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5.0 from 9 votes

Pheasant Salad with Fennel

Cooling salads are the way to go in summer. Fennel has the same cooling properties as cucumbers, so I decided to base a pheasant salad on it, adding some fennel pollen and some fresh, green fennel seeds, too. No worries if you can’t find the seeds, though — the salad is good without them. The method for cooking the pheasant — and yes, you can use chicken, partridges, turkey or grouse — is special, and results in very tender meat. You poach the skinless breasts in broth very, very gently. It is foolproof.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
35 mins
Servings: 4 people
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

  • 2 pheasant or chicken breasts
  • 1 quart pheasant or chicken broth
  • 1 medium fennel bulb, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons fennel pollen (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons green fennel seeds (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
  • 1 small hot chile, such as a cayenne, sliced thin
  • Zest and juice of a lemon
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Bring the broth to a simmer in a lidded pot. Turn the heat off and drop the pheasant breasts in. Make sure they are submerged. Cover the pot.
  2. Meanwhile, chop the fennel bulb into pieces you’d want to eat. I like them about the size of my thumbnail. Add all the remaining ingredients and set aside.
  3. The pheasant breasts should be fully cooked in 20 minutes. Turkey and chicken breasts are larger and will take longer. A turkey breast might require a full 45 minutes in the warm broth. (Save the broth for soup or something else. It will keep in the fridge a week or so.) When the pheasant is cool enough to handle, shred it into pieces with your hands. I like the texture and appearance of shredded meat, but if this skeeves you out I suppose you can chop it.
  4. Mix everything together and let this sit, covered, at room temperature for an hour or so before eating. You can also store it overnight in the fridge.

Notes

  • Let this salad marinate for at least an hour or two before you serve it, so the flavors will all meld. It’s good made the day before, too. I like to eat it with a crisp white wine and some crusty bread as a light summer supper.