Modern Wild Man ~ Creamed Pheasant

Modern Wild Man

Creamed Pheasant - A family tradition and favorite!

Creamed pheasant with a side of mashed potatoes and cheesy broccoli.

Upland Pheasant is one of the finest table fairs either domestic or wild.  I grew up hunting pheasants on the western plains of Kansas and the pheasant hunt wass more of a right of passage and a tradition than just a pastime or hobby.  When the north wind blows from a November sky my thoughts often turn to the sight and sound of a flushing rooster pheasant, if only in my mind. 

The holiday season is in full force and folks are meeting and sharing and eating together.  Try out this recipe that I first learned to make from my great grandmother as one of our family traditions.  This is a stomach and heart warming dish to share the bounty of a hunt with friends and family.

If you are in the mood to read about my recent pheasant opener check it out here!

Happy Hunting!

Modern Wild Man Creamed Pheasant

Ingredients~

boneless skinless breast from two pheasant

2 C all purpose flour

1 T Old Bay seasoning

2 t Kosher Salt

Several grinds fresh black pepper

2 t Garlic Powder

2 t Onion Powder 

1 gallon zip top bag

Canola Oil

1 Pint heavy  cream

All the fixings for creamed pheasant.

The pheasant breast should be cleaned and trimmed of any connective tissue, feathers or skin.  Cut tenders about 3/8" thick long ways and across the grain.  Pat the cut pheasant strips dry on all sides with a clean paper towel or two.

Add the flour, Old Bay, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and pepper into the zip top bag and mix well. 

In a heavy dutch or deep cast iron skillet pour in the canola oil and turn on the heat to medium or medium high.  I like to use a thermometer and bring the oil up to around 350 - 360 degrees.

When the oil is hot and ready to go, drop the cut pheasant strips into the zip top bag with the seasoned flour for a good shake, rub and shake again.  Add the coated pheasant pieces to the hot oil and be careful not to get splattered.  Don't overcrowd the pan, it may take two or three pan fulls to get all the pheasant pieces done.

Use a pair of tongs or a fry spider to gently turn the pheasant pieces as they brown.  If the heat stays right around the 350 mark the tenders will be done to perfection when they are golden brown on all sides.

As the pheasant strips brown move them out of the hot oil and onto a paper towel or screen rack to drain the excess oil.  Move new pieces into the skillet until all the pheasant is cooked golden and draining on a paper towel.

Next, either pour off the leftover oil you fried your pheasant in, or get a new heavy pan out.  On low heat line the pan with all the browned pheasant pieces you just finished frying.  You might have to work to squeeze them all in, but try and make them fit.  Finally, pour over all the warm pieces of breaded and fried pheasant the heavy cream.  Try and get a good coating on all the pheasant and let it run all around the bottom of the pan.

Slowly cook the pheasant in heavy cream over low / medium low heat until it warms through and thickens to your liking.  Salt and pepper the finished skillet to your liking.

Creamed pheasant is a hearty comforting dish that makes its own gravy to pour over mashed potatoes.

Breaded and fried pheasant in heavy cream.

Serve with a fresh garden salad, a side of mashed potatoes, green beans or broccoli and you've got a meal to write home about!

Thanks for checking out this recipe, be sure to check out my other posts here: Modern Wild Man

If you want to read more about upland hunting here are a couple posts about quail hunting in Kansas:

Modern Wild Man ~ A perfect Saturday

Modern Wild Man ~ The Northern Bobwhite

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~See you out there ~

Modern Wild Man and Meg on a great pheasant hunt!

Modern Wild Man ~ It's Pheasant Season

Modern Wild Man

Hunting Pheasant is an Uplanders Dream

My favorite time of year is fall, and this year's pheasant opener did not disappoint!

Modern Wild Man and Meg on the pheasant opener!

The Ring Neck Pheasant

The Great Plains of North America is a wonder of nature full of vast expanses and true both in heart and deed.  The land of the prairie is honest and wholesome, but rugged and tough at the same time.  Fall on the prairie is a magical time.  Giant cottonwood trees turn a brilliant yellow, the lush grasses of May and June have come full circle offering golden seed to the autumn winds.  The prairie lands produce a bounty of grain; grain to feed countless mouths nurtured by fertile plains, the summer sun and raised by generations of men and women who care for the land.  It is this combination of grass and field, feed and cover across the plains of Kansas, Nebraska and the Dakotas that offers the sportsman a chance to pursue the magic of the pheasant hunt.

Upland hunting is tradition, right of passage and addictive.  Families gather for opening day with the same institution of any family holiday.  Cousins learn to play together around family farms, smiles and laughter are shared over stories of season openers passed and meals are set around family kitchens and dining tables on opening weekends all across the heartland.  If you are fortunate enough to be invited to such an occasion, count yourself lucky.  The fellowship and camaraderie are second to none.  If you are extra lucky there will be a bounty of birds to go along with the fellowship.

The pheasant is at home on the prairie.

The ringneck pheasant is a sturdy bird, tough and agile.  It is a perfect match for the beauty and the harshness of the plains.  Native to Asia and introduced to North America as a game bird, it is so popular that it is the state bird of South Dakota.  Pheasants make themselves at home in many types of cover including crop fields and grassy prairies.  It's this ability to adapt that makes pursuing the pheasant so addictive.  As a sportsman you must know and understand your quarry.  Trying to find and approach a wary bird that's adapt in so many environments can be both frustrating and fulfilling.  Pheasants become well versed at the game of chase quickly and learn to run and flush early at the sight and sounds of hunters.  Both adept on the ground and in the air, hunters must consider the ground cover, wind and escape routes when in pursuit.

Hunting Fellowship and Friendships are My Favorite

Recently I was able to join a long time friend of Modern Wild Man on an opening weekend hunt.  The experience was full and bursting at the seams.  Through the course of only a day and a half we managed to squeeze in family fellowship and meals, hot cups of coffee in the early morning, nearly 20 miles of walking and game bags heavy with birds.  This was Meg's first real pheasant hunt and an amazing way to kick off her second hunting season.

Modern Wild Man with Meg, a proud dog happy to work!

Opening Day Hunt

Opening morning was cool and damp.  Low clouds hung across the landscape like a heavy curtain.  Hunters rolled out of bed into the early morning darkness with anticipation.  Hot cups of coffee cupped between chilled hands rolled steam above the cup rim around eager faces.  The steam lingering lazily under cap brims pulled low.  The first rays of morning light brought with them a promise and an unforeseen adventure.  Men in leather boots and tan vests patched with orange blocks lined up neatly across the stubble of last summer's wheat in hopes of flushing a wild bird within shotgun range.  Meg quickly went to work, her nose to the ground, lifting it every so often to check the wind.  Step by step our group of hunters worked across the crop field, shotguns gripped at the ready with a bird dog in the lead.  Looking down the line a group of men all together to enjoy a bond of hunting and outdoorsmanship; builders and repairmen, fathers and sons, brothers and friends eyes squinted and steps light across the season's first field.  It wasn't long until the flash of wings and bright plumage took to the air.  The cackle of a rooster in flight.  The flush of a rooster pheasant from cover is explosive and tenacious, almost daring the hunter to shoot.  The nearest hunter in line to the bird snapped his gun to shoulder and just like it was written in a Hemingway novel a shotgun report rang into the morning.  The rooster folded in the air and fell to the ground.  Meg sprang into action at the sound of the gun and had the first pheasant retrieve of her career.

The day and the weekend moved on.  We covered more fields and found more birds.  Meg did not disappoint.  As the hunt moved along retrieves varied from singles to doubles.  Meg found birds in short stubble, tall standing crops and burrowed under weeds.  The confidence she built in the few short hours of that weekend hunt are immeasurable.  The joy and enthusiasm of a good bird dog is contagious.  I find that as many times that I go hunting for me and my therapy, I also go hunting for Meg and her clear love of bird hunting.  Getting to hunt with such a partner is a privilege and a rare opportunity.  Knowing that she has the same passion for the hunt that I do bonds us together beyond what words can describe.  Riding home after a long weekend that seemed so short, watching her curled up on the floorboard in a well deserved deep sleep I can't help but daydream about hunts to come and retrieves she will make.

Meg with a fields take of rooster pheasants.

I cannot express enough gratitude to my Modern Wild Man friend for the invitation to join his family for their opening weekend tradition.  The fellowship, family and willingness to share something of so much value cannot be measured.

If you enjoy upland bird hunting be sure and go to this past post about quail hunting here.

Interested in Meg's first season you can find it here.

Be sure and check out this bird hunting post from a Perfect Saturday!

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