How to Clean a Pheasant
Note: A pheasant foot, fully feathered wing, or fully feathered head is required to be attached to transport a pheasant.
- First, remove the wings by cutting them off as close to the body as possible. Watch out for broken bones.
- Remove the head by cutting thru the neck as close to the body as possible.
- The next step is to remove the legs. Remove the leg by cutting at the “knee” joint.
- Starting at the top of the breast, skin the bird by pulling the skin toward the tail. As you begin skinning, the crop will be exposed. By noting what food is in the crop you can begin to plan your next hunt to take advantage of this information
- Skin all the way to the tail. Remove tail by cutting it off at the point where it joins the body.
- Cut along both sides of the backbone from neck to tail.
- Pull backbone from tail to neck. Most of the entrails will come with it. Remove any remaining entrails and the lungs.
- After washing in cold water, this bird is ready for packaging. Cleaned quickly and properly this bird will make for some fine eating.
Recommended Recipies:
Pheasant Nuggetsn - Iowa Game Wardens' Cookbook
- 1 dressed pheasant breast
- Cracker crumbs
- 1 beaten egg
- Butter, for frying
Slice pheasant breast into strips about 1/4-inch thick. Dip in beaten egg and roll in cracker crumbs. Fry in hot melted butter until brown.
Pheasant and Dumplings - Pheasant, Quail, Cottontail - Upland Birds and Small Game From Field to Feast (Hank Shaw)
Broth:
- 1 pheasant
- Salt
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1/2 a parsnip, or 1 small parsnip
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 ounce dried mushrooms (any kind)
Toss all the broth ingredients into a large stockpot, cover with a least 2 quarts of water (you can save any extra broth for later) and bring to a strong simmer, about 200˚F if you're checking. Drop the heat to below a simmer-look for lots of steaming and just a few bubbles on the surface - and let everything cook for 20 minutes. Fish out the pheasant and remove the breast meat. Shred it, then set it aside in the refrigerator and return the rest of the pheasant to the pot. Cook for as long as it takes for the meat to want to fall off the leg bones, from 45 minutes for a pen-raised bird to 21/2 hours for an old rooster.
When the pheasant is done, gently remove it from the broth and let it cool enought to handle. Pick all the meat off the bones, being sure to remove all those nasty tendons in the pheasant's legs. Put the meat into the bowl with the breast meat.
Strain the broth. Put a fine-meshed strainer that has a paper towel set inside it over a large bowl or pot. Pour the stock through this. You might need to change paper towels halfway through if it gets too gunked up. Pour the broth into a pot, and set it on low heat.
Stew:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 carrots, sliced into rounds
- 2 celery stalks, sliced about 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 a parsnip, or 1 small parsnip, chopped
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup vermouth or dry sherry
- 1 cup fresh or frozen peas
- 1 cup chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- Salt and black pepper
To make the stew, heat the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven set over medium-high heat. Saute the carrot, celery, and parsnip for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring often. You don't want the veggies to brown. Add the flour and stir to combine. Everything in the pot will seize up, but that's OK. Drop the heat to medium-low and cook, stiring often, until the flour turns the color of coffee with cream. Add the vermouth and stir well, then start adding the broth, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly, until it looks silky. It should take 6 to 8 cups.
Add the pheasant meat and bring this to a simmer. Cook gently until the veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.
Dumplings:
- 2 cups cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons melted butter, slightly cooled
- 1/4 cup milk
While the stew is simmering, make the dumpling dough. Mix together all the dry ingredients, then add the melted butter and the milk. Stir just to combine-do not overwork the dough.
Drop the dough by the teaspoonful into the simmering stew. When all the dough is in, cover the pot and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. It is very important that the stew not boil during this time, or your dumplings will get tough.
At 15 minutes, uncover the pot and add the peas and parsley, stirring gently to combine. Let this cook a minute or two, then turn off the heat. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, then the heavy cream. Serve at once.
Off-Site Resources:
How to Field Dress and Prepare Game Birds (Outdoor Life)
How to Field Dress a Pheasant (Colorado Parks & Wildlife)