• 2 Pheasant
• 2 Onion, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
• Goose fat
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Red Wine
• Pheasant stock
• ½ tsp blade Mace
• ½ tsp Black Peppercorns
• Seed and husk of 1 Star Anise
• Bay leaves (1 per pot)
1] Roast off the Pheasant, keep it on the pink side of cooked. Let it rest and strip the meat off.
2] Get a stock pot on with the bones for a rich stock.
3] Soften the Onion and Garlic in a frying pan using some of the goose fat and season with salt and pepper. Add the Red Wine and reduce.
4] Add your stock to the reduction and continue reducing.
5] Take the Mace, Peppercorns and Star Anise and grind using a pestle and mortar.
6] Put the Pheasant meat in a food processor with the spice mix and a 'little' of the liquid reduction.
7] Give the food processor a few short pulses to break up the meat, you want to keep some texture.
8] If it's too dry 'manually' mix in some more reduction. Don't use the processor, you will end up with pate.
9] Taste for season and adjust as appropriate.
10] Let the mixture cool thoroughly before spooning into your sterilised jars. Pop a Bay leaf on top.
11] Will keep for a good month unopened.
Serve with Apple and Pear jelly and some good strong cheese with melba toast or water biscuits.
This worked as a really tasty filling in puff pastry with some butter fried leeks added.
