Pheasant and Pomegranate

Photo by Holly A. Heyser

Pheasants and pomegranates just seem to go together; the bird’s mild flavor is nicely offset by the tangy flavor of the juice. It’s part of that whole connection between game and fruits: Duck and orange, venison and prunes, wild boar and apples.

I had no real foreknowledge that I would make something with pheasants and pomegranates this spring. After all, pomegranates are out of season here — and California is where nearly all of America’s pomegranates are grown. But as it happens, the people from POM Wonderful contacted me and asked if I’d help promote their product for some free juice. I have a soft spot for California agriculture, I happen to like their (admittedly expensive) product, and I had a pheasant in the freezer. So I said sure.

Serendipity being what it is, Holly dashed off last weekend for a quick pheasant hunt on one of those hunting preserves (wild pheasants being out of season). She shot really well and came home with five, which is quite a lot of pheasant. So I had fresh birds to cook with, not just my frozen ones.

Let it be said that neither Holly nor I truly enjoy “hunting” pen-raised birds. When I am feeling charitable, I liken it to grocery shopping with a gun and a hike tossed in – a pleasant diversion that results in a good meal or two. When I am not feeling charitable, the experience seems cheap, like a bought date. Still, I like to eat pheasants, California’s wild population is woeful and the season is short. So we go to the preserves a few times a year.

Usually these birds are weak and young and don’t take well to long aging. Glorified chickens, really. I am hoping to someday shoot a few old roosters to age properly – for a week or so. Until then, however, the birds Holly shot will remain our gold standard. Why? In a word, fat. A normal pheasants is frustratingly lean, and as such is tricky to cook without drying him out. Not these birds. I managed to render out nearly a pint of clean fat from them, which is some feat; I would normally get only a tablespoon or two.  Even the breasts had a thick layer of fat on them.

All this meant the dish that I had marinating in my mind had the potential to be special. I initially thought about making a Persian fesenjan, but changed my mind. I’ve been trying to avoid traditional cookbooks lately, so I developed this recipe while commuting to work.

I decided to pan-roast the breasts, serve them over smashed fingerling potatoes roasted in pheasant fat and mixed with green garlic and spring onions.

As for the sauce, I reduced some of the pomegranate juice that had arrived in the mail, mixed it with pheasant stock and some of the sweet Greek wine Mavrodaphne, a few bay leaves and dried chiles — oh yeah, and just a hint of maple syrup. It was delish, a lovely tangy, sweet-spicy counterpoint to the surprisingly rich pheasant and potatoes.

To wash it down, I chose an inexpensive Primitivo (basically a Zin), from Puglia. I liked the chicken on the label. It was as fat as our pheasants.

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Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

• 2 whole pheasant breasts with skin
• 2 pounds fingerling potatoes or small Yukon Gold potatoes 
• 4 tablespoons rendered pheasant fat, bacon fat or olive oil 
• Salt
• 3 finely chopped green onions 
• 3 finely chopped green garlic stalks, or 3 cloves chopped 
• 1 cup pomegranate juice 
• 1 cup pheasant or chicken stock 
• 1/2 cup sweet red wine (I use Greek Mavrodaphne) 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 small, dried hot chiles 
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup 
• Fleur de sel or other finishing salt