Pheasant Pot Pie

Ingredients:

Pheasant & stock ingredients:

• 2 pheasants (about 2 ½ pounds each
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 medium onion, halved
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2-3 cloves of garlic pressed or minced

Filling ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 ¼ cups)
• 3 carrots, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 3 celery stalks, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups milk
• ¼ cup dry sherry
• ¾ cup green peas, frozen or fresh
• 2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic pressed or minced (more to taste)

Pie Crusts:

• 4 pre-made pie crusts

To prepare:

1. Cook the pheasants and make the pheasant stock.  Combine the pheasants, carrot, celery, onion, garlic and salt into a large stock pot.  Add cold water until just covered and bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about an hour or until you can see meat has been cooked.  Remove the pheasant from the pot and let cool for 15 minutes.  While the pheasant is cooling, continue to boil the remaining water and vegetables in the pot.  When the pheasant has cooled enough to touch, strip away as much of the meat as you can.  Place the meat on a dish, set aside.  Return the pheasant bones to the stockpot and continue to boil, on high heat, until the stock has reduced considerably.  Set aside 2 ½ cups of the sock for this recipe.  The remaining stock you can refrigerate and store for another purpose.

1. Prepare the filling.  Preheat oven to 425° F.  In a large skillet, melt butter on medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic (add the garlic towards the end of heating the other vegetables.) and cook until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add the flour and cook, stirring, about one minute more.  Whisk in 2 ½ cups of the pheasant stock.  Whisk in the milk.  Decrease the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often.  Add the pheasant meat, sherry, peas, parsley, salt and pepper and stir well.  Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Divide the warm filling between 2, 9 inch pie tins with pie crusts on the bottom.  Once filled cover with pie crust pressing together the two crusts on the rim of the tin.  Cut a couple of slits in the top crust as vents.  Cook at 425° F for 35-40 minutes.  Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.