Thursday 7 November 2013

Food From Field And Hedgerow .....


Cheers M'dears .... 
how's your day been .? 


 Just thought I would share our good fortune with you ... we were so pleased today to receive a gift of Pheasant.... fresh from the fields and woods.

Oh boy .... yummy.



 Not only a brace of pheasant .. but all dressed ready for the oven ... now kind was that.


 Now its not for the faint hearted ... look away if you find it difficult to deal with real ... raw meat. 
In this pic you can see the holes in the breast meat where the shot went ... I think it is important to face up to the fact that .. yes .. we have to kill things if we want to eat their flesh ... tis no good being squeamish about this.
Its either the real deal ... or stick to lentils.

Anyway one bag went in the freezer and another in the pan with a knob of butter to brown.




 Now is the time of year to look at the Blackberry Port.
This is made by simply ... picking your blackberries .. picking over them to remove any debris etc (do not wash .. you want to preserve all the natural yeasts)...put a layer in a lidded bucket (inch deep) and cover in a good layer of sugar.
Repeat with as many layers as you can pick over the summer ... keep covered by the lid.
The natural yeasts will turn the juice into a Port type drink .. just lovely.
Today I simply removed as much of the solid fruit as I could ... draining it well ... and poured the liquid through some muslin cloth to remove any last bits.



 And poured it into sterilised bottles .. we sampled it of course ... just to make sure it was okay.
I am sure it must be a health drink ... all that vitamin C an all ...
makes you feel all warm inside (and want to go asleep!)



 Back to the pheasant ... nicely browned in the butter ... add an onion ... carrot .. celery (its what I had) .. stir around a bit ... an oxo .. and the magic ingredient ... 
a good glassful of Blackberry Port.

I put the whole panful into a casserole dish .. bit extra water and a spoonful of gooseberry and apple jam ... a good stir and into a slow oven to do its thing for a couple of hours.



 We've been at work this morning ... standing in a chilly wind .. time for a sit down and a glass of something warming ... health reasons of course ... you understand.




Well ... tea was just lovely ... 
pheasant casserole served simply with fluffy mashed potatoes.

Fresh food from field and hedgerow ... what more could we want ...what a treat ... we are so lucky.

Mind you ... 
I doubt we would appreciate it if we had it every week.


xx

18 comments:

  1. Oh- it does look like you had a very delightful & VERY tasty day !!
    Your pheasant dish looks delicious !!
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  2. It looks wonderful. And you've put me in the mood for a glass of sloe gin!

    ReplyDelete
  3. i've never had pheasant, but yours looks WONDERFULLY delicious!!

    your blog always makes me......happy! i love how you make use of the things around you and how you find beauty in "pre-loved" things. and your food posts always make me HUNGRY! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. that looks and sounds wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oooo can i come to yours for tea
    Twiggy xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. I like a pheasant cooked cuddled under a bit of belly pork and a dollop of redcurrant jelly and yes a glass of port in the gravy. The breasts look very tempting the way you have prepared them. I quite like an English Partridge or 2 as well.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks yummy. I,m loving the sound of the Blackberry Port, just the kind of medicine you need on a cold day. Beats going to Dr Sainsburys!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now that's PROPER food!at very little cost.
    Gill

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yummy! I bet my Rowan jelly would go well with pheasant..........just need a pheasant!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I like the idea of that blackberry drink! I`m not a friend of pheasant meat, as I don`t like the taste much. As a young girl I once had the unpleasant task of plucking several of these birds. The nasty smell of the wild flesh stayed with me and has put me off from ever eating the meat. Your meal does look tasty, though.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Food for free - you can't beat it! That casserole looked SO GOOD and I bet it tasted wonderful too.

    I've never heard of the Blackberry Port recipe, despite having umpteen country/farmhouse/cottage type cookery books (umpteen actually equals 200 plus . . .) I think I may give that a whirl, as I have loads of blackberries in the freezer. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Lovely! I wouldn't want to prepare pheasant, or have it hanging in my house, but the end result is very nice. OK I am a wimp. I am just amazed that you still have blackberries at this time of year - or did you do the blackberry pot a while ago?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ooh Victoria, what a lovely meal ... You'd think you were living in the lap of luxury and not being frugal at all, with that lovely food and drink!

    Looks amazing and you've made me feel very hungry xxx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Now our kids have left so we cannot really justify a goose at Christmas its pheasant. Interesting and worth copying way of cooking. We had a friend who regularly gave us pheasant, then one day the pheasant was decidedly squashed. Turned out the gifts were road kill. Now get them from the butcher.....

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've never had pheasant either, it looks delicious, and the blackberry port looks so rich and tasty!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I really enjoyed this post, and have enjoyed many of the posts through the last several months, just wondering how long (weeks, day, etc) you left the port before you drained it?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh my, that casserole looks delish! Making may mouth water over here.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I can't think of anything nicer than Blackberry Port, something I'll definitely be giving a go next year.

    As for the pheasant, I'll stick to the lentils, although Lovely Hubby would be round like a shot for a meal of pheasant cooked with Blackberry Port.

    ReplyDelete

I do so like to read your thoughts and my blogg-y doings ... Thankyou for leaving a comment.