Name: Pheasant braised with leeks, cider & apples
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil -; 2 large pheasants, jointed -; 2 leeks, washed, trimmed and sliced -; 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon -; 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked -; 2 Bramley apples, thickly sliced -; 2 tbsp brandy or calvados -; 800ml dry cider -; 300ml chicken or game stock -; 70ml double cream -; ½ tsp mace or ground nutmeg -; 50g skinless roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped -; 1 tsp sea salt -; 1 tsp caster sugar -; 2 tbsp cider vinegar -; 2 juniper berries, crushed -; ½ Bramley apple, peeled, cubed -

Ingredients for - Pheasant braised with leeks, cider & apples

1. 2 tbsp olive oil

2. 2 large pheasants, jointed

3. 2 leeks, washed, trimmed and sliced

4. 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

5. 3 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked

6. 2 Bramley apples, thickly sliced

7. 2 tbsp brandy or calvados

8. 800ml dry cider

9. 300ml chicken or game stock

10. 70ml double cream

11. ½ tsp mace or ground nutmeg

12. 50g skinless roasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped

13. 1 tsp sea salt

14. 1 tsp caster sugar

15. 2 tbsp cider vinegar

16. 2 juniper berries, crushed

17. ½ Bramley apple, peeled, cubed

How to cook deliciously - Pheasant braised with leeks, cider & apples

1 . Stage

For the pickled apples, put the salt, sugar, vinegar and berries in a small pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add the apple cubes and set aside.

2 . Stage

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed, high-sided casserole and season the pheasant joints with salt. Brown them all over, rendering out some of the yellow fat into the pan. Remove to a plate and season with pepper. Add the leeks, bacon and thyme to the pan along with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper, and fry until the leeks have softened – about 8 mins. Add the apple slices and cook until starting to colour on both sides.

3 . Stage

Spoon in the brandy and cook until evaporated, add the cider and simmer for a few more mins to cook off the alcohol. Pour in the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and add the pheasant joints back to the pan, covering with a circle of baking parchment.

4 . Stage

After 15 mins, remove the breasts from the pan to a plate and return the circle of baking parchment to the pan. Cook gently for a further 20 mins, then remove all the pheasant pieces from the pan to a plate and turn the heat up to reduce the sauce. Boil hard for a few min until reduced, then stir in the cream and mace and turn off the heat. Return the pheasant pieces to the sauce - the residual heat will warm it perfectly.

5 . Stage

Divide the pheasant between plates and spoon over the sauce. Garnish with the pickled apples and hazelnuts. Serve with our celeriac colcannon.