Roast Pheasant with an apple, cider, sage and cream sauce
Roasted pheasant with seasonal ingredients and a cream sauce
Ingredients
- 1 pheasant trussed for roasting
- 2 cooking apples
- 1 can cider
- 100 ml cream
- sugar if needed
- chicken stock if needed
- 5 leaves sage
- light olive oil
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Season the trussed pheasant and seal in a hot pan with oil, turning the bird so it seals all over and colours well
- Peel, core and slice the apples. Taking a deep cooking dish with a lid, place half the apples on the base of the dish. Place the sealed pheasant on the apples and cover with the remaining apples.
- Add four or five sage leaves and then add the cider and bring to the boil
- Place the lid on the dish and put into a hot oven 200c for ten minutes. Turn the oven to 180c and cook for a further 25 minutes.
- Once cooked remove the pheasant and drain all the cooking juices back into the cooking pot and allow the pheasant to stand and rest for five minutes. Meanwhile add the cream to the apples and cooking juices then liquidise to a fine puree
- If the sauce is too thick add a bit of chicken stock to thin it down. Also tastes if it tastes a bit too sharp add a little sugar to take off the sharpness of the apples.
- Take the pheasant, remove the trussing string and remove the legs. Cut the legs in half so you have a drumstick and thigh. Retain the thighs and discard the drumsticks, these have too many sinews
- Remove the breast from the carcass, and serve a breast and thigh together as a portion.
- Warm the sauce but do not boil and serve
