Roast Pheasant with traditional Irish stuffing - a family recipe

Roast pheasant the way my mother cooked it for my father,

and the way my own children enjoy it now.

Pheasant, in my family, is something you never bought from the butchers, or, when you were given them, never asked where they came from! What changed hands would be a rabbit or some eggs or plants  or just a cup of tea and a friendly chat.

So, I was really pleased last week when my mother asked me if I'd like some pheasants, as she had some in the shed. 

The first thing to do is to pluck and clean them.

Pluck what you can, then cut off the head and neck, wings and feet,
then finish plucking.

Clean by making a small incision at the bottom and pulling everything out.

Remember to check the crop for corn and food.

Keep rinsing it all through.

If squeamish, buy them already prepared from your local butcher.

(About £8.50 a brace)

Then prepare the stuffing.

As you can imagine, potatoes are the main ingredient of the Irish stuffing.

However, the strong flavours of the other ingredients make sure it's not bland and tasteless.

So, in no particular order,
and in no precise amounts

put

the meat from a few pork sausages
some chopped smoked streaky bacon
chopped onions
sage  - dried /fresh or both
grated strong cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

add one or two raw eggs to bind it

and stuff the birds with the raw mixture.

Put them on their sides and wrap in streaky bacon

To prevent the meat from becoming dry, pour some red wine (a couple of glassfuls)
into the roasting dish and cover with foil.

Cook in a hot oven for about 15 minutes and then give it about an hour in the bottom oven

Take off the foil and brown it off for another 15 minutes in the top oven.

And there you have it.

Any left over stuffing can be cooked in the oven and eaten with the meal. 

Boiled Savoy cabbage is an excellent accompaniment

There are lots of delicious juices in the roasting pan.

Serve up the food.

Pour over some hot juice

Enjoy!