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

Breast of pheasant with root vegetable croquette, apple fondant and braised Savoy cabbage
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
www.kheb.co.uk