November 2015 – Boomtown Diaries

I know, I know, deer season has just come and gone and here I am still writing about pheasant. And yes, it was a successful deer season, with 3 out of 3 tags filled in my family. But I did say I would write about those delicious little pheasant nuggets sometime, and I’m not one to back down from a promise, and pheasant season isn’t over yet, so back to pheasant hunting it is – specifically, my family’s favorite ways to cook up pheasant.

My dad invested in a dual basket gas cooker (basically a heavy duty deep fat fryer) a few years ago.

Since then we’ve been working on that pheasant nugget recipe, experimenting with different Shore Lunch flavors and the oil temperature until we now consistently get these tasty little morsels you see here:

Mm, mmm!

To make these nuggets, cut up thawed pheasant breast into nugget-sized pieces. Roll each piece in egg, and then shake it in a bag of Shore Lunch (we use cajun). Heat the oil in the gas cooker to 350 degrees. Drop in the pheasant nuggets and fry for about 5 minutes, or until they float and look golden-brown.

Easy peasy, as they say.

If you don’t have a deep fryer, or don’t think you like deep fried food (in which case, I don’t get you at all), we have another pretty tasty pheasant recipe in the form of cajun pheasant alfredo.

To make the alfredo, I like to soften up the meat a bit beforehand, as pheasant can be a little gamey. To do so, I soak pheasant breasts in milk overnight and then throw them in the slow cooker on low, with a cup of chicken broth, while I’m at work. Then that night, I drain and shred it. Perfectly soft and shredded for pasta! Regardless of how you end up with your cooked and shredded/ diced/ chopped pheasant, here is what you do with it:

First, boil water and set linguini to cooking. Also, toss cooked pheasant pieces in cajun seasoning.

Next, in a large saucepan, sauté diced tomatoes, green peppers, and green onions in a little bit of oil (I’m sure other veggies would be great, too.) Add seasoned pheasant pieces. Season veggies and pheasant with basil, pepper, salt, and garlic powder. Pour in 1-2 cups of cream and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese; stir all together until cheese is melted. Pour over linguini and toss. (There is a bit more detailed recipe below.)

Pretty tasty!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Cajun Pheasant Alfredo

2 pheasant breasts (cooked and cut into small piece)
8 oz linguini
2 tsp cajun seasoning
1 green onion, diced
2 T tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 C cream
1/2 c grated parmesan cheese

Cook linguini according to package.
Coat cooked pheasant evenly with cajun seasoning.
In a large skillet, sauté green onion, tomatoes, and pepper in olive oil. Add cooked pheasant pieces to skillet. Season with salt, pepper, basil, and garlic powder.
Add cream and parmesan cheese. Stir all together until cheese is melted.
Pour over linguini and toss.

Today is the first day of November, and what says “November” more than apple desserts? Apples really are the perfect fall fruit. Lately, I’ve been slicing them up and enjoying them with caramel dip, adding them to my oatmeal in the morning, and most recently, I used them in a dessert that is most definitely worth sharing with you. I pinned it a while ago and have been wanting to use it, and today I had the baking itch for long enough to actually get in the kitchen and throw it together. Let me just say, worth it! (My husband says so too.) We enjoyed them tonight after a dinner of roasted broccoli and ricotta-stuffed shells, another recipe worth sharing, but I’ll save that one for another time.

I adapted my version of this recipe from a recipe on Country Outfitter, which you can find here. They are perfect little bites of apple, cinnamon, sugar, and caramel, and taste especially good when served with ice cream or, in my case, cream poured over top. Yum, yum! And to make it even better, they were incredibly easy to make.

Because I adapted this recipe, I’ll share what I did specifically, but I’m sure the original is good too!

First, I preheated the oven to 350 and diced up two apples. I tossed the apple pieces in a bowl with one tablespoon of cinnamon and two tablespoons of sugar. I also cut up caramel squares into 4 pieces each. (I’m thinking you could also use those little caramel “morsels” they have in the baking aisle. Those things are gooooood.)

Next, I opened a can of refrigerated biscuit dough, and flattened all 8 pieces out to make little biscuit-dough pancakes. I spooned some of the apple mixture onto each little pancake, topped each with a few little caramel pieces, and pinched the dough together to make little balls of dough filled with apple-caramel mixture.

Then, I buttered a casserole dish and placed the apple pie balls into the dish and brushed each one with melted butter.

Finally, after each one was sprinkled with brown sugar and the leftover apple pieces, they baked, uncovered, for exactly 20 minutes (any longer and the crust, especially the bottom, would have been too done, so I’m glad I didn’t go the full 25 minutes).

Here is the final product!

The original recipe suggests making a caramel sauce to pour over top. I skipped this step — I don’t like desserts that are too sweet, and I often think apple desserts are tasty enough without too much sweetness added. If you like caramel a lot, by all means go for it! Hubby and I both thought it was good enough without it. I DID, however, as I mentioned above, put my apple pie ball into a bowl and poured a little half-and-half over top. Oh man, that was good. I love cream, and it goes so well with cinnamon and apples!

This would be a good recipe for Thanksgiving or Christmas in lieu of regular pie. I actually liked it better than regular pie, just because I LOVE dough and sometimes pie crust is just not doughy enough for me! The biscuits added the perfect amount of dough to complement the apples and cinnamon, at least in my book.

Happy November!

Month: November 2015

Pheasant Feast

How To: Caramel Apple Pie Bombs