Last updated 21:21, Thursday, 20 November 2008

THE pheasant season is upon us (it runs from the start of October until the end of January) so it’s time we took advantage of these lovely birds.

The gamey flavour of a well-hung pheasant is considered a great British tradition. Like most game birds, they are hung for between three and 10 days – the longer the time the stronger the flavour.

You don’t need your own country estate to be able to enjoy them as many game birds are now bred for the table and, as a consequence, are far more convenient to buy from butchers or supermarkets than they used to be.

Pheasant has a rich and full-bodied flavour, which just screams to be matched with all the other winter produce that is available at the moment.

For the less adventurous among you, it is a good introduction into game as, although very tasty, it is not too strong a flavour.

We recommend that if you are new to it, you choose breasts only as the legs should be cooked at a different rate to make them tender. That could make things ever so complicated, and nobody needs that.

Serves four

4 pheasant breasts

Splash of olive oil

Knob of butter

1 red onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Few sprigs of rosemary

Handful of button mushrooms (8-10), sliced

4 rashers of streaky bacon

1 pear, cored and cut into small cubes

1 wine glass of port

½ pint chicken stock (made from a stock cube)

Salt and pepper

Optional:

1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly

Few juniper berries

Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan until foaming. Place the pheasant breasts in the pan, season them well and cook over a medium heat on one side for four to five minutes. Flip the breasts over and repeat on the other side.

Remove from the pan and leave to rest in a warm place (the oven set on a low temperature would be good). It is important not to overcook the pheasant breasts as they are fairly lean so the meat can easily dry out, which is not too pleasant to eat.

Using the same pan for the sauce, drain any excess fat from it then add the onion, garlic, rosemary, bacon, mushrooms, juniper (if using) and pear.

Cook over a medium heat until the bacon is coloured and slightly crisp and the rest of the ingredients have softened and become nicely browned.

Add the port, chicken stock and redcurrant jelly (if using). Scrape the bottom of the pan to release the residue which will be sticking to it. This will add tremendous flavour to your sauce.

Reduce to a glazing consistency and serve.

We recommend this luxury potato and celeriac mash as an accompaniment.

3 large potatoes, or about 700g, peeled and chopped into chunks

200g celeriac, peeled and chopped into chunks

3 tbsp milk

Knob butter

Dash of cream

Salt and pepper

Cover the potatoes with cold water in a large saucepan. Season with salt and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the celeriac to the water (it takes slightly less time than the potato which is why we don’t add them together from the beginning). Cook until tender then drain.

Mash well and add the milk, cream, butter and some seasoning. Some finely chopped chives or spring onions would go well here if you have any to hand. Enjoy!