Recipe: Tender grilled pheasant skewers

Lean, tender, juicy pheasant breasts threaded onto skewers and grilled to perfection!

Makes 4 skewers
Ingredients

• Four skinless pheasant breasts, trimmed of any sinew
• 40g plain flour
• 1tsp smoked paprika
• 1tsp chilli powder
• Very large pinch of sea salt
• Black pepper
• Olive oil (for cooking)
• Wooden skewers, soaked in water overnight

Method

1. On a board or work surface, lay down a sheet of clingfilm and place your pheasant breasts on top, with at least an inch or so between them. Place a second sheet of clingfilm over the top.
2. Take a rolling pin, and gently bash the pheasant breasts to flatten them out – you are aiming to have them about a centimetre thick.
3. Cut each breast into four. I cut halfway along the long side, then cut each of those in half again.
4. Place the breast pieces in a large mixing bowl.
5. In a smaller bowl, mix the flour, paprika, chilli power, salt and and a good amount of black pepper, and mix well to combine. 
6. Add the dry flour mix to your pheasant breasts and toss vigorously in the mixing bowl, ensuring they are all well coated in the flour mix.
7. Thread the pieces onto the soaked skewers using four pieces per skewer. Thread them on so they sit flat to the work surface, and squeeze them down the skew a little so they pieces are all touching each other.
8. Lightly oil a flat baking tray and put the grill on high.
9. Place the skewers flat on the tray, rub them around a little, then flip them over and do the same again.
10. Grill for approximately five minutes on each side. 

To serve
These are pretty damn tasty on their own, but I really like them drizzled with Nando’s lemon and herb dressing, or dunked into a really good quality, smokey BBQ sauce. You can also turn them into pheasant satay skewers (like a nicer, healthier take on the old Chinese classic!) by whipping up this simple sauce and drizzling it over them for the last minute of their grill time….

Satay sauce

• ½ lime, juiced
• 1 tsp clear honey
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
• 165ml full fat coconut milk

Mix all the ingredients in pan while gently heating. Satay sauce done!

Tips

• Pay particular attention when trimming the breasts, and try to pull out any bits of sinew. It helps make these really tender. 
• Be sure not to thread them onto the skewer to wrong way! You want the maximum amount of surface area open to the grill… so, don’t poke the skewer straight through the middle of the flattened breasts so it hangs off it like a flag!