9-13 SS Pheasant

 Field cooking pheasant better than a five-star restaurant.

 My good friend Christopher Claunch is an upland bird hunting fool. This boy loves it all the dogs, the comaraderie, the challenge, the outdoors and of course, cooking the meal out in the field. So on a recent hunt he had with a good buddy of his, a pal who doubted that they would get any pheasant because populations had been dwindling, Claunchy not only led him to the promised land, but made a meal that’ll make your mouth water.  “Unlike chukars or quail where we sometimes breast them out and make sandwiches, we went ahead and de-feathered and skinned these pheasant and we brushed them with a pomegranate reduction sauce. I stuffed it with cranberry dressing which is simply diced celery, onions and dried cranberries mixed in with your stuffing as you make it. Not that it wasn’t carbohydrate rich enough, but I served it with potato pancakes which are grated potatoes and onions mixed together and fried in a little bit of olive oil and served with a dollop of sour cream on top. The flavor if you do 50% onions and 50% potatoes is amazing. Then we had barbecued brussels sprouts where I put the little white things on the bones and on a big serving platter and we actually sat down and enjoyed it with a really good Cabernet. It was one of the greatest hunting trips in Idaho history and I will tell you right now Sparky, the pheasant are back.