Lemon and Mustard Pheasant with Couscous Salad Recipe

This recipe is great for the barbeque, but it works equally well on the grill.

It incorporates a multipurpose marinade that also doubles as salad dressing and a sauce for the cooked meat. If you want a quicker version, however, simply grill our ready-marinated lemon and chilli partridge breasts or garlic and herb pheasant breasts and serve them with the salad, which you can dress with a simple lemon, garlic and olive oil dressing.

Feeds 4

Ingredients

2 packs Wild and Game pheasant breasts

For the marinade/dressing/sauce

100 ml olive oil
100 ml lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp pepper

For the salad

150g cherry tomatoes
1 medium onion, diced
2 peppers, cut into large dice
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
A big glug or two of olive oil
200g couscous
250 ml vegetable stock (optional)
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
150g feta, cut into cubes

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7/220 degrees centigrade.
2. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a blender and whizz until smooth and creamy.
3. Place the pheasant breasts on a plate and pour over enough of the marinade to cover them, retaining the rest of the marinade for use later. Make sure both sides of the meat are coated and leave them in the fridge for at least 2 hours or longer if you can. Discard the used marinade once the pheasant breasts are ready to cook.
4. Meanwhile, place the onion, peppers, tomatoes and garlic in a roasting tray or on a baking sheet. Toss in olive oil, add salt and pepper and cook for 20 minutes.
5. While the vegetables are roasting, make up the couscous by placing it in a pot and pouring on 250ml of boiling water or hot vegetable stock. Pop a lid on it and leave it for 5 minutes, then fluff it up with a fork.
6. When the vegetables are cooked, add them to the couscous. Add the feta and parsley and stir thoroughly.
7. Stir 50ml of the unused marinade into the salad and stir to ensure an even coating.
8. When the pheasant has had long enough to marinate, cook it on a grill (about 3 minutes each side should do it – cut one to check it is cooked through if you’re in doubt) or thread it onto skewers and cook it on the barbeque. Be careful not to overcook it.
9. Serve the pheasant with the salad. Use some of the remaining unused marinade to drizzle over the pheasant as a sauce just before serving.