Roast pheasant with orange and onion marmalade

By Shaun Rankin

Cooking time: 4 hours

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For the pheasant

• 1 pheasant, oven-ready
• 2 slices of smoked bacon
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 bay leaf
• 250ml of Chicken stock

For the marmalade

• 1 large orange
• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 4 tbsp of white wine vinegar
• 100g of Demerara sugar
• 2 tbsp of Cointreau
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 blade of mace
• 1 tsp of coriander seeds
• 5 allspice berries, crushed

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 140°C/Gas mark 1. Take your orange, cut into quarters and de-seed, then thinly slice. Move these to a roasting tray and mix well with the roughly chopped onion.
2. Into a saucepan add vinegar, sugar, 1 tablespoon of Cointreau, mace, cinnamon seeds, and the all spice berries. Bring this to the boil and keep it there for 3 minutes. Sieve the liquid over the baking tray with your oranges and onions. Discard the spices.
3. Cover this with foil and cook for 3 ½ hours, stirring occasionally. You want the oranges and onions to caramelise, but be careful not to overcook or you will get a very solid mixture. Remove from the oven and let the mixture cool before storing.
4. Turn the oven to 170°C/Gas mark 4. Take the pheasant and lay the bacon, thyme, rosemary and bay leaf over it. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Take the pheasant out of the oven, turn the bird upside down to let the juices sink back into the breasts. Leave it to rest for 8 minutes before serving.
6. While the bird is resting, add the rest of the Cointreau and chicken stock to the roasting tray, bringing to the boil on the hob. Pass these juices through a sieve. Serve the juices and marmalade on the side as you carve the pheasant at the table.

Recipe courtesy of Great British Chefs. Visit their site for more pheasant recipes.