When my assistants and I are performing demonstrations at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, we will often whip up soemthing to see what happens. We have lots of successful (experiments) and a few failed ones. This one was a popular success.
Oven Roasted Potatoes 1 lb of baby red potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp of fresh rosemary, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp sea salt
Optional ingredients:
chopped bacon
green onions, diced
red peppers, diced
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a ceramic dish, add your uncut baby potatoes (very small potatoes). Drizzle the 3 tbsp olive oil on top of the potatoes and stir until they are completely covered. Sprinkle the rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper and stir the potatoes again.
Place inside the oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir the potatoes and place back into the oven for another 10 minutes; repeat until the potatoes are tender. Remove from the oven and let cool 2-3 minutes before serving.
Native to Asia, pheasants were introduced as wild game in Great Britain during the 10th century by the Normans and the Romano-British. Although hunted to near extinction in the early 17th century, pheasant was rediscovered as choice game 150 years later. Since then, pheasants have been widely bred and managed by professional gamekeepers. Although pheasant was and still is very popular among nobles, it was illegal for commoners to enjoy the decadent and savory meat. In the case of pheasant, feathers were prized and reserved for nobility; anyone caught wearing pheasant feathers, were labeled as a poacher and were often put to death.
It is no secret that I love cooking and eating game. I been very lucky obtaining pheasant at our local higher-end and Asian grocery stores; they are already cleaned and prepared for cooking, which makes my job as a cook easier. Preparing a pheasant for cooking is usually no easy task. It usually requires removing the skin and feathers, preparing the insides and removing the smaller joints. There are a number of resources available that I like to use including http://www.doityourself.com/stry/cleaning-wild-pheasant#b.
How to Prepare Wild Fowl for Cooking Below is how my family has cleaned wild fowl for generations. I am aware that many of my readers are may be faint of heart and could not deal with explicit directions on preparing wild bird game for cooking. If you are one of my readers, I would recommend skipping the next paragraph and moving onto the recipe.
Cleaning pheasant is a lot easier than most wild game. The first step of cleaning pheasant is removing the feathers. This can be challenging at times as you would pull the feathers in the opposite direction that they lay. An additional step is to use a torch or lighter to remove any extra smaller feathers. Many people choose to save the feathers for their renaissance costuming needs as they make nice additions to hats and brooches, if your societal station allows it. Next, remove the head, wings and feet with a sharp knife or kitchen scissors. To remove the entrails, carefully cut the abdomen and then carefully scoop out the organs out with a finger; taking special care to ensure the trachea and other neck structures are removed as well. Once the bird’s chest and abdomen cavity are cleaned of the larger debris, rinse the inside and outside of the bird with cold water and it is not ready for the oven.
Ingredients:
Pheasant wrapped in bacon before cooking
1 pheasant, cleaned and skinned
1 lb. of sliced bacon
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
½ tsp of black pepper, fresh ground
½ tsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a shallow dish coat the inside of the pan with olive oil; the pan can be metal or ceramic. In a small bowl, add the salt, pepper and minced garlic. Remove the fresh thyme leaves from the sprigs and add the leaves to the small bowl with the other ingredients; dispose of the thyme branches. Take a knife and split the pheasant in half the length way from neck to rear. With your hands, take the spice mixture and apply it liberally to the outside and inside the cavity of the pheasant.
Lay strips of bacon evenly, surrounding the pheasant from top to bottom. The bacon will help keep the pheasant from drying out and some additional flavor to the meat. Lay the bacon-wrapped pheasant in the oiled pan and cover the pheasant before placing in the oven.
Final dish: Pheasant with Bacon and Green Beans
The pheasant should bake covered for 20 – 25 minutes. Pull the pheasant out, uncover and put it back in the oven in the opposite direction it was cooking originally for another 10-15 minutes until the bacon is crisp on the outside. The meat should be done, but one can double check by using a meat thermometer and the internal temperature should be 160-165 degrees. The meat should rest for 5 minutes before serving. I usually serve the pheasant with the bacon as they complement each other.
In the photo, I prepared fresh green beans with the pheasant. In the past, I have served pheasant with oven-roasted turnips, parsnips, and carrots to add some additional color to the plate. I usually serve pheasant with a robust red wine.
This dish was made during the 2013 Siouxland Renaissance Festival on a cooking fire. You can great this dish at home either on a stove top or on a cooking fire. I used a cast iron pot and would recommend using the same.
Bacon Hash made at the Siouxland Renaissance Festival
Ingredients:
1 lb. bacon, cut up in 1 inch strips
1 cup fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
4 large carrots, large julienne cut
4 medium red potatoes, washed and 3/4″ cubed
2 medium gloves of garlic
sea salt (to taste)
Over medium heat add the bacon. The fat will render quicker than it will cook. When the bacon is half done, remove it from the pot and pour the bacon fat into a bowl (do not dispose of it yet). Put the pot back on the heat and add 4 tablespoons of bacon fat (olive oil may be used if you are watching your fat content). Add all the vegetables at one time to the pot and stir constantly for two minutes. Add the bacon back in to the pot and continue cooking for 4 more minutes. Add a 1/4 cup of water and continue to stir. The dish is ready when the carrots and potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and let it set for 2 minutes before serving.
This past weekend, I did a small catering event that required a lot of finger food. Below is a recipe for mushroom pâté, a vegan friendly recipe. It looked like real pâté, but tasted even better. My apologies for the lack of a photo; the guests began eating it before I could document my work.
Ingredients:
1 lb sliced portabella mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
½ cup pine nuts
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cup water
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp fresh thyme
Pinch of fresh rosemary, minced
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
Sea salt to taste
Begin heating a pan on medium heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, shallots, and pine nuts and begin to sauté. After about two minutes, add the thyme, rosemary, black and cayenne pepper and continue to sauté for 2 more minutes. While stirring, add the mushrooms. Keep stirring so that everything is covered in oil and will not stick to the pan. Add 1 cup of water and cover the pan and continue to let it cook.
The goal is to let the mushrooms cook down a bit so that they are soft. If the water is evaporating too quickly, add more water. When the mushrooms are soft, drain off most of the extra water and place the cooked mushrooms and spices in a food processor or mortar and pestle and begin to mix and pulverize the cooked ingredients. Place the mixture into a mold and refrigerate for two hours until firm. Place the mold upside down, onto a plate and release it from the mold. The pâté is ready to serve. It is best served with roasted garlic or caramelized shallots on toasted bread or crackers.
I try to find time to cook healthy meals. Mixing my sense of historical cooking, my love of ethnic foods, and the need and want to eat healthier, I challenge myself to create new recipes. Some will have a historical slant and others will have more international flair; this particular recipe is Asian influenced. It is low carb and low-fat and has plenty of protein, fruit and vegetable servings. I hope you like it as much as I do.
Asian Style Chicken Meatballs
Ingredients:
1 lb of ground chicken 1/2 cup of pineapple, minced 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated 1 egg 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder 2 tbsp of soy sauce
Combine all off the ingredients in a non-metal bowl and blend well.
Grab a heaping tablespoon of mixture and place on a greased cookie sheet. Continue until mixture is gone. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the meatballs are cooking gather the rest
of the ingredients:
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 cups snap pea pods Optional: 1 cup red peppers, sliced thin or more pineapple in 1/2 inch cubes
Once the meatballs are done, heat up a skillet and add the oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and vegetables together and continue cooking until the vegetables are el dente (bright green, not overcooked).
