Simon Osborne is a master butcher at the award-winning Blagdon Farm Shop in Northumberland. In 2018 he was crowned the inaugural National Game Champion for his work sourcing and promoting game.
Blagdon Farm Shop, Milkhope, Berwick Hill Road, Blagdon, NE13 6DA, tel 01670 789 924
www.theblagdonfarmshop.co.uk
With the game season in full swing, and in keeping with my love of simple, tasty, local food, here’s an inexpensive yet delicious recipe that’s ready in just over an hour.
Northumberland Pheasant with mushrooms
Author: Simon Osborne
Ingredients
- 6 pheasant breasts (skin on)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, sliced thinly from root to tip
- 400g-800g mushrooms (porcini if you have them)
- salt and black pepper
- 120ml white wine
- 1 whole head garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 litre chicken, turkey, pheasant or vegetable stock
- 4 tbsp parsley, minced
- a splash of lemon juice, white wine vinegar or verjus
Method
- Preheat oven to 200C/Gas 6.
- In a large casserole dish, heat butter over medium-high heat and brown the pheasant breasts in turn.
- Remove the meat, add the onion and mushrooms.
- Adding more butter if necessary, cook, stirring often, until the onions begin to brown.
- Season.
- Add the white wine to the pan and scrape and stir any bits from the pan to melt the cooking residues into the liquid.
- Let the wine cook down by half.
- Add the garlic and the pheasant, skin side up.
- Pour in enough stock to come up to the level of the pheasant skin without submerging it.
- Cover and cook in the oven for 45-60 mins until the meat is just tender.
- Uncover and cook for another 20-30 mins, until the skin crisps up.
- To finish, add the parsley, salt and black pepper then stir in lemon juice, white wine vinegar or verjus to taste.
