Pheasant Breast Escalope

Ingredients

Serving 2

	Ingredients
2 x	Pheasant breast
Enough to lightly coat them	Panko breadcrumbs
3 x	Thyme
	Salt & Pepper
	For the butter
250g x	Unsalted butter, softened
20g x	Olive oil
1 tbsp x	Finely chopped shallot
4 x	Large garlic cloves, finely grated
6 x	Anchovies, finely chopped
2 tsp x	Capers, finely chopped
	A good sprig of mixed parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives, finely chopped
2 tbsp x	Ketchup
2 tsp x	French mustard
2 tsp x	Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp x	Brandy
1 tsp x	Chopped thyme
1⁄2 tsp	Salt
	A touch of grated nutmeg
	A tiny but very important dash of sherry vinegar
	Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

To prepare the pheasant breasts

Place the pheasant breast down on a clean board with the pointy end of the breast pointed away from you.

Use a sharp boning knife

to slice into the thick end of the breast, half way up, out towards the other side. Try and get the two halves even, and be sure to stop cutting once you are 2/3 of the way through the breast.

Then fold out the breast

so you now have one broader but flatter piece of meat. You can also give them a gentle tap with a rolling pin in the middle, but take care not to completely mash them; we want some texture and we want them to be easy to handle too.

Season them with

salt, pepper, and a few thyme leaves, then dip them in a tray of, or scatter over, some Panko breadcrumbs – just enough to lightly coat them. We are not going for a full flour egg and breadcrumbing here, but a lighter coating so the meat doesn’t get lost.

These can be stored

easily with parchment between the layers in a tray, or even vac packed and frozen in pairs or whatever amount best suits your likely usage.

For the butter

Warm the butter to just above room temperature, so that it is soft enough to whip, and do just that with a whisk until it looks all light and fluffy. Now, whip in the ketchup and mustard and then the olive oil – use the good stuff!

Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon

beat the rest of the ingredients into the now soft and light butter, taking care to add the liquids a little at a time so the butter won’t split.

Scoop the butter out

of the mixing bowl onto a piece of fresh baking parchment and roll into a sort of sausage and chill this in the fridge for a few hours to set. Alternatively, use what you need now whilst still soft and then wrap the rest for use at a later date and freeze.

Pheasant

Protein (100g)	27
Calories (100g)	119
Fat (100g)	1.2
Cholesterol (100g)	66
Selenium (100g)	0.37

View Pheasant recipes