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Pheasant breast fillets
Pheasant Cutlets with Mushroom Cream Sauce
Pheasant breasts pounded thin, dredged and pan-fried, then finished in a quick mushroom and cream pan sauce.
- Serves
- 4
- Hands-on
- 30 min
- Total
- 35 min
- Skill
- Some experience
Stove and oven or Campfire and cast iron · Dinner
Ingredients
- 1½ lbPheasant breast fillets, about 4 breast halves
- ⅓ cupFlour
- 3 tbspButter, divided
- 8 ozCremini or button mushrooms, store-bought, sliced
- 1Shallot, minced
- ¾ cupHeavy cream
- 1 tspSalt
- ½ tspBlack pepper, ground
- 2 tbsp neutral oil, divided
- ½ cup chicken stock
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp lemon juice
You'll need
Cast iron skillet, Instant-read thermometer; stovetop, campfire with grate or coals if you have one.
Contains
Dairy, Gluten.
Method
- Pound the pheasant breasts between plastic wrap to an even ½ inch. Season with the salt and pepper and dredge in the flour, shaking off the extra.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in the skillet over medium-high heat until the butter foams. Fry the cutlets in batches without crowding, 2 to 3 minutes per side, until golden. Check the thickest one with an instant-read thermometer and take each out as soon as it reads 165°F. Add the remaining oil between batches if the pan looks dry, and set the cutlets on a warm plate.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the remaining butter and the mushrooms and cook until their liquid is gone and they brown, about 5 minutes. Add the shallot for 1 minute.
- Pour in the stock with the thyme and scrape up the browned bits. Add the cream and simmer until it coats a spoon, about 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and any juices from the cutlet plate, and taste for salt.
- Spoon the sauce over the cutlets on the plates and serve right away; simmering them in the sauce dries them out and softens the crust.
When it's done: 165°F
The federal chart lists poultry at 165°F, and Kansas State University Extension says to fully cook game birds to at least 165°F. Check the thickest part with an instant-read thermometer.
If it goes wrong
- Coating falling off
- Pat the meat dry before dredging and turn the cutlets only once.
- Dry cutlets
- Pounding to an even thickness is what keeps the thin end from overcooking while the thick end catches up. Pull each one right at 165°F.
- Sauce too thick
- Loosen it with a splash of stock.
- Sauce rich but flat
- A little more lemon juice and a pinch of salt.
Leftovers. Serve right away. Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and reheat to 165°F.