Polish pheasant

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 pheasant(s)
• e.g. bacon, fatty or streaky
• 500 g sauerkraut, as mild as possible
• 500 g grapes, seedless
• 250 g sweet cream or crème fraîche (not sour cream or yogurt – it will curdle!)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

on a bed of sauerkraut – simple and delicious

Season the pheasants with salt and pepper, then sear them all over in a roasting pan or casserole dish. Remove from the pan and wrap them in the bacon strips. Add the sauerkraut to the pan you just used (drain off any excess fat first). Halve the grapes and mix them with the sweet cream. Place the pheasants on top and bake in the oven at 180°C (fan oven) for about 2 hours. If possible, refrigerate overnight and enjoy the next day, warmed up and thoroughly cooked. Serve with potatoes or dumplings. The acidity of the cabbage makes the pheasant beautifully tender, while the juices from the pheasant and the grapes make the cabbage mild and even a little spicy. If you like, you can enhance this by pouring a little stock over the cabbage before draping the pheasants on top and putting them in the oven. The quantities given above are intentionally somewhat imprecise; they are based on your needs. I usually cook in “package units,” so I’d use between 500g and 1000g of sauerkraut, depending on whether I want to freeze any leftovers or keep them for the next day (few things are tastier than reheated sauerkraut). Cream or crème fraîche would be one pack, so 125g. Grapes as desired: If you buy a 500g pack, you can still snack on a few.