Prime

Poached pheasant breast in buttermilk

By  A. Kadumukasa Kironde II

What you need to know:

Recipe: Place squash in a large sauté pan with butter and cook over medium heat. Add the chili powder and thyme until it is caramelised.

Poaching is the kind of moist heat cooking that majority of people tend to only associate with eggs. Perish the thought to the novice for truth be told its range is much wider with the principal of poaching never changing. The heat source is always a liquid just under the boiling point and a distinguishing feature of the process being the basting or self-basting, which is constant during the cooking period. 

Serves 4

  • 2 pheasant breasts (can be substituted for chicken breast) skinned
  • 1 garlic clove crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 450ml (2 cups) buttermilk (can be substituted with milk and lemon juice or milk and vinegar or even plain yogurt and milk).
  • 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • For the spiced pepitas
  • 100g pepitas (pumpkin seeds) 
  • Chili powder to taste
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon Royco
  • 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil

Related

For the squash

  • 1 blue Hubbard squash that has been halved. If not available then use the ordinary type of squash. Deseed and cut into 1-inch wedges
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • ½ teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
  • 350 (1 ½ cups) vegetable stock

For the quinoa (available at Millennium Supermarket opposite Acacia Mall, Kisementi)

  • 2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh ginger
  • ¼ cups shallots, very finely diced
  • 350g (2 cups) cooked quinoa
  • 4 tablespoons chopped dried sweet cherries
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkinseed oil
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

To garnish:

  • 4 teaspoons pumpkinseed oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped herbs

Method:

1.         To prepare the pepitas, combine the pumpkinseeds, chili powder (if you are using) paprika, sugar (if you are using) and olive oil in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Spread them out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake in an oven that is preheated to 200dC/400dF/Gas mark 6 for 7 minutes or until toasted. Set aside.

2.         To prepare the squash, place it in a large sauté pan with butter and cook over medium heat. Add the chili powder and thyme and continue to cook for about 5 minutes, until the squash is caramelized and tender. Set aside about 40 squash wedges. Puree the remaining squash in a blender with the stock or water until smooth, then pass through sieve. Warm the squash puree in a small saucepan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

3.         To prepare the pheasant, place the pheasant breasts, garlic, bay leaf, Royco, thyme and buttermilk in a shallo3 w saucepan and bring to a slow simmer and cook gently for about 20 minutes or until the pheasant is just cooked through. Remove from the buttermilk and let it rest for about 3 minutes and cut it into slices about 1/3 inch thick. Gently toss the slices with the olive oil and the chopped parsley and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

4.         To prepare the quinoa, place the olive oil, ginger and shallots in a sauté pan and cook over a medium heat, until the shallots are translucent. Add the quinoa, cherries, about two thirds of the spiced pepitas and half the reserved squash wedges. Mix and then add the chives, pumpkinseed oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To serve, reheat the reserved squash wedges, if necessary. Put the quinoa mixture in the center of 4 serving plates and arrange the sliced breast on top. Spoon the squash puree around the quinoa and arrange the reserved squash wedges around the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining pepitas on the plate and drizzle the pumpkinseed oil around the squash puree. Garnish with herbs. 

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