When life gives you a beautiful pheasant, one that you have not shot up or that was raised in a pen, you should roast it whole like a chicken. But a pheasant is not a chicken — it can get dry and ugly very fast if roasted poorly. That’s where this recipe comes in.

This roast pheasant recipe, unlike many of the others you may have seen, relies on a few special tricks. One is an eight-hour brine; this will season the bird and help it to retain moisture. Brining is a critical step when roasting lean game birds such as wild turkey, pheasant, sharptail grouse, or even smaller birds such as chukars or quail. You risk dry birds if you skip this step.

Another trick is a searing hot oven, followed by a stint in a cooler oven. This isn’t a terribly new idea, and if you happen to have the Englishman Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Meat Book, he goes into this pretty thoroughly. I like my second, cooler step a bit cooler than he does, however.

The third is the rest. Fearnley-Whittingstall is big on this, but then again so are all cooks worth their apron.

Here’s a basic method for roasting a pheasant:

1. Brine the bird. Make a brine by bringing 4 cups water, 1/4 cup salt, 5 crushed bay leaves, 1 tablespoon of white sugar and a tablespoon of crushed juniper berries to a boil. Cover and let cool to room temperature. When it cools, submerge your pheasant in the brine and keep it in the fridge for 8 hours. You can go over or under an hour or two.
2. Bring the bird to room temperature. After the soak, take the pheasant out and dry him off. Let the bird sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
3. Heat your oven. Get it to 450 degrees if possible, but at least 400 degrees. Give yourself at least 15 minutes of preheating, and up to a half-hour.
4. Oil the bird. You can do this with olive oil or you can smear butter all over it.
5. Stuff the bird. With a piece of onion or apple and a few fresh herbs. DO NOT PACK THE CAVITY!
6. Roast the pheasant for 15 minutes at your high temperature.
7. Take the pheasant out and lower the temperature to 325 degrees. Leave your oven door open to speed this process. OPTIONAL: Baste the bird with either butter or a glaze. I like a combination of butter and maple syrup.
8. Return the pheasant to the oven and roast for 25-35 minutes. You want the internal temperature to be about 155 degrees and for the bird’s juices to run pretty clear. A little pink in the juice — and in the bird — is OK.
9. Remove the pheasant, cover loosely with foil and let it rest for 15 minutes.
10. Eat.

Figure on one pheasant for 2 normal people, or one per person if you’ve been hunting all day. Serve with potatoes and a veg of your liking.

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