Duration
3 hours
Serves
6 to 8
Pan-smoking is something that I used to do a lot in restaurant kitchens. For this recipe, I only wanted to kiss the meat with that smokey flavor and color. Find a deep-sided pan (hotel or half-hotel for the restaurant folk), soak some chips, place them in the bottom of the pan, put your meat on a rack, and cover in tinfoil. Add the pan to a burner and smoke the meat fast on high heat. It works like a charm. The meat won’t be cooked all the way through, but the stewing process does the rest.
This dish is also about celebrating fresh herbs, which are about all I have time to grow, and I love having them around. They are a game changer in the culinary world and save money in the long run if you cook with a ton of fresh herbs. Plus, you can dry what's left at the end of the season, and the final result is far superior to the dried herbs you can buy at the store.
This is a stew, not a soup, so the final result will be thick, rich, and creamy and will have far less liquid than a traditional soup. Simply thin with more stock if you'd like and reseason. You could also chuck all of this in a crock pot instead of a Dutch oven, but be sure to cook the raw alcohol flavor from the white wine beforehand.
Ingredients
- 2 pheasant, broken down into pieces
- 3 cups green cabbage, diced
- 2 cups gold potato, diced
- 1½ cups rutabaga, diced
- 1½ cups parsnip, diced
- 1½ cups turnip, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 qt. pheasant or game stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cup white wine
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 6 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. corn starch
- 2 tbsp. sherry or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. Kosher coarse salt
- 2 tsp. cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp. juniper, freshly ground
- 2 bay leaves
- A few sprigs fresh thyme
- A few sprigs fresh rosemary
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
- Break down and smoke the pheasant. A hard, hot smoke until the meat begins to brown and have that smokey hue. You want the smoke flavor but do not want it to overpower the dish. The pheasant doesn’t need to be cooked through. Use a regular smoker or try the burner technique I described above.
- Prepare the vegetables. Dice the root vegetables, potato, and cabbage and set aside. Now dice the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and set aside separately from the root vegetables, potato, and cabbage.
- Add three tablespoons of butter and the olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pot on high heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, juniper, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is translucent and beginning to brown on the edges. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce into the tomato paste.
- Add root vegetables, potato, and cabbage. Stir until combined. Add the game stock and check for seasoning. Bring the stew to a simmer.
- Add the heavy cream and whole pieces of smoked pheasant.
- Bring to a strong simmer, then cover, reduce heat, and cook on the stovetop for 75 to 90 minutes or until the pheasant is pull-apart tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
- Remove the pheasant, pull it into large chunks, and add the meat back to the stew.
- Remove a half cup of liquid and stir in the corn starch; pour that slurry into the stew and simmer until the sauce has thickened to a thin gravy.
- Finish by mixing in the Italian parsley, dill, remaining butter, and lemon juice.
- Serve with more fresh herbs and croutons or a crusty bread.
Pan-smoking is something that I used to do a lot in restaurant kitchens. For this recipe, I only wanted to kiss the meat with that smokey flavor and color. Find a deep-sided pan (hotel or half-hotel for the restaurant folk), soak some chips, place them in the bottom of the pan, put your meat on a rack, and cover in tinfoil. Add the pan to a burner and smoke the meat fast on high heat. It works like a charm. The meat won’t be cooked all the way through, but the stewing process does the rest.
This dish is also about celebrating fresh herbs, which are about all I have time to grow, and I love having them around. They are a game changer in the culinary world and save money in the long run if you cook with a ton of fresh herbs. Plus, you can dry what's left at the end of the season, and the final result is far superior to the dried herbs you can buy at the store.
This is a stew, not a soup, so the final result will be thick, rich, and creamy and will have far less liquid than a traditional soup. Simply thin with more stock if you'd like and reseason. You could also chuck all of this in a crock pot instead of a Dutch oven, but be sure to cook the raw alcohol flavor from the white wine beforehand.
Ingredients
- 2 pheasant, broken down into pieces
- 3 cups green cabbage, diced
- 2 cups gold potato, diced
- 1½ cups rutabaga, diced
- 1½ cups parsnip, diced
- 1½ cups turnip, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 1 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 qt. pheasant or game stock
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cup white wine
- ¼ cup fresh dill, finely chopped
- ¼ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 6 tbsp. butter
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 3 tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 tbsp. corn starch
- 2 tbsp. sherry or apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp. Kosher coarse salt
- 2 tsp. cracked black pepper
- 2 tsp. juniper, freshly ground
- 2 bay leaves
- A few sprigs fresh thyme
- A few sprigs fresh rosemary
Also works with
Special equipment
Preparation
- Break down and smoke the pheasant. A hard, hot smoke until the meat begins to brown and have that smokey hue. You want the smoke flavor but do not want it to overpower the dish. The pheasant doesn’t need to be cooked through. Use a regular smoker or try the burner technique I described above.
- Prepare the vegetables. Dice the root vegetables, potato, and cabbage and set aside. Now dice the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and set aside separately from the root vegetables, potato, and cabbage.
- Add three tablespoons of butter and the olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pot on high heat. Add the carrot, celery, onion, garlic, juniper, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is translucent and beginning to brown on the edges. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated. Pour in the white wine and let it reduce into the tomato paste.
- Add root vegetables, potato, and cabbage. Stir until combined. Add the game stock and check for seasoning. Bring the stew to a simmer.
- Add the heavy cream and whole pieces of smoked pheasant.
- Bring to a strong simmer, then cover, reduce heat, and cook on the stovetop for 75 to 90 minutes or until the pheasant is pull-apart tender and the vegetables are cooked through.
- Remove the pheasant, pull it into large chunks, and add the meat back to the stew.
- Remove a half cup of liquid and stir in the corn starch; pour that slurry into the stew and simmer until the sauce has thickened to a thin gravy.
- Finish by mixing in the Italian parsley, dill, remaining butter, and lemon juice.
- Serve with more fresh herbs and croutons or a crusty bread.