This recipe is part of my “Tea with Granny” blog post on my Flavour Favourites blog. I’d love it if you could give that post a read as well please – thank you!

 Ingredients (serves 2):

• 1 x Whole Pheasant (wild is best, but whatever you can find)
• Bunch of Sage, chopped
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• Zest and Juice of 1 Blood Orange
• 1 x Jar of Cranberry Sauce (I make mine using this recipe from Nigella Lawson)
• Duchess Potatoes (I used this recipe from Taste.com.au)
• Carrots, Parsnips and Beetroot for Roasting
• Sprig of Rosemary
• Bunch of Cavello Nero Kale, blanched for a couple of minutes in salted boiling water.

Method:

• Clean your Pheasant thoroughly.  Pour over some boiling water to make the skin of the bird taut, then pat completely dry with kitchen paper.
• Preheat the oven to 180 degs celsius.
• Season the bird with smoked sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.
• Melt the butter in a microwave for a few seconds and add the chopped sage and the zest of the blood orange.
• Cut a piece of unbleached muslin big enough that it will wrap around the bird.  This method will ensure that the most flavour is infused into the bird and to keep it lovely and moist when roasting.
• Using a baster brush, cover the whole muslin with the butter sage mix.
• Wrap the bird in the butter soaked muslin (not too tightly, just so), place in a roasting tray and place in the oven (the muslin will not burn) for about 35-45 minutes until the juices run clear when you skewer the bird in the thickest part (thigh or breast).
• Meanwhile, peel and cut your vegetables for roasting and toss in sea salt, black pepper, rapeseed oil and a few rosemary leaves.  Roast in an oven for 30-40 minutes until golden.
• Par boil your potatoes and follow the recipe above for Duchess Potatoes (seived or put through a potato mincer/ricer, enriched with egg yolks and butter and piped into rosettes and baked in the oven for about 12 minutes).
• Place a saucepan on a low heat.  Add in the cranberry sauce and the juice of a whole blood orange.  Mix together thoroughly and heat through, then turn off the heat and allow for the flavours to combine.
• When the pheasant is ready, take it out of the oven and place on a warm plate and cover to rest briefly for about 5-10 minutes.
• Blanch the Kale, refresh is cold water briefly and drain on kitchen paper.
• When all the elements are ready and your plates are warmed, carve the pheasant (one breast and one leg each), serve up the roasted roots, golden baked Duchess Potatoes, Kale and the sweet, tangy sauce.

And….Enjoy!