how to cook pheasant?

I was given a frozen, whole pheasant...I took my own advice & went to google for recipes...found several but different ones.  Should it be soaked in salt water or milk?  Anyone with some favorite hints.  I'm not familiar with cooking game, like venision & pheasants...are they likely to be gamey or extra greasy (like duck?).   I just have 1 & it looks small...I've roasted rock cornish game hens, chickens & turkeys...are pheasants likely to be tough birds? 

And, if I don't repond...please forgive me.  Lately when I've asked to be notified by email when someone responds...I don't hear anything.  I'll try & keep looking for answers.  Thank you.

I typed "pheasant" (without the quotes) in the search box at the top of the page and got 8 different recipes to choose from. This one looks good. (Click name to see the recipe in a new window.)

Pheasant with Cranberry Sauce recipe

"My Uncle Stanley, an avid hunter and fisherman, encouraged me to try game cooking, and this recipe is one of my successes," relates Sharon Shamosh from Rockville Center, New York. The tangy orange-cranberry sauce that complements the tender meat makes it ideal for the holidays.

1	pheasant (2 to 2 1/2 lb/1 to 1.25 kg)	
12	small shallots or pearl onions	
1/4 cup	butter	
	Salt and pepper
1 cup	dry white wine	
1 tbsp	brandy	
1/4 cup	chopped dried figs (about 3)	
3 tbsp	liquid honey
1 tbsp	fresh lemon juice	
	Bouquet garni*
4	fresh figs, stemmed and quartered	
2 tbsp	all-purpose flour	
1 cup	chicken stock	

• Remove any giblets from the pheasant, reserving them for another use, such as stock
• Pat the pheasant dry inside and out with paper towels. Place 2 shallots in the cavity and truss the pheasant by tying the legs together and the wings to the sides
• In a large skillet, melt half the butter over medium-high heat. Add the pheasant and cook, turning it until it’s browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes
• Place the pheasant breast side up on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with any butter remaining in the skillet
• Roast, uncovered, in a 400°F (200°C) oven, basting occasionally with pan juices, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 185°F (85°C) and the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced with a skewer, 45 to 55 minutes
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 10 shallots and cook, stirring, until golden, 5 minutes
• Stir in the wine and brandy and bring to a boil, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Stir in the dried figs, honey, lemon juice and bouquet garni; reduce the heat to medium-low
• Cover and cook until the shallots are just tender when pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes. Add the fresh figs and simmer for 2 minutes
• (The shallots and sauce can be prepared 1 day ahead, covered and refrigerated. Bring to a simmer before basting the pheasant.) Five minutes before the pheasant is cooked, baste with some of the juices from the skillet
• Remove the pheasant to a warm platter. With a slotted spoon, arrange the shallots and fig quarters around it, tent loosely with foil and let stand in a warm place while you finish the sauce
• Place the roasting pan over a burner and stir the flour into the drippings. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 2 minutes. Gradually stir in the stock and the contents of the skillet; cook, stirring, until thickened and bubbly, 3 to 5 minutes
• Discard the bouquet garni and season to taste with salt and pepper. Carve the pheasant and serve with the sauce
• *Make a bouquet garni by enclosing 3 sprigs of fresh parsley, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp/5 mL dried) and 2 bay leaves inside two stalks of celery and tie well with string

Pheasant with Apple Glaze

1 (about 3 lb/1.5 kg) pheasant
1 sprig (or 1/2 teaspoon/2 mL dried) fresh thyme
1 small onion, halved
2 cloves garlic, halved
1 cooking apple, peeled, quartered
1/4 cup (50 mL) brandy
1 tbsp (15 mL) flour
3/4 cup (175 mL) chicken stock
Pinch each salt and pepper
Glaze:
2 tbsp (25 mL) apple jelly
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each salt, pepper and cinnamon
2 tsp (10 mL or 1/2 tsp/2 mL dried) chopped fresh thyme

Preparation:

Roast Pheasant

The Pheasant And Its Broth

The Cabernet Braised Pheasant Legs

The Pheasant Breast

The Sauce

The Pheasant And Its Broth

The Cabernet Braised Pheasant Legs

The Pheasant Breast

The Sauce

The Assembly

From Michael Smith

Thanks for all the reponses...the automatic email features seems to be working.  They all sound good! 

Please come back and do a review!!! I would love to hear how you ended up preparing it and how you liked it!

Redawna

Not sure when I'll be cooking it...it's frozen solid & may live in the freezer for awhile.  My experience w/game is limited.  I had a package of venison for a long time...our DIL's father had sent it...she kept asking how we liked it...I kept saying it was still in the freezer.  Finally I found a recipe for BBQ'ed venison in TOH...I prepared it & didn't care for it...thought it was stringy, gamey & black (or at least a lot darker than any beef I'd ever eaten)....my DH (who's a lot like 'Mikey' the kid years ago who'd eat anything) thought it was fine.  So, I've been told to soak it in milk, salt water...I'm going to think about it.  The recipes that were sent all sound delicious. 

I live in SD and LOVE pheasants but I don't use many ingredients in the way I prepare them.  First of all you need to know that pheasants are very dry because there isn't much fat under the skin.  I usually only use the whole bird if I plan to make creamed pheasant.  Then I cook it and remove the meat from the bone to use.  Another favorite is to use the pheasant breasts, roll in seasoned flour, fry until brown then put in the crockpot with your favorite cream soup, add onions, salt and pepper (more pepper than salt is my preference with pheasant).  Cook on low for 4-6 hours and enjoy!  You can serve with mashed potatoes, rice, biscuits - whatever you like.  Hope you get some ideas from me!  Kathy

Thanks Kathy for the ideas on what to do with the 1 pheasant we were given.  My cousin in Iowa said he usually soaks them in salt water before freezing & also usually pulls the skin off so he doesn't have to deal with the feathers.  I've not cooked much game...this is the 1st pheasant & I also did a BBQ with some venison.  I'm really not sure what's in the bag...looks whole & may have the skin removed...don't seen any feathers or feel any pin feathers.

How I cooked it:  I did soak it in salt water for about 2 hours....then it went into the crockpot w/some potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, garlic cloves...added about 1/2 cup chicken bouillion & topped it w/a can of creamed chicken soup.  Cooked it on low for 8 hours...it came out whole (by the time I cook a chicken it's sometimes removed by slotted spoon)...sliced nicely...I used my immersion blender to make a gravy & ground up some of the veggies in the thicken gravy...thought it was good...no gamy taste...if I didn't know what I was eating, I would of thought it was dry chicken. 

 Hi,

When we were kids my father and grandfather hunted pheasant.  They are dry.  When my mom cooked them she soaked them in salt water for an hour or two, then she took a whole bottle of red wine and poured it all over the pheasant inside the body cavity too.  She then fried it in oil/butter and onions, salt and pepper.   Like when you are frying chicken.  I remember when the pheasant was brown she would add wine and water and put the lid on the pan and simmer till the bird was tender.  One other way she cooked the bird. Was to soak as above, and then she put it in one of those oven bags with wine, onions and salt and pepper.  Bake until tender.  

Deb