This recipe came from Ginny Boston. She and her husband Russ were one of the founding members of the Buckeye Retriever Club. She gave me this recipe and I will always cherish it. A fabulous combination of flavors that our Black Dog compliments perfectly.
2 to 3 pheasant breasts – I poach them slowly in water, celery stalk, bay leaf and a shake of Black Dog. Let cool. Break into bite-size chunks. I make this first then move onto the cream sauce.
1 ready-made pie crust – or make you own – there are recipes all over the internet. Bake and cool.
1 jar of sliced pimentos – drained
1 8 oz. carton of mushrooms sliced
1/2 bag frozen pearl onions
1/2 bag frozen peas
1-1/2 teaspoons Black Dog Belly Rub
Cream Sauce
1-1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
3-4 tablespoons flour
1/4 to 1/2 cup chicken stock
Directions: Prepare pheasant as noted above and set aside. Preheat oven to 400. put pie crust into a grease 9″ pie plate and put some pie weights into pie-plate. Bake the pie crust for about 12 minutes. Remove weights and let cool.
Sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and then add flour stirring until well mixed. Slowly add the cream and stir constantly until it starts to thicken. Lower heat a little bit and cook, stirring constantly for another 10 minutes. Stir in Black Dog Belly Rub. If it gets too thick add a little chicken stock and continue to cook. Set aside.
Assemble: When the crust is cool add the pheasant meat in an even layer on the bottom of the pie crust. Then evenly distribute, sliced mushrooms, pimento, frozen onions, and peas. Slowly pour warm cream sauce over the meat and veggies so it’s evenly distributed. Don’t overfill. Add a top crust and fold edges over the bottom crust and press into the edge of the plate. I use my thumb and two index fingers to get a pattern but a fork also works. Add a vent and an x shape with a fork in the center.
Bake at 400 for 10 minutes then reduce the temperature to 350 for an additional 20 to 30 minutes. Add foil under the pie incase it drips. Check crust after 20 minutes to make sure its not getting too brown. You can add foil over top if it is. Let i.e. cool on a rack for about 15 minutes before serving.
Enjoy, this is a dandy recipe.