Blackberry Sorghum Glazed Pheasant
Brined bird from the freezer, grilled over a grate, mopped with a sweet-sour blackberry glaze mixed in the cooler lid.
- calories
- 520
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 58
- protein
- 48 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 20 min
- cook
- 60 min
- total time
- 80 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Pheasants, spatchcocked | 2 birds | skin on, backbone cut out at home |
|---|---|---|
| Dill pickle brine | 1 quart | the leftover juice from a large jar |
| Orange ginger pepper seasoning | 1 tbsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | to taste | |
| Blackberries | 3/4 cup | fresh, or thawed from frozen |
| Lemon-lime soda | 1/2 cup | |
| Sorghum syrup | 1/2 cup | molasses works if you cannot find it |
| Apple cider vinegar | 2 tbsp | |
| Tomato paste | 2 tsp | tube paste keeps better than a can |
Method
- At home, split the birds down the backbone, press them flat, and submerge them in the pickle brine in a zip bag. Eight hours in the fridge, then straight into the cooler on ice.
- In camp, mash the blackberries in a small pot with the soda, sorghum, vinegar, and tomato paste. Set it at the edge of the fire and simmer until it coats a spoon, about 15 minutes. Stir often or the sugar scorches.
- Pull the birds from the brine, blot them dry, and dust both sides with the seasoning plus a little salt and pepper.
- Build a fire and let it burn to coals. Set the grate high enough that you can hold a hand over it for four seconds.
- Lay the pheasants skin down. Cook 20 to 25 minutes a side, moving them off any flare-ups.
- Start brushing on the glaze for the last 15 minutes only, turning every few minutes. Earlier than that and it burns black.
- Pull at 160 F in the breast and let the birds rest ten minutes. Cut into quarters and pour the rest of the glaze over the top.
Pheasant has almost no fat, so it goes from cooked to dry in about five minutes of inattention. The pickle brine is the insurance. Salt and acid hold water in the muscle, and the leftover juice in a jar is already the right strength, so there is nothing to measure.
The glaze is the counterweight. Sorghum and soda bring the sugar, blackberries and vinegar bring the sour, and the tomato paste gives it enough body to cling instead of running off onto the coals. It only goes on at the end. Sugar over a live fire turns bitter fast, and fifteen minutes is about all it will take.
Packing
Brine the birds at home and carry them in a doubled zip bag flat on the ice, not sloshing. Blackberries, soda, sorghum, vinegar, and paste ride together in one small bin so the sauce is one trip to the cooler.
Variations
- Chicken thighs or wild turkey breast take the same brine and glaze. Cut the grill time roughly in half for thighs.
- No sorghum: half honey, half molasses gets close.
- Grilling on a gas grate at a campsite site works fine. Two zones, indirect side first.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/pickle-brined-pheasant-with-blackberry-sorghum-glaze