PHEASANT AND ASPARAGUS BAKE
This recipe is from Janice Topham and Louise Santry.“During the shooting season this dish is a firm favourite at the shoot lunches, especially as we always use our own birds. It’s equally delicious with partridge, turkey or chicken.”
PREPARATION TIME: ONE DAY COOKING TIME: 30 MINUTES
SERVES 6-8 Ingredients
2 sticks of celery
1 carrot
1 onion
8 pheasant breasts
1 bay leaf
A few parsley stalks
1 can of asparagus
50g butter
75g plain flour
100ml milk
295ml tin of condensed chicken soup 200ml crème fraîche
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 tbsp chopped parsley
For the topping
25g butter
5 or 6 slices of bread
Method
Make the stock the day before. Roughly chop the celery, carrot and onion. Arrange the pheasant breasts snugly in a casserole dish with the bay leaf and parsley stalks on top. Season with salt and pepper, then cover all the meat and veg with cold water. Bring to the boil and then simmer for one-and-a-half to two hours until the pheasant breasts are tender. Leave to cool completely in the liquid, then measure out 500ml of the stock to use in the dish.
When the pheasant breasts are cool, cut each of them into four or five pieces and lay them out in an ovenproof dish. Cut the asparagus into thirds and place on top of the pheasant breasts.
In a separate pan, melt the butter and then stir in the flour to make a paste. Gradually add the stock, milk and chicken soup. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Remove the pan from the heat and add the crème fraîche, mustard and parsley.
Season the sauce to taste, then pour it over the pheasant breasts and asparagus. Gently mix everything together.
For the topping, turn the bread into breadcrumbs by whizzing the slices in a food processor. Melt the butter in a pan and add the breadcrumbs. Mix until well combined.
Pour the topping over the pheasant and asparagus mixture.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/ gas mark 4 for around 30 minutes. Best served with vegetables and either new or baked potatoes.