Nebraskaland

14 Nebraskaland • January-February 2025 By Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley CREAMY PHEASANT AND POTATO BAKE Seared or poached pheasant breasts will be easiest, but if you plan on using pheasant thighs and/or legs, first cook them in a slow cooker with some broth until they're pull-off-bone tender before adding the meat into the casserole. This is a to-your-taste kind of dish. You can add as much or as little pheasant as you like. Although you don't technically need a mandolin to slice the potatoes, having one does mean the difference between an "easy" recipe and a labor intensive one. Servings: 6-8 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 2 hours Ingredients: • 1 cup cooked pheasant meat, diced • 2 tbsp. butter, separated • 3 leeks • 2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, plus extra • 1 tsp. kosher salt, plus extra • Freshly cracked pepper, to taste • 1 ⁄2 cup grated mild cheddar cheese • 1 cup grated Gruyere cheese, plus extra • 2 cloves garlic, minced • 1 sprig of thyme • 1 bay leaf • 1 1 ⁄4 cup of heavy creamy • 1 ⁄4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1. Trim leeks by cutting off the green tops and root ends. Slice the white/ light green parts in half lengthwise and rinse between the layers to remove dirt and sand. Then, thinly slice the leeks. In a pan with a lid, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Add sliced leeks and a pinch of salt. Cook on low, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When leeks become soft, turn off heat and set aside. 2. Peel potatoes and cut into 1 ⁄8-inch slices with a mandolin (or knife). In a large bowl, toss potato slices with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper. Grease a 2-quart gratin or casserole dish. 3. Layer about a third of the sliced potato in the bottom of the dish, overlapping them. Then distribute a third of the cooked leek, half of the pheasant meat, half of the grated cheddar and a third of the grated gruyere. Then repeat with another third of the potato slices, third of the leek, third of the gruyere and remaining pheasant and cheddar. Finally, top off the casserole with remaining potato, leek and gruyere cheese. Grate more gruyere and prepare more potato if needed. Place casserole onto a rimmed cookie sheet and set aside. 4. Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. In the pan where you cooked the leeks, melt a pat of butter with minced garlic, thyme and bay leaf, and stir for 30 seconds over medium-low. Then add heavy cream and ground nutmeg, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring often. Pour the cream mixture over the potato layers. Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until potato becomes tender. Then remove foil and bake longer until golden on top, about 20 minutes. Allow casserole to cool about 10 minutes before serving. IN THE FIELD A casserole of pheasant, potato, leeks, cheese and cream. JENNY NGUYEN-WHEATLEY, NEBRASKALAND

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