milk and mix. Kneed for approx. 4 mins until smooth and the dough springs back when you push your finger to it. Wrap in cling film and rest for 30 mins at room temp.
Divide into 16 pieces and roll into balls. Then using a rolling pin roll out until you have 16 flatbreads approx. 3ml thick (the thickness of 10p piece)
Heat a frying pan until medium/hot, add a dash of oil and cook your flatbreads one at a time. They will take approx. 1.5 mins on each side. You are looking for little brown spots to appear and for the bread to puff up slightly. Keep the flatbreads wrapped in a tea towel while you cook the rest.
Note: if you use ready-made pittas or flatbreads, wrap in tin foil and heat gently in the oven for 5 mins before serving.

Minty yoghurt
Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Leave for 30 mins or more in the fridge for the flavour to develop.

To serve
Place one kofta in a wrap with whatever you have to hand in the fridge (lettuce, tomato, spinach, red cabbage, cheese, mint etc.), drizzle with the minty yoghurt and get stuck in.

With their seams of glorious yellow fat and prominent flavour, pheasant thighs can make the most unctuous of sauces for pasta, and the richest, most decadent of these is surely the Bolognese.

Serves 4

100g butter
1tbsp EV olive oil
100g pancetta diced
1 tbsp fennel seeds
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 celery stalks, finely diced
½ fennel bulb, finely diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 pheasant thighs
100g shin of veal (optional)
100ml Amontillado sherry
3 tbsp tomato puree
A little stock, chicken or vegetable
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated parmesan
Handful of chopped parsley

Heat the oven to 150c.

Season the pheasant thighs and veal with some salt and pepper.

In a heavy casserole pan, brown the meat in the oil on a medium/high heat. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the heat, gently fry the pancetta in half of the butter and remaining fat for 3-4 minutes, then add the fennel seeds and chilli flakes, fry for 1 minute more.

Add the diced vegetables and garlic and turn the heat down to low, adding a pinch of salt to draw out the moisture.

After 10-15 minutes when the veg is completely soft, place the meat back in and add the sherry, allow to come to a simmer and add the tomato puree and enough stock to cover.

Cover loosely and place in the oven for 3-4 hours, until the meat is falling apart and the liquid has reduced by half.

Give the mixture a good stir, breaking up the meat into small shards. Reduce further on the hob if needed, until the mixture is a glorious thick sludge.

Before serving, stir through a final knob of butter, a couple of handfuls of grated parmesan and the chopped parsley.

This recipe was kindly donated for The Country Food Trust Charity Chefs. If you have enjoyed this recipe would you consider donating to The Country Food Trust? Details can be found at www.thecountryfoodtrust.org

Serves 2

250g minced pheasant or venison meat.
1 large onion, finely diced
1 head of broccoli – stem finely sliced, florets roughly chopped (other greens can easily be substituted, cabbage, chard, courgette, spinach etc.)
100ml olive oil
4 cloves of garlic – peeled and chopped
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
500g dried pasta
salt
grated cheese to serve

Allow the pheasant or venison meat to come to room temperature for half an hour or so.

Place a large pan of salted water to boil on the stove.

In a large saucepan warm olive oil and begin to sweat the broccoli stalks, chilli, onion, garlic and herbs in the oil.

Once the broccoli stems and onion have softened a little, turn up the heat and add the pheasant meat and tender broccoli florets

Cook the pasta

After the mince and florets have cooked turn the heat off and add a ladle of water from the cooking pasta pan.

Once the pasta is ready simply drain it and add it to the mince and broccoli mix. Toss well adding more oil if it looks dry and a squeeze of lemon, grated lemon zest and chopped parsley if available.

Serve in bowls with grated cheese to garnish.

Chard and Smoked Bacon on Fried Sourdough with Mustard Dressing.

Serves 4

1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp honey
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp sherry vinegar
6 tbsp olive oil, plus a little more for frying, if necessary
sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
100g smoked bacon lardons
4 x slices sourdough bread
50g butter
200g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
300g Swiss chard, stalks removed, leaves cut into quarters
8 x wood pigeon breasts
a handful of chopped parsley, to serve

Start by making the mustard dressing. Put the mustard, honey, garlic and vinegars into a food processor and whizz together. Slowly add 3 tbsp of olive oil. Season with a little salt and pepper and leave to one side.

Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the lardons for about 3-5 minutes until starting to crisp. Transfer to a plate using a slotted spoon. Fry the bread slices in any left-over bacon fat for 1 minute on each side until crisp and golden, adding more olive oil if necessary, and then transfer to a plate. Add half of the butter to a pan, cook the mushrooms, add the garlic and season with a little salt and pepper before adding the chard. Turn the heat up to high and stir-fry until the chard has wilted. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Season the wood pigeon breasts generously with some salt and pepper. Heat the remaining butter and olive oil in the pan until sizzling and fry the wood pigeon breasts, skin side down, for 2 minutes on each side until golden, basting the breasts as they are cooking. Transfer to a board and allow to rest for about 5 minutes.

Divide the chard mixture between the fried bread slices. Slice the wood pigeon breasts and arrange over the chard. Spoon over the crispy bacon, drizzle over the mustard dressing and scatter over the chopped parsley: a delicious brunch dish.