Don't really do chicken myself, but I can give some blinding and simple recipes for pheasant, wild duckling and various game!
These are a couple of my favourites;
Pheasant breast in red wine
Place fresh (NOT hung) pheasant breast in a flat shallow dish and just cover with red wine (Rioja serves rather well).
String a couple of scallions
Strip the leaves from a sprig of fresh tarragon and roughly chop them (enough to release the flavour but not to puree them)
Lay the scallions around the breasts and sprinkle the tarragon over the top.
Leave to marinate for an hour or two (atleast)
Cover and launch in the middle of a hot oven - about 170-180ish (celcius) for around 35-45 mins (depends on the type of oven & size of breasts)
Remove breasts (making sure they're done) and place around a clean dish to drain.
Strain the wine/juices/etc into a small pan and quickly reduce it over a VERY hot hob. Once it begins to thicken add a large knob of butter and continue to reduce to a rich sauce, stirring continuously (have to be careful with this as it happens pretty quickly!)
Serve the breasts with seasonal veg and drizzle the sauce over the top.
Sit down and thoroughly enjoy!
Wild duckling
Clean and stuff with plum & ginger stuffing (with a dash of red wine in the mix).
Glaze with a mixture of honey and armagnac (you can also add a little wholegrain mustard - has to be tip-top quality though and not too strong).
Place in a small stoneware dish with a lid.
Pour a little red wine in the bottom of the dish and place a coursely chopped medium sized onion around the sides.
Lid on and launch in the middle of the oven - about 160 celcius for around an hour and a quarter (again depending entirely on the size of the bird)
Baste occasionally and cook until the juices run clear.
Make gravy from the stock and serve with whatever you like.
Trunk of rabbit
Skin and clean a whole rabbit, taking great care to retain the abdominal flesh.
Remove the legs, bone them and place the meat in a blender, along with 4 pheasant breasts, a small pot of creme frais and a couple of chopped sprigs of fresh tarragon - blend until smooth.
Bone the trunk and lay flat, so that the back meat is cetral with a large flap of skin running the whole length on either side.
Spoon the legs/breast/creme frais along the centre then tightly roll the flaps of skin over - basically get it to look like a big pink swiss roll.
Tightly wrap in foil and bake - it's been quite a while since I made this so I can't remember the temp and time from the top of my head. I THINK it was about 150-160 celcius for 45 mins.
Allow to cool in the foil then place in the fridge overnight.
Remove from foil, slice and serve cold.
Can also be made with hare for a stronger flavour.
I hope someone enjoys one of these - it's made me starving just writing them down!
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