Pheasant tastes like tough old chicken if it’s not well hung. In muggy weather 4-5 days is enough, but when it’s crisp and cold pheasant can hang for up to 2 weeks. Birds are ready when a tail feather is easy to pull out.
If your pheasant comes oven-ready from the supermarket, you will have to take a chance on its age. With a freshly shot bird in your hand you will get some indication if you look at its feet: they should be soft and supple; long spurs on the back of the legs in a cock pheasant indicate an older one. It’s harder to tell with a hen pheasant but since she’s juicier and more tender anyhow it doesn’t really matter. One pheasant is enough to serve 2 persons.
Truss a pheasant in the same way as chicken. If the bird is bought from a poulterer, it will have a slice of larding fat tied over the breast. Otherwise, you will have to use streaky bacon rashers because pheasant meat is very lean and needs added fat.
Put a piece of butter the size of a walnut inside the body cavity to keep it moist; you can push in some herbs such as thyme or marjoram, too. A bed of roasting vegetables thick slices of carrot, onion and celery under the bird adds flavour both to the bird and the gravy.
I like to roast pheasant upside down for most of the cooking time and then turn it right way up towards the end. This helps to keep the breast moist. A traditional method is to cover each pheasant with a square of double-thickness butter muslin soaked in melted butter instead of using the bacon rashers and basting through the muslin with hot butter from the tin.
For a crisp skin, remove bacon rashers or other coverings towards the end of the cooking time and baste the bird, then dredge lightly with flour, called frothing. Baste again and return to the oven for the remainder of the time with the heat turned up a little. Roast pheasant in an oven heated to 400°F (200°C) or Gas no. 6 for 50-60 minutes.
Cold roast pheasant is lovely for a buffet supper. Cut off legs first, then thinly slice the breast. It is delicious with shredded red cabbage salad or cold chestnut puree.