Description
Pheasant rillette is a rich, tasty appetiser or lunch. Real make-ahead party food for christmas – serve it on toasted sourdough bread or ryebread!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pheasant (get your butcher to rinse it for you and remove head and feets)
- 500g duck OR goose fat
- 1 red onion, peeled and sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 10 dried juniper berries
- 2 tbsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp. yellow mustard seeds
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper
- 200ml apple juice OR christmas beer
- 3 tbsp. apple balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp. salt
Instructions
- Pad the pheasant with paper towel to remove excess liquid.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of the duck fat in a caserolle (just big enough to fit the pheasant).
- Brown the pheasant over high heat for 4 minutes on each side untill golden all over. Add the onions, garlic and spices, fry for further 5 minutes.
- Pour over the apple juice and vinegar. Turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 2½-3 hours (flip it over, every now and then if the fat doesn’t cover the whole pheasant).
- Pick the meat of the bones (get rid of all bones and tendons) and stir it with a little of the cooking fat and what is left of the onions and spices in the bottom of the casserolle.
- Add salt, pepper and vinegar to taste and fill it into a sealed jar. Pour over a little extra cooking fat to cover the surface.
- Let it solidify in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Notes
TIP: This rillette will keep for around 5 days in the fridge.
TIP: Same recipe can be used for pork cheeks. Then you will need around 500g of pork cheeks and let them braise for 3-4 hours.
TIP: Save the leftover goose fat in the freezer for next time making rillette, confit or for roasting potatoes.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 3 hours