Pheasant stockpot

Lovely clean flavours here that should leave you feeling good.  I hope you aren't put off when you see a long ingredients list like this.  Onions, carrots and celery are things I don't mind buying whole bags of when needed, as they can contribute to so many follow-up dishes.  But the truth is many dishes I make are a case of making do with what I have, or emptying out the useful contents of the fridge to a table, deciding what to use, and putting everything else back.  Sorry!

Pheasant Stockpot

The recipe is in two phases.  Phase one is to make the stock base liquid and poach the meat.  Phase two is to sweat some vegetables, add the stock and some meat and simmer briefly together.

Phase 1

2 pheasants, washed, breasts sliced off and used for something else, legs sliced from carcass but both these bits are to be used
1 large onion, washed and sliced, including the skin, which will give colour
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 sticks celery, sliced
2 leek tops, sliced vertically and washed thoroughly
1 head garlic, sliced horizontally through the whole head
1 clove
large bunch of thyme
a bunch of parsley stems
Small amount of salt

Assemble the above tightly in a stockpot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a simmer, skim off the scum and simmer very gently (don't boil) for 2 hours.  Leave to settle for 5 minutes, pour the entire contents into a colander in a large bowl.  Lift out the colander, allowing it to drain briefly, and leave to one side to cool slightly.  When cool, remove the skin from the legs, remove the meat from the bone and chop across the grain of the meat into nice pieces.  Discard the remaining contents of the colander.

Phase 2

1 onion, diced into large pieces
1 leek, sliced vertically in half and then across into squares
1 carrot, peeled and sliced at an angle (I like these shapes, sad I know)
A handful of pasta
Lemon juice, chopped parsley, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil to finish

Sweat the vegetables until translucent or nicely softened in the order they are listed.  Add a suitable amount of stock, the pasta, some more salt and the chopped meat.  Simmer until the pasta is cooked, during which time the stock should reduce slightly helping to concentrate the flavour.  Spoon out into bowls.  Douse each serving with lemon juice, anoint with extra virgin olive oil, garnish with chopped parsley and a grinding of black pepper and eat it.

Like I say, the above was just the ingredients I had, but it's the idea that counts.