Pot-roasted pheasant

600 kcal or less autumn carrot carrots dinner party game mains over an hour parsnip parsnips pheasant pheasants pot-roast roast pigeon seasonal shallot shallots streaky bacon

N/A

Serves 4

Source

Ingredients

2 pheasants, tied (ask your butcher to do this)

1 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned

50ml vegetable oil

2 rashers smoked streaky bacon, thinly sliced

8 shallots, peeled and left whole

2 carrots, peeled and quartered lengthways

2 parsnips, peeled and quartered lengthways

1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed

1 thyme sprig

1 marjoram sprig

2 bay leaves

100ml marsala or sweet sherry

50ml red wine

200ml chicken stock

1 tsp caster sugar

bread sauce, to serve

Method

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the pheasants with the flour, then heat the oil in a large flameproof dish. Brown the pheasants all over, then remove from the dish.

In the same dish, fry the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs with 1 tbsp of the dusting flour for 5 mins, until the vegetables start to colour. Put the pheasants and any resting juices back in the dish, pour on the Marsala, wine and stock, add the sugar, then cover and cook for 1 hr 30 mins - 1 hr 50 mins or until the leg meat easily comes away from the bone. Serve with bread sauce.