Plank Cooked Pheasant Breast

This plank cooked pheasant breast recipe is perfect slow roasted in the smoker. I’ve wrapped the pheasant breast in bacon primarily to stop it drying out but also to add a natural saltiness to the dish.

Certainly in England where I come from plank cooking isn’t very well known at all and I have to say that presenting the finished article on the plank actually provides a good talking point during the dinner. I serve this at Halloween when the pheasant shooting season is well underway and there are quality birds a plenty.

How well hung should your pheasant be? The longer it is hung (up to 7 days) the stronger the taste and (in theory) the more tender the meat. It's a matter of personal taste, I'm not a big fan of strong game flavour so for this recipe I like to use a bird which has been hung for just a day or two. The taste is very mild and similar to chicken yet the texture is tender.

Cooking time is approximately 1½ hours, preparation time is almost none existent, so the most that you have to think about is remembering to soak your cooking planks well in advance.

To serve, I sliced mine on the diagonal and used it to top off a salad. I'll leave the choice of salad leaves to you, place the slices on top and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Serves:- 4 people

Preparation Time:- 15 minutes
Cooking Time:- 1½ hours

Total Time:- 1 hour 45 minutes

Allergens:

None

Ingredients:-

4 Pheasant breasts
4 rashers of middle bacon (unsmoked)
A good handful of basil leaves
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:-

Place your pheasant breasts on the pre-soaked cooking plank and grind the black pepper over to suit your taste (you don't need salt because this will come from the bacon).

Next sprinkle on a few basil leaves and then cover each breast with a rasher of bacon remembering to tuck in the bacon like if you were making a bed.

Place the plank in a smoker set up for indirect cooking or oven at 225°F / 110°C for 1½ hours and that’s it.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes, this will allow time for the pheasant breast to relax and re-absorb some of the juices that have exuded during the cooking. Slice on the diagonal (do this on the plank, you don't need a separate board) and then plate up.

Here It Is, Plank Cooked Pheasant Breast - The Finished Article

You can also serve this plank cooked pheasant breast as finger food sliced thickly to expose the colourful cross section, it makes for a tasty Halloween snack.

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