Smoked Pheasant

Name: Smoked Pheasant
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Ingredients: 4 pheasant breasts.; 50 grams sea salt.; 50 grams brown sugar.; 2 teaspoons dried thyme.; 1 teaspoon dried sage.; 1 clove garlic, crushed.; 3 tablespoons sherry.

SpotX Wild Foods Recipe from Karen Skelton
Prep:20 minutes Cook:25 minutes Difficulty:1

Ingrediants:

4 pheasant breasts.
50 grams sea salt.
50 grams brown sugar.
2 teaspoons dried thyme.
1 teaspoon dried sage.
1 clove garlic, crushed.
3 tablespoons sherry.

Directions:

Mix the salt, brown sugar, thyme, sage and garlic in a bowl.
Add sherry, spoon by spoon, while stirring.
The mixture should resemble a rough paste.
Spread the paste evenly over the fillets.
Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for two hours.
Rinse the fillets with water and dry with kitchen paper.
Sprinkle a very thin layer of manuka sawdust in the box.
Place the fillets on the rack and close the lid.
Light the burner and leave for 20 minutes.
Serve the fillets.
They can be eaten hot or cold.

Pheasant Recipes

Barbecued Pheasant

English Pheasant

Stuffed Pheasant and Bacon Roll

Roasted Red Pepper Pheasant

Pheasant Casserole

Pheasant Pot Pie

Pheasants
Pheasants were introduced into New Zealand as a game bird for recreational hunters back in 1842; however, they did not really establish themselves until 1865 when successful breeding by the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society prompted the importation of more birds. Numbers increased and spread until the 1900s, when predators and competition for food from smaller imported birds was blamed for a drop in pheasant numbers. Breeding by the Acclimatisation Societies throughout New Zealand, combined with the breaking-in of farmland and careful husbandry by the now Fish & Game Councils, has since seen the birds flourish.