National Roast Pheasant Day | Orange Roast Pheasant
It’s National Roast Pheasant Day!
Turns out…roast pheasant is my jam. This thing and I had a kinship as soon as I opened the packaging. I knew he would make for a delicious meal and so I took to calling him sir as I seasoned him with salt and pepper and squeezed an orange over top.
The pheasant doesn’t need much. Liberal salt and pepper, some citrus, and paired with rustic stuffing, and you have a meal that really, really works, with minimal effort. Unfortunately for you, you’ll have to wait until National Wild Foods Day on October 28th to see what goes into the side dish.
My only issue is I wish the pheasant cooked faster. In a perfect world, my oven would heat to 500 degrees in less than a minute and my roast pheasant would be done in two. I wouldn’t wait to eat this thing. And then I did and it was completely magical. Juicy meat, totally crispy skin, just like I like it.
Orange Roast Pheasant
Ingredients:
- 1 pheasant
- 1 orange
- Kosher salt and black pepper
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 500*F. Remove any gizzards from the pheasant.
- Season liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the orange in half. Use half the orange to squirt the pheasant with the juices on the outside. Cut the other half of the orange into wedges and place inside the cavity of the pheasant.
- Roast 45 minutes, or until juices run clear.
I’ve never cooked pheasant before but “Sir” looks pretty amazing!
Wow. Amazing pictures and killer recipe. I’m making something similar soon but now you have me hankering pheasant! It definitely looks like it’s your jam 🙂 That crispy orange skin…yummmm. Need. Right. Now.
i love pheasant, but havent had it in ages..but cooking it at 500 degrees for 45 minutes would make me kinda nervous since idk if i’ve ever cooked anything at 500 degrees..i envisioning it coming out burned to a crisp..but if you say it wont be, then i need to find some me some pheasant! lol
You would definitely think it would burn the pheasant to a crisp, but it didn’t! I saw Emeril’s recipe for roast pheasant which was my inspiration for this post. He cooked his at 500 degrees for 15 minutes and then for another 30-40!
I like the fact that this recipe is very plain and easy. The Pheasant I have to cook however is skinless (easier cleaning from field to freezer). Any suggestions with skinless Pheasant?
I’m sorry to say that I don’t. Pleasant is a more delicate bird so you could run the risk of drying it out if you cook it in the same way I’ve described to crisp up the skin. My guess is to cook skinless pleasant in the same way you would skinless chicken breasts.