are you game?

Recently I was given four pheasant breasts from a former co-worker. Her husband belongs to a New Jersey hunting club and periodically goes hunting for various game birds. My husband enjoys eating wild game. It’s unfortunate that when you visit a local restaurant it’s just by chance you’ll luck out and find venison or quail on the menu.
Last fall, I contacted local area restaurants where I’ve heard game has been served. Apparently, the chefs must rely on local hunters to provide the game for impromptu meals.​

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Therefore, I was fortunate when I was offered these pheasants but I also found it a challenge to find recipes. I do have a rather old wild game cook book from my husband, however, tastes have evolved since this book was published. Epicurious.com and web searches didn’t yield much. My husband, on the other hand, did locate a British website, “The Field”, which resulted in several options for me. I decided to try Parmesan Pheasant Breasts with Crispy Ham. The author’s daughter adapted a Jamie Oliver recipe and I tweaked the prep method a bit. The recipe was very straightforward, pepper, fresh sage, Parmesan cheese, prosciutto and extra virgin olive oil.

​My tweak was to flatten the breasts before putting the seasonings on the pheasant. Although my pheasant was defrosting for a day or two, they were still a bit frozen when they were cooked. The recipe called for a quick sauté on both sides, but since the breasts weren’t uniform in size, I had to place them in a hot oven until cooked through.
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For my first attempt at cooking game birds, I did alright! My husband enjoyed them, he had two, and I also shared one with our son-in-law. 

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