So we went to river cottage cafe a few weeks ago and Paulie had a pheasant hash there which tasted delicious. I was watching Saturday kitchen best bites and saw James Atherton poach a crown of pheasant before roasting it to keep it moist. What a great idea for both! So this recipe was born along with bbc goodfood pickled cabbage and it was really delicious. I even had the leftovers in my lunchbox. It is such a nice way to use pheasant other than just a roast and the pickled cabbage offsets so beautifully against the sweet tasty hash.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the hash

• 1 pheasant crown
• 1 leek
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• knob of butter
• 1 ltr + 200ml chicken stock
• seasoning

For the pickled red cabbage

• 1 small or 1/2 large red cabbage, cored and sliced
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 tsp golden caster sugar
• 1 tbsp juniper berries
• 100ml Red Wine Vinegar

Directions

For the cabbage

1. Put the sliced cabbage in a large heatproof bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, sliced onions and juniper berries into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and cook until the onion starts to soften, around 10 minutes. Add the reduced mixture to the cabbage, stir to combine well and leave to cool completely. Place in fridge until needed.

For the pheasant hash

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C
2. Add the pheasant to a stock pan, pour in 1 ltr of chicken stock. Bring to the boil then reduce right down to a very light simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes then remove and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Once cooked leave to rest
3. While the pheasant rests prepare the sweet potatoes and add to a pan of boiling water, simmer and cook for 7 minutes until they slightly soften.
4. Pick the pheasant meat from the crown.
5. To cook the hash, heat a knob of butter in a large saucepan, add the sliced leeks and sauté for around 5 minutes until they start to soften. remove from pan
6. in the same pan add in the sweet potatoes and sauté in a little oil for 20 minutes on a low heat until cripy
7. Next add in the picked pheasant breast, the cooked Leeks and the remainder of the chicken stock and heat through for a few minutes. Serve with the pickled cabbage. Enjoy.