Top of the Tasters in the Hunters Kitchen at the Northern Shooting Show

Of the four beak to tail recipes I shared, the favourite was the lemon pheasant....narrowly pipping the arancini to the post.

Velveting chicken is a technique used in Chinese cooking to keep the meat succulent when stir-frying, and it can of course be applied to pheasant too. Here's an easy solution ... Ingredients : - 250g pheasant, diced or cut into strips 2 tbsp Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) or sherry 2 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp cornflour zest & juice of a lemon an egg white 1tsp of sesame oil (optional) 250ml pheasant stock sesame seeds (optional) What to do : Mix the shaoxing, soy sauce, cornflour, lemon zest, egg white & sesame oil (if using) until combined into a marinade. Stir through the pheasant pieces and leave to marinate at room temperature for 10 minutes minimum. If it's going to be much longer than 1/2 hour before you actually cook then pop back in the fridge. Fry off till cooked through. Meanwhile add the leftover marinade to the stock & sesame oil (if using), bring to the boil and reduce to your desired consistency. Add lemon juice & season to taste. Enjoy some deliciously succulent pheasant with rice, noodles or in a stir fry.