Last April I wrote about a green chile pheasant stew I’d made. Today, inspired by another post about something similar, I rolled my own. This one’s better. Making your own stock really adds a great depth, and the posole is great with the pheasant. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 Pheasant
For the Stock:
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, cut in large chunks
2 fresh sage leaves (I used some fresh sage I’d frozen)
salt & pepper
For the Stew
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
a few ounces bacon or pancetta, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 – 28 ounce can posole (also known as hominy)
1 medium and 1 hot roasted green chiles, seeded, peeled, and diced
The pheasants we have are already skinned. Slice the breasts off the bird and set aside. In other words, you now have two boneless, skinless pheasant breasts.
Place the remainder of the bird in a 5 or 6 quart pot – I used a Le Creuset dutch oven. Cover with water, add the quartered onions, carrots, a little salt, pepper & the sage leaves. Cook about an hour and a half, making sure the stock reduces to a rich broth.
Drain the stock into a bowl. Wash and dry the pot. Brown the bacon or pancetta, and if there’s not enough fat, add the olive oil. Cook the diced onion & carrot until they start to soften. Scoot aside, and add half the green chiles and pheasant breasts. Lightly brown on each side. Add enough stock to almost cover the breasts. Cover the pot and simmer gently until the breasts are done: 20-30 minute.
Remove the breasts. Add the remaining stock, chiles, and posole to the pot, bring to a boil. Dice the pheasant breasts and add back to the stew. Cook gently 20-30 minutes. Taste & adjust seasoning if necessary.
