Pheasant Marsala Meatballs

"You can't teach an old dog new tricks," everyone has heard the saying. Normally I tend to agree. I have a thirteen-year-old yellow lab and she has no desire to even perform her old tricks, much less learn any new ones! I do have an exception to the rule though. Sienna is my seven-year-old chocolate lab. She is a typical lab: likes to eat no matter the time of day or if she just finished eating, hyper, puppy-like attitude complete with chewing on random objects. Once she chewed the end off a highlighter and pulled the marker out. She proceeded to draw on the bedspread. My niece was blamed, until the empty highlighter casing was found with suspicious chew marks.  Potty trained is an inconsistent term for her even though she appears to know better, and birds are an obsession. Now, while birds are an obsession, actually participating in a bird hunt as a contributing party member was not a strong point for Sienna. She contributed mostly headache.

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Sienna is a very obedient animal; however, while she aims to please, she is not the brightest. She spends her time trying to figure out what you want from her, which results in her usually sitting at, or more accurately on, your feet, staring at you as you trip over her, waiting for a command that she most likely does not understand. So, while bird hunting, Sienna spends her time on your feet and staring. I have tried getting her off my feet with, "Go get the bird!" Her ears perk a little and her head will drop to the side, almost posing a question. Sometimes she will even throw out an enthusiastic bark. But she immediately returns to sitting and staring in confusion. Definitely not a bird dog.

Sienna's time on hunts for the last six years has been spent trudging along on the heels of anyone who hasn't been annoyed by how closely she follows. She occasionally sniffs bushes, but I think it has mostly been because she seems to like sweet smells. She occasionally perks her ears when a gun is fired. Every once in awhile she will watch a bird fall from the sky, rush to its location, give if a good sniff, and come trotting back to your heels, tongue dragging but not much else. Definitely not a bird dog.

After six entirely worthless bird hunting seasons, Sienna the seven-year-old lab, which is the age veterinarians recommend switching your dog to geriatric dog food, decided to learn a new trick. She decided to become a bird dog. I don't know why, and I am not sure how she learned it, but she did it. Opening morning of the pheasant season, Sienna hoped out of her kennel, put her nose to the ground, and actually jumped a bird. No one shot it of course because that had never happened before and no one was prepared. She spent the rest of the day tracking down roosters, jumping, and even retrieving them (that's her in the picture). I still can't explain it, except for to say never write off an old dog for a new trick.

As for the recipe, I have not worked a ton with pheasant, but I get really excited every time I get the opportunity. Pheasant populations in Utah have been very low for quite a few years, but have been making a strong comeback for the past two years. Typically, I batter the breasts in a salty cracker and deep fry it, kind of a like a twist on fried chicken. After having such an abundant harvest this season, I have really been experimenting with some new recipes.

This recipe is a twist on chicken marsala, which is an Italian-based dish of chicken pieces covered in a Marsala wine and mushroom sauce. Instead of using chicken cutlets, I made up some ground pheasant meatballs and served them in a Marsala wine sauce. To start, turn on the oven broiler and put the pheasant, fat included although there probably won't be much, through a meat grinder. I purchased an inexpensive meat grinder last year, and it has been worth every penny.  I use it all the time to make my own elk burger, breakfast sausage, and ground turkey and now pheasant. I used the pheasant breasts for this recipe, but you could use the thigh meat as well. Anyway, after the pheasant has run through the processor it is time to create the meatballs.

In a large bowl, add the pheasant, panko bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, ground nutmeg, salt, pepper, milk, and egg. Using your hands, really work everything together to ensure that every meatball will have a taste of each ingredient. In case you don't have panko bread crumbs, you can always use Italian or plain bread crumbs. You could also just tear up some old bread and work that in as well. The crumbs are just there to give some substance to the meat mixture. Also, if you don't have pecorino cheese, or you don't want to spend the money on it because it is more expensive than some of the other cheeses available, you can add parmesan or Romano. This recipe would also work well with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Before I continue, I have to make a comment about these meatballs. Normally I don't think about raw meat as I am mixing it. I kind of just put my hands in, mash things around, and use the time to day dream. However, this time the aromas from the mixture caught my attention. I will admit, I usually skip on adding parsley to things. I don't think it has much flavor, and have always considered it a garnishment rather than an actual ingredient. I think this recipe changed my mind. The parsley mixed with the hint of nutmeg and the cheese smelled really fresh and actually got me even more excited for dinner. Just an observation, and I would be curious if anyone else experiences this when they work with fresh parsley?

Anyway, Roll the meat into balls about the size of your palm. Place them on a baking sheet coated with a little bit of oil. For easier clean-up, I lined my sheet with aluminum foil too. Put the meatballs under the broiler for five minutes. Set yourself a timer for these meatballs! Pheasant, like most wild game, is a very lean meat. It is much leaner than chicken or turkey you buy at the store. These meatballs will dry out much quicker than store bought meat, and then you will be sad because you are eating a dry meatball. Nobody likes a dry meatball! So, set the timer for five minutes and pull the tray out. At this point, don't worry about if the meatballs are cooked all the way through because they will actually finish cooking in the marsala sauce.

While your meatballs are browning, place the mushrooms in a preheated pan with some olive oil. Allow the mushrooms to brown for about five minutes. I used cremini mushrooms this time, but I think next time I will use baby portabellas. The creminis were perfectly fine in this sauce, I just happen to prefer baby portabellas to all other mushrooms and I only mentioned it to show that you can substitute different kinds of mushrooms for the this sauce. After the mushrooms have browned, add the minced shallot and cook an additional two to three minutes.

While browning the mushrooms, the burner should be on a medium-high heat. At this point, drop the heat down a bit to around medium and sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms. Pour in the remaining olive oil and start whisking the flour around the pan. Slowly add the marsala wine and continue whisking until you have a very smooth almost paste in the pan. This paste will act as the thickening agent for the sauce. Cook the flour and wine mixture for a minute or two to remove the flour taste, and then start adding the chicken broth. Continue whisking the entire time. I always get a bit scared when I try to thicken sauces. I think this fear comes from cream sauces, because if you do not continue stirring or if the heat is wrong the sauce will break and your cream will separate into chunky gross things and thin liquid that resembles the sauce you were trying to accomplish. Stock based sauces like this one are a little bit easier. The trick is to just keep stirring, and not freak out, as I tend to do.

Let the sauce simmer for about five minutes. Stir it occasionally, if for no other reason than to bask in your triumph as the sauce continues thicken as it simmers. After about five minutes, drop your meatballs into the sauce and allow the entire glorious concoction to continue simmering for another five minutes. This will finish the meatballs to cooked perfection and allow the flavors to meld together.

To serve, put the meatballs and mushrooms in a bowl and scoop out all of the sauce to cover everything. Garnish (there that is again!) with fresh chopped parsley and most cheese. The result is a very earthy, rich, and slightly sweet dish. Pheasant is a very mild flavored meat and pairs very nicely with the thick, slightly sweet marsala sauce. The mushrooms add the earthy tones and are enhanced by the sweet and salty touches of the cheese. I definitely licked my bowl clean!

For sides, I made a very simple arugula salad. Any kind of vegetable would work, such as sauteed asparagus, brussels sprouts, or a steamed leafy green. Bread for sopping up sauce would definitely help with licking the bowl clean. I think this would also be great served over rice, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes.

Before I sign off, this recipe would not have been possible without the work of a little chocolate lab. Don't worry, I shared a meatball with her.

Happy Hunting!

Yield: 4-6

Author: a 12 Gauge Girl

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Pheasant Marsala Meatballs

Tired of preparing pheasant the same way? Pheasant meatballs are great to add to any sauce for a different approach to upland game. These cheesy meatballs are amazing soaked in a creamy and silky marsala sauce and serve well over rice, noodles, or just by themselves.

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 25 Min

Ingredients

Pheasant Meatballs

• One pound ground pheasant
• One cup panko bread crumbs
• Half cup shredded cheese, pecorino, mozzarella, parmesan, Romano (Your choice)
• Quarter cup fresh chopped parsley
• One teaspoon nutmeg
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Two tablespoons milk
• One egg, beaten

Marsala Sauce

• One third cup Marsala wine
• Three tablespoons olive oil
• Eight ounces mushrooms, cremini, portabella, shitake (Your choice)
• One large shallot, minced
• One teaspoon flour
• One and a half cups chicken broth

Instructions

Meatballs Instructions

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Mix together the pound of ground pheasant, panko bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, nutmeg, milk and egg. Use your hands to incorporate everything really well.
3. Roll the meat mixture into balls about the size of the palm of your hand, or around a tablespoon size. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for five minutes. Set aside to cool.

Marsala Sauce Instructions

1. Using two tablespoons of the olive oil in a preheated pan, cook the mushrooms for five minutes and until lightly browned.
2. Add the shallots and cook an additional two to three minutes.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and add remaining olive oil. Whisk together, creating a thin buttery paste. Add the marsala wine and whisk. Cook for two or three minutes.
4. Slowly add the chicken broth to the pan, stirring continuously to thicken sauce. Bring to light boil and then let simmer for five minutes
5. Add meatballs and simmer for additional five minutes.
6. Serve with fresh chopped parsley and extra shredded cheese.

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Homemade Pheasant Stock

"Be worthy of your game." ~ George Bird Evans

Learning to process game meat has been an eye opening experience.  It is a challenging and ever-evolving labor.  Cleaning a harvest is different, not only for different groups of animals, but even for different species within a specific subgroup of animals.  For example, it is obvious that a fish is cleaned differently than a duck, but it isn't always obvious that a duck may be cleaned differently than a goose, or even another species of duck. Cleaning also varies on how you plan to prepare or use the animal.  I feel I have only touched on the surface of cleaning animals.

Cleaning is just the beginning step of processing game meat too.  Storing and preserving meat is an entirely different story.  And not to mention learning how to use different parts of the animal! We often hear stories of how Native Americans used every part of an animal. Meat was obviously processed and eaten, but hides or feathers were used for shelter creation or clothing, bones could be constructed into tools or weapons, and tendons or sinew could be used to create thread or string.  Of course, those few examples only brush on the surface of how many parts of an animal are useful.

Utilizing the entire animal was definitely a survival tactic for Native Americans, and as a modern day hunter, that drive for survival isn't quite the same.  However, many hunters strive to use as much of an animal as possible.  Whether this desire comes from a simple curiosity as to what you can come up with to use what you have at hand, or is from a deeper desire to use every part of the animal as a form of respect, there are limitless possibilities on what to create or how to utilize an animal in its entirety, and it is definitely a learning process.

So, while this might be a small step in terms of all the possible things I could use a pheasant for, it is a first step and I enjoyed trying something new with a different part of the bird.  After cleaning all the meat from the pheasant, I saved the carcass and made a simple pheasant stock.  While I was excited to find a use for the leftover bones of my pheasant harvest, my primary drive for creating a pheasant stock developed from a nagging feeling I got when using chicken stock in my pheasant recipes.  For some reason, it bothered me when I would create a soup or sauce recipe for my pheasant meal, but had to use chicken stock as the base.  It seemed silly. So, I made a small batch of pheasant stock from the carcass and can now use that as the base for whatever pheasant recipe I work on next.

For the stock, a few simple ingredients are necessary to help develop a deeper flavor profile.  Aside from the pheasant carcass, you will need carrots, celery, and onion.  I used around four medium sized carrots, three stalks of celery, and two medium sized onions.  You could also add a few cloves of garlic.  To create a little uniqueness in my stock, I also added in a four inch piece of whole ginger root.

Preheat the oven to 400 Fahrenheit and roast the pheasant carcass, celery, carrots, onion, and ginger root for 20 minutes.  There is no need to cut anything up or do any type of prep work before roasting.  The only step I took was the cut the onions in half.  I did not peel the carrots or even remove the onion skin.  If I had added garlic to this stock, I would have roasted the cloves whole as well.

Once the vegetables and pheasant are done roasting, transfer everything to a large pot.  I did remove some of the skin from the ginger root before adding it to the pot, but that was about it.  I left the onions whole and broke the celery in half so it would fit in the pot, but other than that not much work to be done!  At this point, toss in a couple of bay leaves and add enough water to the pot to cover everything by about two inches.  The amount of water needed will vary based on the size of your pot, but it should be somewhere between eight and twelve cups.  I used ten for my pot.  Heat the pot over a medium heat and watch until the water starts to boil.  Once it boils, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Let the stock simmer for a few hours, checking occasionally to make sure there is still enough liquid in the pot and that the pot is still just simmering and not boiling.  I let my stock simmer for about four hours.  The liquid reduced from ten cups to eight by the end of the cooking time.

If you are interested in creating a little bit of a different flavor profile for your pheasant stock, instead of using onions you could substitute leeks.  You could also add fennel for a hint of licorice.  Herbs can also be infused into the stock, such as thyme, sage, or basil.  Strain the entire pot through a fine mesh colander, and discard all the vegetables and carcass.  Allow the liquid to cool.  In the end, the stock should be a beautiful auburn color and have a mild savory flavor.

I plan on using my stock within the next couple of days, so I poured it into mason jars and stuck it in the fridge.  It should last in the fridge for about five days.  Canning the stock is another option; however the process for cooking is a bit different.  I prefer to freeze homemade stock that I am not going to use.  I put it in a large Tupperware container and just pop it in the freezer.  It will last indefinitely in the freezer.

This stock has a hint of the richness from the pheasant bones and also a clean, fresh taste from the vegetables.  It is not salty, which took me a minute to get used to.  When using store bought chicken stock, the stock is salted and, for me, that is the main flavor that stands out.  This pheasant stock is a base starting point for any sauces, broths, or soups you might create with it.  Think of the stock as a building block that will enhance and develop flavor in your dish.  This recipe allows you to extract the umami (one of the five basic tastes) to use as an ingredient from a bird carcass or other bones.  It also gives a little more reward to yourself and the animal that provided for you.

Happy Hunting!

Coconut Pheasant Soup

”All really wild scenery is attractive. The true hunter, the true lover of wilderness, loves all parts of the wilderness, just as the true lover of nature loves all seasons. There is no season of the year when the country is not more attractive than the city; and there is no portion of the wilderness, where game is found, in which it is not a keen pleasure to hunt.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

Cooking is a continuous learning process, and working with wild game is no exception.  For me, I tend to focus on building harmonious flavor profiles, and concentrating on that one area takes up more time than I have in a day.  However, there are hundreds of aspects in the cooking process that can all be developed, modified, re-evaluated, and maybe even re-invented.  I try to break myself of solely focusing on flavor medleys and try to improve and learn in different areas.  This recipe, coconut pheasant soup, allowed me to not only work on creating a great flavor profile, but also forced me to look at how textures work together, which is equally important in a dish's presentation.

I find pheasant meat to have a unique texture.  Many people compare pheasant to chicken.  I don't think the comparison is accurate when describing pheasant.  Pheasant, like chicken, is a mild flavored meat.  Some meats have very strong and distinct flavors, and working with them can be challenging because they fight with other flavors.  Pheasant is not like that and can be incorporated into a large number of dishes acting as a base for building flavor.

Where I think pheasant differs from chicken is the texture of the meat.  Pheasant is a bit more tough than chicken, which I am sure comes from the differences in how pheasant and chickens live and also how they eat.  Pheasant meat is a bit darker and much leaner than chicken also.  This difference can best be captured by simply pan frying a chicken breast and pheasant breast and comparing the two.  The chicken breast will be moist and light, because of the extra fat in the meat.  The pheasant will be tougher and much drier.  Because pheasant meat can dry out so quickly when cooked, it is commonly marinated, cooked low and slow, or even wrapped in a fat source, such as bacon, to create moisture and tenderness.

I find myself making a lot of meatball recipes because I think the slight toughness that develops when quickly cooking pheasant works well in meatball form.  However, after making a few meatball recipes, I decided that I wanted to try something else with the breast meat.  I am a big fan of Thai food, and especially a hot cup of tom kha gai.  A coconut based soup, tom kha gai is a spicy soup found in Thai and Lao cuisines.  Traditionally, it is prepared using galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, thai chili peppers, mushrooms, and fish sauce.  While chicken is the main protein source for the soup, many restaurants also offer shrimp or tofu options.  Besides having a deliciously sweet and spicy broth, one of my favorite attributes of tom kha gai is how it uses textures to enhance the soup.  The mushrooms are soft and tender, while the chicken, since it is boiled, has a meatier, tougher texture.  A little crunch can also be added with a sprinkling of green onions.  The broth is very thin and silky.

The last time I had tom kha gai, I made a mental note to try and create a version at home using pheasant, since pheasant has that meatier texture that I love in the soup.  So, here the recipe is! And I found it to be a great use of my pheasant.

To a large stock pot, add a tablespoon of cooking oil and heat over medium heat.   I used coconut oil for my cooking oil, but you could use vegetable, canola, olive, or whatever oil you prefer.  Add in the minced garlic, lemon grass, and grated ginger root.  Heat for two minutes, being careful not to burn the garlic.  If the garlic starts to brown, turn the heat down.  There are three different options for the lemon grass with this soup.  I used two tablespoons of lemon grass paste, which is found by the fresh herbs in a tube.  You could also use a stalk of fresh lemon grass.  The stalk can either be added whole to the soup and removed at the end, or you could mince it up and leave it in the soup.  The paste or minced stalk both add a bit of crunch to the soup, which some people may not like.  If you do not want the bits of crunchy lemon grass, I would suggest just adding the stalk.  I like the crunch, so I went with the paste.  It is really a personal preference on textures, so go with whatever method you find most appealing.

To the garlic and ginger, add one tablespoons of red curry paste.  Stir and coat everything with the paste.  Once incorporated, add a cup of the pheasant stock and dissolve any leftover chunks of the paste.  You also want to break up any thing sticking to the bottom of the pot, as this will add even more flavor to the soup base.  For the stock of this soup, I used homemade pheasant stock.  The recipe for it can be found here: Homemade Pheasant Stock.  You could also use chicken or vegetable stock.

Once the red curry is fully dissolved, add the rest of the pheasant stock, three tablespoons of fish sauce, and a tablespoon of honey.  If you don't have honey on hand, any sweetener of your choice will do, such as brown or white sugar.  Stir everything and bring to a light boil.  Once the soup base reaches a slow, rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for twenty minutes.  This will reduce the soup base down and concentrate the flavors of the lemon grass, ginger, and red curry.  The lemon grass, which is a culinary herb commonly found in Asian style cuisines, adds a subtle citrus flavor to the soup while the ginger gives a spicy, fresh crisp flavor, and the red curry adds a hint of heat.

After the twenty minutes, bring the heat back to medium and add the three cans of coconut milk.  The milk will create the smooth and silky texture found in the soup, and you can adjust how creamy you want the soup to be based on which coconut milk combination you use.  I used two cans of full fat coconut milk and one can of lite.  You could do three full fat, all three lite, or a combination of the two.  The more full fat cans you use, the thicker and creamy the soup base will be.  Bring the soup base back up to a gentle, rolling boil and add the pheasant meat chunks.  In order for the meat to cook correctly, make sure they are cut into bite size pieces all roughly the same size.  Allow to cook for five minutes.

Add the sliced mushrooms to the pot and allow the cook an additional five minutes.  With the mushrooms, I used white button mushrooms, but you can substitute in other types.  A lot of recipes use shitakes, which add a nutty element to the soup.  Baby portabellas or crimini would also be great in this soup, as both have an earthy flavor and a slightly meaty texture.

Turn the heat off from the pot and add the final ingredients to the soup: the fresh squeezed lime and orange juices, and the torn Thai basil.  I sometimes struggle with finding Thai basil at my grocery store.  They don't always carry it.  I tried to substitute in Italian basil, and I didn't like the way it worked with the curry flavor.  Thai basil has more of a spicy bite to it, while Italian basil can almost be described as sweet.  They are two very different flavors.  If you can't find Thai basil at your store, I would actually suggest substituting cilantro or green onions instead of Italian basil.

Well, that is it for this coconut pheasant soup recipe!  This soup is easy to put together and has a unique flavor profile of spicy and sweet with a hint of citrus, but it also has great textures and is beautiful to look at!  Enjoy!

Happy Hunting!