Roasted pheasant, caramelised sprouts, rosemary potato roasts, sauce and stuffing

by Paul Warburton on 29 November 2010  |  2 comments
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Check out this delicious Christmas dinner recipe for roasted pheasant, caramelised sprouts, rosemary potato roasts, bread sauce and peach, sausage and thyme stuffing - for just £4.45 per person!

Looking for a frugal alternative to the traditional Christmas turkey dinner? Then you're in luck.

Here's my recipe for roasted pheasant (with garlic and bacon), caramelised sprouts, rosemary roasts, bread sauce and peach, sausage and thyme stuffing (serves 6, total cost £26.73 - £4.45 per person).

This main course is really great as there is so much you can do the day before and the pheasants take next to no time to roast as we’ll be taking the legs and wings off for use in the Boxing Day curry first. I’ve also provided a vegetarian alternative to the meat with a rich Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington.

If you like this recipe, don't forget to check out my other frugal Xmas recipes for a very frugal starter and dessert, plus what to do with those Boxing Day leftovers!

Ingredients – The pheasant main

• 2 x 250g packs of unsmoked streaky bacon (£2.56)
• 2 x 398g of Porkinson sausages (£3.76)
• 3 x whole Gressingham pheasants (£15)
• 1 can of Tesco value peaches (39p)
• 1 pint of whole milk (45p)
• 500g of Brussel sprouts (£1)
• 2.5kg of Tesco white potatoes (£1.20)
• 25g of fresh rosemary (79p)
• 25g of fresh lemon thyme (68p)
• 1 bulb of garlic (24p)
• 1 large onion (16p)
• 1 loaf of Tesco crusty white bloomer (50p)

The cupboard staples...

Salt, black pepper, olive oil, cloves, sugar, bay leaf, butter and a splash of white wine.

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Tesco, where it came to £26.73 - that's £4.45 per head!

Instructions

• The day before we can prepare the pheasants, parboil the potatoes, make the stuffing and bread sauce. Let’s start by prepping the pheasants.
• We’re after the crown of each bird with the bone in to roast, so this means removing the legs, thighs and wings from each bird. Once you have deboned place in the fridge overnight.
• Now for the bread sauce. Place the milk in a saucepan and add a bay leaf, a pinch of salt and an onion sliced in half studded with cloves (5 cloves in each half the onion will be fine) and bring up to a simmer. Whilst the milk is infusing prepare 150g of white breadcrumbs – once the milk is up to the simmer turn off the heat and leave for 1 hour. After 1 hour take the onion and bay leaf from the milk, get back on a low heat and add the breadcrumbs, a twist of black pepper and tablespoon of butter. Stir in over a slow heat until thickened – this will take 5 minutes. Cool and place in the fridge.
• Whilst the milk is infusing for the bread sauce we can make the stuffing and prep the potatoes. The potatoes are very straightforward; just boil for 6 minutes in salted water, drain, shake around a bit to get some rough edges, cool and place in the fridge. I would make lots of potatoes as we’re using Boxing Day as well in the curry so we need some leftovers.
• The stuffing is next up. Take a cake or loaf tin and line with baking paper (no need to grease the paper) and set the oven to 190C– now finely chop a red onion and 2 cloves of garlic and fry off for 5 minutes until softened (make sure the garlic doesn’t burn). Once softened cool the onions and garlic down and add to a bowl along with the sausage meat (skin the sausages first), finely chopped thyme and chopped peaches. Season with a little black pepper and get your hands in to give it a good mix – now place the mixture in the loaf tin and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Once cooked just remove from the oven, cool down and place in the fridge. That’s the bulk of the work done really!
• First up when you’re ready to start cooking on Christmas day is to get the oven on at 200C and remove the pheasant crowns from the fridge. Let’s start with the roast potatoes – just throw them in a roasting tin with some roughly chopped rosemary, a healthy pinch of salt and pepper and some big glugs of olive oil. These will take around 45-50 minutes to cook (if you want nice and crisp).
• When the pheasants are up to room temperature season and cover in a little olive oil. Get a large dish\pan on the heat (preferably a dish\pan that can also go in the oven) and seal the pheasant crowns on the breast for 3 minutes each. Once browned place 8 slices of streaky bacon over the breasts and roast for 30 minutes at 200C, adding a good splash of white wine to the dish and the garlic cloves with the skins on (around 12 will do). Baste the pheasants after 15 minutes in the oven. Once cooked remove the pheasants, loosely cover with foil and place somewhere warm (but not to warm so they carry on cooking). Keep the pan you cooked the pheasants in as we’ll use for the gravy. Once the pheasants are out the oven put the stuffing in the oven to heat up.
• Brussel sprout time! Cook the sprouts until al dente, drain and cut in half. Get a pan on the heat and add a dessert spoon of butter and a little olive oil to stop the butter burning – add the brussel sprouts, season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar and fry until slightly browned.
• All that’s left now is to heat up the bread sauce and make the gravy. The bread sauce probably thickened a bit overnight in the fridge so add a little milk before you heat up to loosen the sauce.
• For the gravy put the pan we used to cooked the pheasants on the heat and deglaze the pan with some white wine - make sure you get all the goodness off the pan and squash down all the garlic cloves. Then add 2 pints of chicken stock and reduce down for 15 minutes. To thicken the sauce mix together equal amounts of butter and flour (2 dessert spoons of each) into a paste and add to the pan stirring all the time. Reduce the gravy for a further 5 minutes and strain the gravy when it’s at the thickness you’re after. Season the gravy to taste.
• Now to serve – remove the bacon from the breasts and carve one pheasant breast per person from the crown (save the carcasses for use on Boxing Day). For a little wow factor with the guests – I would slice the stuffing like a loaf of bread and place in the middle of each plate. Now place a pheasant breast on top of the stuffing along with 4 slices of bacon and drizzle over some gravy.
• Serve the other dishes on the side for everyone to help themselves (maybe with some greens or carrots as well).
• Happy Christmas eating!

Take a look at my other Christmas recipes

You can find the rest of the Christmas recipes here on my blog. There's a smoked mackerel starter, a lemon tart dessert, a rich Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington (vegetarian dinner alternative), and of course a fantastically frugal recipe on what to do with all your leftovers. Mmmm delicious!

A bit about our Chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes:

Turkey with bacon, cream, parsley and peas  | Beef koftas, roast pepper couscous and a red cabbage and carrot salad | Sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce | Roast pumpkin, sausages, potatoes and sage with kale | Tandoori grilled pork chops, pilaf rice and coriander yoghurt |Whole baked mackerel with tarragon, tomatoes and potatoes | Hungarian pork goulash |Butternut squash stuffed with mushrooms, stilton and thyme | Fusilli with a rich beef ragu sauce |Toad in the hole with mustard crème fraiche sauce & pickled red cabbage | Pot roasted chicken with paprika, shallots and potatoes | Smoked haddock and leek risotto | Prawn and chilli linguine| Homemade Cornish pasties | Teriyaki chicken legs with coriander and lime noodles | Turkey, mozzarella and sage meatballs with fettuccine and tomato sauce | Lemon and garlic roasted lamb breast, boulangere potatoes and minted peas | Posh macaroni cheese with crispy bacon and oven dried tomatoes | Falafel, roast pepper and feta salad with chilli tomato salsa | Chicken ‘oven baked’ with cream, mushrooms and thyme | Slow roasted pork shoulder ‘Chinese style’ with pak choi | Chilli steak burgers, paprika wedges and homemade coleslaw |Broad bean, halloumi and mint farfalle | My chicken curry, basmati rice and coriander yoghurt | Barbecued whole mackerel and a spicy lime salsa | Moussaka | Pan fried trout fillets with a dill potato salad |Chicken braised with cider and red cabbage (and proper baked potatoes) | Lincolnshire sausages with red onion gravy and thyme and Gouda polenta | Beef enchiladas with a lime sour cream | Slow roasted duck legs and charlotte potatoes with a carrot and cumin salad | Paella |Asparagus and gruyere tart with new potatoes | Haddock fishcakes with radish and watercress salad and lemon crème fraiche dressing | Prawn and pea risotto | Honey roasted gammon and apples with champ | Hot chocolate fondants with crème Chantilly | Shin of beef, kidney and ale pie Tandoori chicken with coconut rice & mint raita | Homemade gnocchi with a tomato & thyme sauce, spinach and ricotta  | Frugal Pancakes | Griddled black pudding, chimichurri mash and caramelised apples  | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice  | Lamb koftas with a feta, mint and chickpea salad & chilli grilled pittas  | Pork, rosemary and white bean ravioli with a chilli tomato sauce  | Sausage & leek casserole with parsley dumpings | Pork, chorizo & cannellini bean stew | Rabbit, bacon & thyme pie | Potato rosti with creamed spinach and poached egg | Pumpkin and sage risotto | Slow braised oxtail with autumn mash | Spiced whole mackerel with chickpea salad | Twice cooked belly pork (with gravy) parsnips and sweet apple red cabbage | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Lemon tart with fresh vanilla mascarpone | Massaman curry |  Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit  |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lancashire) hotpot