James Golding’s Pheasant Breast with Oyster Mushrooms

Gozney’s first ever professional wood-fired oven was installed in his Pig restaurant in The New Forest and this is where James created this pheasant recipe. It’s an incredibly tasty, yet super simple recipe…but something very special – a good one to bring out on date night!

Step 1;

Season your pheasant breast with salt and pepper. Pre heat a cast iron pan in Roccbox and add some vegetable oil. Place the pheasant breast into the hot pan and roast for a few minutes. Remove from Roccbox and add a few sprigs of thyme and a crushed garlic clove before returning to Roccbox. Add some butter to the pan and baste the breast with the hot butter and leave to reast.

Step 2;

Shred the oyster mushrooms along their natural vein into smaller chunks. Preheat the same cast iron pan used for the meat in Roccbox and add some oil and the mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes in Roccbox turning as they cook. Add a good knob of butter and some chopped parcel or parsley and salt for a final minute of cooking. Be sure not to add the salt too early as this will draw the moisture from the mushrooms and cause them to boil.

Step 3;

Add your pre-roasted squash in a new hot cast iron pan with oil and add seasoning. Leave to caramelise. Chop the chesnuts in half and add to the pan using the residual heat to cook with some thyme and a crushed garlic clove. Add a knob of butter and warm through.

Step 4;

For the sauce, chop the shallot and add to a saucepan with salt, a little rapeseed oil, a crushed garlic clove and some thyme. Once golden, add in the red wine and bring to the boil, reduce by 50%. Add in the chicken stock and reduce again by 50%. Add some Bisto until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Season and add a little red wine vinegar if required.

Step 5;

Re-warm the pheasant breast – being sure not too cook too much in the pan with the oyster mushrooms. Plate up the dish with the squash first, followed by the mushrooms and pheasant breast on top. Garnish with chestnuts, red wine sauce, melted butter for the mushrooms and red mizuna.