Once a year, Rachel and I go on a pheasant shoot. To be clear, it's a shoot, not a hunt. It’s part of a yearly board meeting, and while we all wish we could get together and chase wild birds instead, the logistics, timing, and lack of wifi for the meeting makes a proper hunt near impossible. That all being said, it’s a ton of fun- the guides are great, their dogs are impressive, the opportunities are irreplicable in the wild, and pheasant is something we can’t get enough of in the freezer.

While most of these places offer bird cleaning services, Rachel and I like to opt to take our birds home whole. I’ve mentioned it before numerous times, but it's hard to get enough chicken-like protein from the wild. We like to hang our birds for a few days, then pluck them, trying our best to save as much skin-on meat as possible. 

This time around, we cooked some of the thighs in a confit with a whole lot of garlic and olive oil. This gives the dish an overall lighter flavor profile than using a heavier fat like duck or lard. We go pretty heavy on the garlic as well. After a couple of hours simmering in EVOO, the garlic is tender, spreadable, and mild with a nutty undertone- a perfect accompaniment to almost any pheasant dish.

Just like most confit recipes, the method is simple. Season overnight, braise in oil, drain and crisp to serve. We measure the salt and pepper with a percentage ratio like our sausage recipes, but you don't have to be that precise. Because we are not trying to preserve the meat, you can just season the thighs with the same amount of salt and pepper you would use offhand. 

Refrigerate the pheasant overnight to allow the seasoning to penetrate, which also firms up the meat and draws out some excess moisture, overall concentrating the pheasant flavors.

Once cooked, crisp up the pheasant skin under a broiler, in an air fryer, or using our favorite method, in a deep fryer, and serve over something starchy. We ate this batch with roasted garlic polenta, heavy on the parmesan, with some demi-glace and mushrooms.

Garlic Pheasant Confit

Ingredients:

6-8 Pheasant legs, skin on

1.5% salt

0.5% black pepper

Rosemary

2 heads of garlic, whole and unpeeled

~1 quart extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Season the pheasant legs with salt and pepper. Place in a non reactive container with the rosemary, cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Preheat the oven to 275F. Place pheasant legs, herbs, and garlic heads in a dutch oven, add enough olive oil to almost cover everything. Cover the dutch oven with a lid and place in the center of the oven.

Cook for 2-3 hours until fork tender. Remove the lid, and allow the pheasant to cool in the oil. This gives the pheasant time to soak up some of the garlic infused oil, and also makes it easier to handle. Once cool enough to handle without falling apart, place on a wire rack to drain excess oil. Reserve the olive oil and roasted garlic for other uses.

Preheat your broiler, air fryer, or deep fryer and cook pheasant legs until skin is crispy, about 1-3 minutes.