Slow Cooker Pheasant with Steamed Broccoli

We decided to find a recipe that might make the tough pheasant meat a little more soft. We opted for this slow cooker recipe and it did not disappoint! The meat simply fell away from the bones and was very good. It was soft and flavorful. The pellets were easier to identify and remove as well compared to either baked or grilled pheasant dishes that we have made in the past.
The broccoli was simply steamed for this side. We also made a side of wild rice mixture.

Here is the original recipe: https://www.thespruce.com/karens-crockpot-pheasant-with-balsamic-marinade-3062112

Served

Another close up

View of the plate from the top

Pheasant still in slow cooker

Ingredients:

4-6 pheasant breasts
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced garlic (optional)
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon Sriracha sauce
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Directions:

1. Rinse the pheasant.
2. Combine the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, garlic (if you're using it), liquid smoke, Sriracha sauce, vinegar and onion powder.
3. Put the pheasant and the marinade in large, non-reactive container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Stir the marinade occasionally to keep pheasant coated.
4. Transfer pheasant to slow cooker.
5. Pour the marinade juices over it.0
6. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours.

What we liked:

It was very flavorful and tender.

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He is still not too into our dinners, preferring bread buns for dinner instead. 

Next time:

No Changes - will make again

Marinated Grilled Pheasant Breasts with Couscous

Nick went hunting with his dad and brother and they brought back quite a few pheasant breasts. We are continuing to explore various recipes for cooking them. This time we decided to marinate the breasts and cook them on the grill. We decided to serve them with couscous. Overall, it was a very nice meal. The marinade really added some great flavor to the breasts.

Served!

On the Grill!

Grilling!

Marinating

Marinating Pheasant 

Ingredients:

6-8 pheasant breasts
juice and zest of 2 lemons
1/4 cup oil
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup white wine
1 jar of chipotle peppers

Directions:

1. Combine lemon juice and zest, oil, chopped garlic, chiptole peppers and wine in a bowl and mix together. Pour over the pheasants in a marinating dish or a ziplock bag and set to marinade for at least 6 hours. Turn the bag or flip the pheasants in the dish about halfway through.
2. Pre-heat grill to medium high
3. Grill breasts for 22 minutes - 11 minutes per side until desired done-ness is achieved.
4. Serve!

What we liked:

The marinade was very flavorfull. It was great. 

What we didn't like:

The pellets to be fished out of the breasts! :) 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the couscous. 

Next time:

We will try another recipe!

Grilled Pheasant and Chucker breasts with asparagus, carrots and shrimp side salad

Nick and Mitch and their dad went hunting on Saturday and brought back pheasant and chucker breasts.
So, today we made pheasant and chucker breasts marinated in barbecue and cooked on the grill. For sides we made carrots and asparagus that were first steamed, and then grilled. We also made a shrimp side salad with baby spinach.

Plated - with chucker breast

shrimp side salad with baby spinach

carrots and asparagus

grilled chucker (smaller) and grilled pheasant (larger) breasts

Grilled Chucker and Pheasant breasts 

Ingredients:

3 chucker breasts
3 pheasant breasts
barbecue sauce

Directions:

1. Combine the bird breasts and barbecue sauce in a gallon sized ziplock back for about 4 hours. Use enough barbecue sauce to cover the breasts in the bag. 

2. Pre-heat grill on medium high. We have a 3 burner grill - we put 2 side burners to maximum and middle burner to medium, and the birds will go on the middle burner. 

3. Cook breast side up (the bone side down) for 8 minutes. 

4. Flip and cook for 10 minutes breast side down. 

5. Lower middle burner to low and flip the breast side up again - cook for another 5 -10 minutes to keep warm while the sides finish cooking if necessary. 

Grilled lemon carrots and asparagus

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots
1 lb asparagus
1 lemon
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Steam carrots and asparagus for 15 minutes. We use a multi-cooker that has a steam option and wrap carrots in a piece of foil and asparagus in a piece of foil. They can be steamed together. We would suggest doing this while the grill pre-heats. 

2. Move the carrot and asparagus filled foils to the grill to one of the sides (with maximum heat). 

3. Squeeze half a lemon into each foil. 

4. Add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil to each foil. 

5. Cover slightly by folding the foil into the middle and cook for 10 minutes. (We put the vegetables on the grill when we flipped the breasts the first time.)

Shrimp side salad with baby spinach

Ingredients:

Shrimp ~ 1/2 lb
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons butter
Hard boiled eggs - 3 - one for each plate
grated cheese 1 tbsp per plate
sunflower seeds 1 tsp per plate
3 cups baby spinach (about a cup per plate, can use other lettuces if desired)

dressing:
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a frying pan. When it is hot, put the 2 tablespoons of butter on it. 

2. When butter stops bubbling, put shrimp onto the hot pan and spread them out. 

3. Put salt, pepper and paprika on the shrimp and cook for 1 minute. 

4. Add chopped garlic to the pan and cook for 1 more minute.

5. Flip the shrimp, and cook for 2 minutes.

6. Remove from heat. 

7. Mound spinach on each plate. Divide evenly between plates.

8. Add sliced boiled eggs, sunflowe seeds, and grated cheese to each mound.

9. Top with shrimp.

10. Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and whisk together with a fork or whisk. Divide out to each plate. 

What we liked:

It was the easiest and best wild bird recipe yet. The breasts turned out tender and delicious. The lemon on the asparagus and carrots was great and the side salad was very good and light. 

What we didn't like:

There wasn't anything we didn't like. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the egg yolks and cheese and carrots. 

Next time:

Wouldn't really do anything different.