#benromachpeatsmoke

[yorkshiregourmet]

Honey and Whisky Glazed Roast Pheasant

Pine honey and Benromach Peat Smoke Scotch Whisky glazed roast pheasant with a haggis and chestnut stuffing. Served with gold salted duck fat fried waffle cut potato crisps, pickled red onion, watercress, vinaigrette. I cooked two pheasants and greedily devoured one of them, unapologetically stripping the meat off the carcass with my hands mopping up the whisky glaze from the roasting pan as if I hadn't eaten for months. The smokiness in the whisky is a perfect match with the pheasant coupled with the richness of the honey. Accentuated with a glass of whisky alongside. Benromach Peat Smoke is produced in small batches and matured in first-fill bourbon barrels offering fragrant vanilla notes which lead to lemon sherbet and apricot, finishing with smoky bonfire embers due to the heavily peated barley... A beautiful winter tipple during these cold, dark months. 'Please enjoy Benromach responsibly'!

The whisky and honey glaze is ultra-simple to make and would easily go well brushed onto a steak, a burger or other roast meats. Here's the recipe:

120ml Benromach Peat Smoke Scotch Whisky

140ml pine honey

2tbsp soft dark brown sugar

1tsp garlic granules

1tsp onion granules

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

a splash of Henderson's Relish (or Worcestershire Sauce)

Simply put all the ingredients into a pan, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer until the glaze thickens to a syrupy consistency.

To roast the pheasant:

1 pheasant

a generous handful of cooked haggis

a generous handful of roasted chestnuts, crushed

8 juniper berries, crushed to a powder

sea salt and black pepper

rapeseed oil

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C. Mix the haggis and chestnuts and stuff into the cavity of the pheasant. Place on a roasting tray and smother the bird with a little rapeseed oil. Season with crushed juniper berries, sea salt and black pepper. Roast for 30-45 minutes depending on the size of the bird. Once cooked, the internal temperature of the breast meat should read 63°C with a digital temperature probe, the leg meat 80 to 82°C. Brush the bird at intervals with whisky and honey glaze. Let the bird rest for about 10 minutes before carving.

For the waffle cut crisps:

2 medium-sized Maris Piper potatoes, peeled

300g duck fat (or 300ml rapeseed oil)

Gold salt (optional) or sea salt

Use a mandolin with waffle cut setting to slice the potatoes. Heat the duck fat (or rapeseed oil) in a pan to 170°C. Fry the potato slices for about 30 seconds until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and sprinkle with sea salt.

For the pickled red onion:

1 medium red onion, sliced into wedges

100ml red wine vinegar

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp sugar

¼ tsp chilli flakes

Put the red wine vinegar, salt, sugar and chilli flakes into a small pan and bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer until the sugar has dissolved. In a small bowl, pour the contents of the pan over the red onion and leave to cool for at least an hour or refrigerate overnight.

For the vinaigrette:

50ml white wine vinegar

1 tbsp cold water

1 tbsp whole grain mustard

¼ tsp sugar

Sea salt and black pepper

200ml rapeseed oil

Put all of the ingredients apart from the rapeseed oil into a jug, then slowly pour in the rapeseed oil while blitzing with a hand blender until the vinaigrette has emulsified. Store in the fridge until needed. Will keep for a couple of weeks.