best way to cook pheasant

hey-ah: boss at work gave me 2 pheasants , and i am wondering what is the very best way to cook them ... (oven , slow cooker , grill , pressure cooker ) i am not a hunter of any kind and i think i only have had deer meat once ... now i hear when you cook pheasant they get dried out or they have wild taste to them ... now boss says after the hunt they turned in there pheasants for cleaned ones , so i need to make sure that they do not have any bee - bees in them , nice what do i have to do , play the operation game on them

I am going to smoke a few for Thanksgiving, along with a fried Turkey, Smoked Ham, and a Roasted Duck. Look like I will be feeding about 30 at last count. In the past I have had very good success "Larding" the pheasant. Basically just wrapping the pheasant with good bacon during the smoking process. This allows for a reasonable long smoke without the fear of having it dry out during the cooking process. http://bbq.about.com/od/poultry/a/aa121005a.htm

We have pheasant all the time. Put in crock pot, surround with carrots and potatoes or rutabaga. Sprinkle with a little garlic powder and chicken bullion. Cover with cream of mushroom soup or 1 can cream mushroom and 1 can cream celery soup. Add some beer for moisture and flavor and start. The juice when done, can be thickened for gravy or throw in some rice towards the end for more side dish.

wrap 2-3 pieces of bacon around the breast and brown in frying pan until bacon is sizzling cooked about half way and breast has browned too. usually 4-5 min on med heat. then place in a roaster with your favorite cut up veggies. I like celery, onion, baby reds etc. pour 1 can per breast cream of chicken/mushroom soup over the top, cover and bake at 350 for 45 min and enjoy.

It's been awhile since I cooked a pheasant but I used to do it a couple of ways. If I had to breast it out, then I would brine it and grill with seasonings. Otherwise I used to bake it. I would put in a pan whole. Season with salt, pepper, and various spices (shatever I found in the cabinet). I would also pour a red beer in the pan. It would be moist and tasty. The temp was about 375 degrees but I can't remember the time. Just cook it like a chicken and you'll be fine.

It's been a while since I've pheasant hunted but back when I did, I would usually either use them in booyah or I'd make a pheasant/wild rice cream-based soup. Doubt I could find a recipe because it usually just got thrown together. I'm sure there's plenty of cream of chicken/wild rice soup recipes on the internet.

I don't see pheasant as gamey, they just have flavor, and good flavor at that. We are just used to eating bland factory farmed crap these days. The birds were likely pen raised and will most likely be rather mild. Use them in any way you would use chicken. I personally like them pan fried with a light flour breading. As for the bbs, you should be able to see the hole made by the bb and there is often feathers pulled into the meat to make it easier to see.

Now I gave up the pheasant hunting years ago, but still buy a game farm bird at Woodmans East here in Madison ocasionally (around $14.00 for a frozen bird, no lead!). Bought a smoked one last year, was not very good cold/thawed. I took the carcass, boiled it in water, picked off the meat, some Uncle Ben's long cook wild rice in with the stock and meat, verrry good. Rates up there along with the best thing I have ever ate!

I wouldn't worry too much about digging out all of the BB's. I pick out the ones I can see or there is a obvious hole where one may be but don't get carried away. Just chew gently. I'm guessing that you have 2 whole birds considering that is how they typically get cleaned at a game farm. Season whole bird well with some sort of Cajun, southwest or similar seasoning and salt. Let sit for a few hours or over night. Light a charcoal grill. Shove all the charcoal to one side. Place a handful of woodchips on the charcoal. Lay pheasant over fire with breast towards coals, legs away. Flip over after about 5 mins (look for some grill marks and a little charring). Add another handful of woodchips. After grill marks are on other side move bird to other (cool) side of the grill. Keep breast side towards coals. Add another handful of woodchips and let cook another 1/2 hr or so. Remove from grill and cover with foil for 10-20 mins and allow to rest. If breast filets are removed, season with salt and pepper. Lay directly on a nuclear hot grill grate for not more than 1 minute per side (you only want some charring, not fully cooked). Make a tray with aluminum foil with about 1" sides and large enough to hold however many breasts you are cooking. Add 1-2 pats of butter for each breast and about 1/2" layer of either BBQ sauce or picante sauce. Reduce grill heat to medium and place partially cooked breast in tray on grill. Cook 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Flip once and spoon sauce over breasts 2-3 times while cooking. Serve on a toasted bun as a sandwich. Leg and thigh portions are good brined and thoroughly smoked and eaten cold or in a soup.

I guess it depends a little bit on what they look like now. Are they whole carcasses or just breast pieces. If they are breast pieces, you could cube them, marinate in teriyaki, wrap in bacon and toothpick, brush with honey or maple syrup, and then bake them. Great little snacky treats there. Another option for the breats is slit a pocket in them and stuff with a apple pecan dressing and bake. I have heard of people making Jalepeno poppers with them, but I have never tried that before. Sounds really good. I really like the idea of a homemade cream soup with some cooked pieces added. Like Brocoli cheese or Leek and potato. In a bread bowl..... Oh man. Man, now I have to go find some pheasant.

If concerned about lead shot, I'd cut up the breast meat in strips batter and pan fry. You should be able to locate and remove any shot/feathers. The rest of the bird can be put in a pot of water and boil. After cooking, you can go through and remove bones shot or feathers. Add veggies, spices and the flaked meat back to the broth and have a little soup.