Homemade Pheasant Cooking Stock and Broth
This recipe will help you turn any type of upland birds into good cooking stock and broth. It can be applied to grouse, pheasant, quail, chukar, and more.
Ingredients
- 1 pheasant (legs, wings, even neck and giblets, if possible)
- 1 Medium yellow onion chopped
- 2 Large carrots chopped
- ½ Stalk celery chopped
- ½ Cup whole black peppercorns
- 2 Sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 Sprigs fresh sage
- 2 Sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3-4 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- Sunflower oil
- Whisky to deglaze skillet or roasting pan
Optional
- Pheasant feet, peeled and declawed
- 3-4 Ounces fresh ginger chopped
- 1 Bunch green onions chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. In an oven-safe skillet or pan, add a thin layer of sunflower oil (or similar cooking oil) along with pheasant carcass(es). Lightly salt and pepper and roast for half hour. Add giblets, if you have them, and roast for another 15 minutes. (If you don’t have giblets, just roast carcass(es) for total of 45 minutes.)
- Remove skillet or pan and take carcass from skillet and pan set aside. Place skillet or pan on a burner, heat on medium, and deglaze skillet or pan with whisky to pick up any brown bits with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. You shouldn’t need more than a couple ounces of whisky to glaze. Add brown bits (after deglazing) to a large stock pot.
- In that same large stock pot, add a very thin layer of sunflower oil (or similar cooking oil) followed by chopped onion, carrots, and celery, along with black peppercorns, and heat on medium. Lightly salt and pepper and stir until seared.
- Once vegetables are seared and slightly soft, add roasted pheasant carcass(es) and giblets to stock pot. Evaluate where pheasant sits and make sure to add enough water to cover 3-4 inches above those bones. (Pheasant parts may float, so best to evaluate what level of water prior to adding water.)
- Add fresh herb sprigs and barely, barely simmer for 1-1/2 hours. You want your water to barely bubble (just a few pops here and there) with water temperature no higher than 180.
- After 1-1/2 hours, remove the fresh herb sprigs and cover pot. Continue to barely simmer on very low for 3 hours.
- Drain stock through paper-towel- or cheesecloth-covered sieve to pull out any debris. You can salt to taste once strained. Cool in fridge before covering or sealing (if not pressure canning). Stock will last for 7-10 to days in fridge, longer if frozen or pressured canned (up to 2 years).
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