Breast of pheasant with root vegetable croquette, apple fondant and braised Savoy cabbage

PUBLISHED: 16:31 08 December 2014 | UPDATED: 16:31 08 December 2014

Hannah Barnett

Archant

Michael McMullen is head chef at the Kings Head and is originally from Glasgow. ‘I moved to England for work although my first job here was with a team of Scottish kitchen staff, funnily enough.’ Michael’s now been at the King’s Head near East Bergholt for six years after working at Sibton in Suffolk. The most popular dish at the Kings Head is the rolled Red Poll sirloin of beef with horseradish rarebit, fondant potato and spinach served with a star anise jus. Here Michael shares another of his popular recipes

Ingredients

Serves 2

2 pheasant breasts

A knob of butter

A sprig of thyme

A clove of garlic

2 large potatoes mashed

2 carrots and parsnips

1 swede

100g of breadcrumbs

2 Granny Smith apples

100g of butter

100g of sugar

Braised Savoy cabbage

For the red wine jus

500ml of beef stock

1 tbsp of red currant jelly

1 sprig of thyme

100ml of red wine

Method

Pan fry the breasts skin side down for 3-4 minutes then add knob of butter, a sprig of thyme and a clove of garlic. Turn down the heat, basting the pheasant till cooked.

For the root vegetable croquette, peel and boil all root vegetables and once soft crush and mix with the mashed potato. Season to taste. Roll mixture into to cylinder shapes and breadcrumb. Deep-fry until golden then finish in the oven at 160C for eight minutes and keep warm.

For the apple fondant, take the top and bottom off the apple and core. Half the apple and leave to one side. In a frying pan, place the butter and sugar and melt on a very low heat. Once melted, place apples into the pan and turn the heat up a little and cook the apples until coloured on both sides.

For the red wine jus, take all the ingredients and place into a heavy based pan. Cook on a high heat, reducing the liquid by half. Take off the heat and strain through a fine sieve.

Put the pheasant breast onto a warmed plate and serve with the braised Savoy cabbage, your apple fondant, root vegetable croquettes and finish with the rich red wine jus.

Get the taste

The King’s Head

Burnt Oak

East Bergholt

Colchester

CO7 6TL

01206 298190