NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/902203
38 NEBRASKAland • NOVEMBER 2017 with salt, pepper and garlic powder and lightly brown them in oil in a skillet. Once browned, place the pieces, along with a sliced onion and one 12-ounce can of chicken stock and an equal amount of water, in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Cover the dish and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 1.5 to 2 hours. If all the liquid evaporates during cooking, add a bit more water, but not too much, as little liquid should remain in the pan when the dish is done. Out of the oven, the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender with a deep- fried taste. Lard is my preferred oil, both for this recipe and anytime I brown or fry pheasant. You cannot beat it for flavor. Remember your grandmother's fried chicken? Frying in lard is probably what made it taste so good. I render my own lard, but it can still be found in most grocery stores. Olive oil is my second oil of choice. Another quick and easy recipe for pheasant legs and wings, or again the entire bird, is slow-cooked pheasant with sauerkraut. In the morning, flour and season the pheasant pieces with salt, pepper and dried sweet basil and brown them in a skillet. If in a hurry, forego the flouring and browning. Next, place a layer of the browned or raw pieces in a Crock-Pot, followed by a layer of sauerkraut, apple slices and a sprinkling of caraway seed. Continue the layering, leaving room at the top of the Crock-Pot for a few potatoes. I set the Crock- Pot at a high temperature for a few hours, then reduce the heat and cook until supper time. Fans of the old Bohemia Café in Omaha will enjoy this recipe. If you prefer the dish Bavarian style, sprinkle a little brown sugar between the layers. Also tasty are browned pheasant legs and wings slow cooked in a cup or two of red cooking wine. Or slow cook them in chicken stock, and once tender, use a fork to shred the meat from the bones. The shredded meat can be used in ways ranging from pheasant salad sandwiches to sautéed in taco spices and added to Mexican dishes. When butchering pheasants, I sometimes leave the wings and legs attached to the carcass and use them as soup meat. To make soup stock, I gently boil the carcasses in a pot of water for a few hours along with a chopped onion or two, carrots, celery, fresh garlic and parsley and a teaspoon or so each of salt, pepper, sweet basil, rosemary, thyme and sage. When the meat is tender, I pull the carcasses from the pot to cool and then strip the meat from the bones. Next, I strain the broth through a colander to remove small bones and the vegetables and then add the meat back to the broth. Pheasant hearts, gizzards and livers (not shown) are similar in taste and texture to those of chicken. Pheasant legs and wings slow cooked with sauerkraut and potatoes make a complete meal. Pheasants can be baked or slow cooked whole or butchered into pieces for other dishes.