Blackend Bricked Pheasant
I started this recipe with a simple brine then allowed the birds to sit in the brine for four to six hours, in the refrigerator. I wouldn't advise skipping this step, as it will help prevent the bird from overcooking, while also keeping the inside of the bird flavorful and moist. After brining the birds, it's important to get the skin as dry as possible, so bloat the pheasant skin with paper towels, then place back in the refrigerator for another hour or so to dry. It's also important to preheat the oven beforehand, because we'll actually cook the bird in the oven, only using the stove top to form the blackened crust. When the pheasant skin is dry and you're ready to start cooking, make sure that you're using an oven safe skillet, cast iron is best. We'll need to spatchcock our bird in order to allow it to lay flat in the skillet, we need all that skin making contact with the skillet. Spatchcocking is a method of cooking where you cut out the birds spine with a pair of kitchen shears, then crack the breast bone, this allow the bird to lay flat. Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet and allow it to melt and start smoking, it should be screaming hot before you ever place your bird in it. Coat the bird all over with butter and generously cover with the blackening spice mixture. You want as much of the skin as possible to come into contact with the hot skillet, I used a couple of bricks from the backyard, wrapped in aluminum foil, to weigh the bird down, pressing it firm against the hot cast iron skillet. You could also use another heavy skillet to press down on the bird. Allow to cook only a few minutes before flipping the bird over, then move straight to the oven. Be forewarned, if you attempt this in your house, be prepared to deal with the smoke.
About the Author : Jeff Davis
Visit authors website | View more articlesYou may think cooking and recipes don’t have much to do with a website dedicated to hunting dogs ... but really, why do we hunt? Sure, we enjoy watching our dogs work in the field and being outdoors, but ultimately, hunting is about survival and feeding our families. We might as well try to do it well. I'm not a chef and definitely no food authority ... but I do like to eat and enjoy cooking. After searching for people willing to share their recipes on Gundog Central, without much success, I decided to try to do a few on my own, with my wife Tami's help. The recipes I share here are things I like to eat and have made here at home. I've tried to include step-by-step instructions with each meal describing exactly how I did it, but my method may not be best, if you decide to try a recipe posted here, please use whatever technique you think works best, I'm simply sharing how I did it. You'll see a lot of recipes where I've tried to make things from starch, when I could have just used store bought ingredients, simply because I wanted to learn how something was done. My goal is to continually update these recipes as I learn new things and techniques. These are my attempts at creating good, home cooked food, that I would like to eat! If I'm sharing it here, my family and I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.
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