New Pheasant Recipe Asian Citrus Marinade

[Capt Cefus]

I wanted to do something different with the pheasant we recently acquired in South Dakota, so I tried this, and man oh man.

The key to this recipe is fileting the breast meat off the breast bone, but not cutting it completely off.   So, take a sharp filet knife and follow the breast bone along the rib cage and essentially 'lay' the breast open on one side, then do the same on the other side.   Now, position them in a oven baking dish so they are standing with the breast bone up and the rib cavity down toward the bottom of the dish.

You can also put the thighs in there with them.

MARINADE:
1/4 cup  Soy sauce
1 jar of Orange Ginger grilling marinade (should be able to find it in most grocery store Asian food sections -  the one I used was called Kona brand)
juice from 2 oranges
the zest from those two oranges cut up finely
two tablespoons of Chinese Hosin sauce
2 tablespoons of honey
1 sprig of fresh rosemary (pull the leaves off and chop them up)
1 sprig of fresh thyme (pull leaves off and chop)

Combine all the ingredients and spread over the birds and let marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.. maybe two.

Place around, under, inside the cavities of the breasts
2 yellow onions, cut in half and then slivered
2 medium sized carrots, thinly sliced on a bias
4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced on a bias


Preheat oven to 325 degrees.    Place birds on middle rack for 20 minutes.   Then add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of white wine, and add 1 small pat of butter to the top of each breast and turn the oven up to 425 for about 10 minutes.   

You should have an absolutely divine gravy.   The breast meat will easily cut off the carcass with just a couple of slices and you've got yourself a real nice platter of pheasant fingers with a citrus-y sauce.   It didn't last long on our table.

[At The Beach]

Did it with rock cornish hens, and it was deeee-lish !