Mix 2 tablespoons of table salt, 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar with 1 quart of cold water.  Place pheasant in one gallon plastic zip lock type bag and pour salt sugar brine solution into bag; press bag together to remove as much air as possible and zip close.  Place in refrigerator 6 hours or overnight.  The next day, rinse brine solution off pheasant under cold tap water and pat dry with paper towels.

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Rub olive oil over entire pheasant and work into the pores of the skin.  Sprinkle a generous amount of Wild Bill's Meat Rub over pheasant; place quartered onion inside body cavity; truss both legs with butcher's twine and let rest 30 minutes.  Place pheasant in oven proof baking dish and layer slices of bacon over breast, legs and wings to prevent excess drying out.  Place pheasant in oven and roast at 475 degrees for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile mix the orange marmalade glaze; recipe below. 

Remove pheasant from oven and remove bacon strips from pheasant.  Turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees F.; leave oven door open to allow oven temperature to cool down.  Baste pheasant with the orange marmalade glaze and place back into oven for 20 minutes.  Remove pheasant from oven and glaze again.  NOTE:  If pheasant legs and wings are getting too dark, tent with aluminum foil and roast an additional 20 minutes.  Check the internal temperature of breast with an accurate meat thermometer and make certain temperature is at least 160 degrees F. and juices run clear.

Remove from oven and tent with aluminum foil for 10 to 15 minutes to allow juices to redistribute through the pheasant.  Place pheasant on platter surrounded with roasted veggies and carve the pheasant at the table.  Arrange carved pheasant breast slices in a fan pattern; separate thigh from the leg at the joint.  Serve the thigh and wing if desired.  The leg  has some tough cartilage and normally not plated but it is edible. Drizzle extra orange marmalade glaze over the pheasant slices and/or Cranberry Chutney which compliments similar meats very well.  Serve with bread and beverage of your choice.

YIELD:   2 servings.

Above roasted pleasant served with some home made cranberry chutney and a medley of roasted veggies and was "off the chain."  The pheasant meat was moist, juicy and succulent and has its own unique mild flavor and awesome tasting.  This was my first experience roasting and eating pheasant and I will most definitely do it again.  My bride was totally stoked as well with this recipe and hard to believe we waited so long before trying roasted pheasant.  I did an internet search and viewed various recipes and complied this one using some of my standard condiments and hit the nail on the head with this one.  I could have gotten uptown style and served the roasted pheasant under glass but didn't see a need to do that........grin if you must!

NOTE:  The above pheasant was obtained from Thompson's Game Birds in Mt. Gilead, NC on 12-11-13 and had to process the pheasants myself.  A whole lot different from purchasing them from the meat market! 

See Plucking Pheasants 101 page for details. 

The salt and sugar brine solution makes a tremendous difference in the meat retaining moisture in my humble opinion!   Check this link out for the reasons the brine solution works and an excellent table with amounts of salt, sugar and a time table..

ORANGE MARMALADE GLAZE

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup orange marmalade
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup Kikkoman less sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Place a small saucepan over medium heat and bring the soy sauce, honey, orange marmalade, rice wine vinegar and cayenne pepper to a simmer making sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined; remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  If you have difficulty finding rice wine vinegar, substitute rice vinegar instead.

Click on thumbnail sequence pixs below for a larger screen view:

Web published by Bill aka Mickey Porter on 12-12-13 with updated pix on 12-21-13.