Pan roasted breast of pheasant with pear, onion and potato puree with cranberry grappa sauce
4 breast of pheasant
Salt and pepper
2 Spanish onions julienned( 2 cups)
4 sprigs of thyme (leaves trimmed from stems)
1 oz of olive oil
2 tbsp of butter
2 medium idaho potato peeled and diced
2 pears peeled 1 diced and 1 sliced into wedges
2 cups of water
2 tbsp of butter
½ cup of heavy cream
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Season your breasts on both sides with salt and pepper. Using a large oven proof saute pan on medium heat 1 tbsp of butter with 1 oz of oil. Place breasts skin-side down and cook for 3 minutes. Turn the pheasant and cook for another 2 minutes. Place the sauté pan in the oven and roast for 3 minutes at 400 degrees.
Remove from the oven cover with foil and let it rest for a few minutes. The breast should fell springy to the touch.
In a new sauté pan, cook the onions with 1 tbsp of butter and 1 oz of olive oil over medium heat for about 10 minutes until golden color. Add your chopped thyme. Remove and reserve.
In a sauce pot cook the potato with the 1 diced pear in water until soft, drain.
Puree the mix with butter and cream until smooth. Season and reserve
Saute the sliced pear wedges over medium heat on both sides until tender but still firm 2 to 3 minutes. Reserve.
To assembly
Spoon some caramelized onions in the center of your plate place the roasted pheasant breast on top. Add a generous serving of the pear and potato puree next to it and stick the sautéed pears in it for presentation. Spoon the cranberry grappa sauce around.
Cranberry Grappa Sauce
1 cup of water
1 1/4cup sugar
3 strips of orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
1 cinnamon stick
2 bags (12 ounces) cranberries
Grappa to taste
½ cup reduced chicken stock or your reduced pheasant stock (see below)
Simmer water, sugar, zest, juice, and vinegar with cinnamon stick in a medium sauce pan over medium heat stirring for 3 minutes. Add ½ of the cranberries and simmer stirring occasionally until cranberries begin to burst about 7 minutes. Stir, then add the remainder of the cranberries simmer until the begin to burst (about 7 minutes more). Add grappa serve at room temp.
