Smothered Pheasant In the Dutch Oven - Recipe

By Andrea Haas

Sorry I didn't take better pictures while making this recipe. It was kind of an experiment, but it turned out to be one of my favorite ways to make pheasants. 

The original recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com, titled Smothered Pheasant. I used that recipe and added my own twist to it by adding different spices & seasonings. I also added the chopped green chiles, which I feel really made the recipe. You could also use mushrooms instead. Either way would be great! 

The original recipe calls for 6 pheasant breasts and 2 cups of half and half. I only used 3 breasts and I thought the 2 cups half and half was perfect for that amount. 

Ingredients

-6 skinless, boneless pheasant breast halves

-garlic salt and black pepper, to taste

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1/2 cup butter

-2 cups half and half cream

Directions

-Preheat the oven to 325 degrees

-Add flour to a plate or bowl and mix in garlic salt and black pepper.I was pretty generous with the garlic salt. Press the pheasant breast into the flour until completely coated. Shake off excess flour and set aside.

-Melt the butter in a cast iron Dutch Oven over medium heat. Cook the pheasants in the hot butter until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side. Careful not to overcook.

-Pour in the half and half and bring to a simmer. Add chopped green chiles.

-Cover the Dutch Oven and bake in the preheated oven until pheasant breasts are tender and no longer pink, about 1 1/2 hours. I baked my 3 breasts for just an hour and they were done. 

For the Love of Bird Hunting

As my love for deer hunting has grown considerably over the years, so has my love for hunting birds. Most recently I have taken up pheasant, dove and crow hunting and found that I enjoy that just as much as I do hunting deer.  Not only has it expanded my time in the outdoors, it introduced me to a much more relaxed and carefree hunting atmosphere, which I found is much needed after months of being so serious about deer hunting.

Last November I went on my very first pheasant hunt in Kansas.  I didn’t really know what to expect but to prepare myself I shot skeet as often as possible throughout the summer and weeks leading up to opening day. Looking back, I feel that it was a good way to prepare and found that pheasants fly very similar to a clay pigeon being thrown out of a skeet thrower, starting at the ground and flying up. Not many birds were shot due to the previous years’ drought taking its toll on the population, but this will be a hunt I look forward to each November from now on. 

Dove hunting was a slightly different story for me.  They are much smaller, much faster, and fly totally different than a pheasant. The best way to prepare myself for dove hunting was to actually go dove hunting. I will admit that I spent a lot of time in the dove field last season and came home each time without a single dove.  I feel my biggest mistakes were not swinging through the shot & leading the dove, and just getting too anxious & forcing a bad shot.  Dove season starts this Monday and I feel much more prepared this season after my experience with it last year!

A less common type of bird hunting that has quickly grown to be my favorite is crow hunting. Like pheasant and dove, I also began crow hunting last year. Crows can be brought into shooting distance fairly easily with an electronic call and some crow decoys. I’ve found that crows are easier to hit than other game birds because they tend to fly slower, therefore you don’t have to lead them too much with your shotgun. Not only is crow hunting a blast, I feel it has helped me the most in becoming comfortable with my shotgun and learning how to handle it.

As a deer hunter, I have learned patience, appreciation, and determination. As a bird hunter, I learned each of those all over again. I set my rifle and bow & arrows aside, something I had become comfortable with, and learned my way around a different weapon.  I’m glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried something new last season. By doing so I not only learned the above skills again, I gained a whole new perspective on hunting.

-Andrea Haas