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
