Upland BirdsLeslie Fangmanpheasant, main dish, ancient grains, mushrooms, insta-potComment

Mushroom Pheasant

Upland BirdsLeslie Fangmanpheasant, main dish, ancient grains, mushrooms, insta-potComment
Mushroom Pheasant

This is a recipe I came up with to use the whole bird, my Insta-pot and mushrooms. I also served it with a salad with one of my new favorite items, popped amaranth. I have listed some of the health benefits of the dish below and will continue to talk about amaranth and other ancient grains as we go on this food journey. I love the fun of popping this grain and how it makes not only a great topping for the salad but a nice compliment to the mushrooms in the pheasant dish. This is a simple meal with meat, potatoes and health benefits, I hope you enjoy!!

Amaranth: this gluten free grain has been cultivated for 8,000 years and is good for heart health, is a high quality protein, supports cellular metabolism an anti-inflammatory and is good for detox.

Mushrooms: are a great source of vitamin D, feed the good bacteria in your gut, and have anti-inflammatory properties.

Mushroom Pheasant

  • 2 tablespoons of salt

  • 2 tablespoons of black peppercorns

  • 1 tablespoon of fennel

  • 1 tablespoon of orange zest

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 4 springs of fresh sage

  • 1 whole pheasant

  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil

  • 1 leeks, diced

  • 1 fennel bulb, diced

  • 2 cups of stock

  • 3 cups of Baby Portabella Mushrooms, diced

  • 3 sprigs of fresh sage

  • 1 tablespoons of corn starch

  • 1/2 cup milk

Mix together the salt, pepper, fennel, orange zest, bay leaves and fresh sage. Place the pheasant in a plastic, glass or other non-reactive container add the spice mixture, add enough cold water to cover the pheasant and then cover and refrigerate over night.

Rinse off the pheasant and set aside. Set your insta-pot to saute add the olive oil, leeks and fennel. Stir and cook until just starting to brown and then add the stock to de-glaze the bottom of the pan. Turn the insta-pot off. add the pheasant, mushrooms and sage. put the lid on and set the pressure cooking setting for 1 and 1/2 hours. Then let it natural release before removing lid, it can be left to set for an other hour. Drain off half the liquid into a pot. Remove the bones and shred the meat into the remaining liquid in the insta-pot and replace the lid while you make the gravy.

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Place the liquid in the pot on the stove over med heat while you mix the milk and cornstarch. Whisk the corn starch mixture into the pot and thicken to make the gravy. Serve with mashed potatoes and a salad.

How to pop amaranth

It’s easy to make popped amaranth. all you need is a hot pan, no oil and no lid. The key is to have the right temp so that all the seeds pop immediately and don’t burn, it does go quick. This is a great video that I found to show you how to do it!