Roasted Pheasant with Citrus-Jack Sauce

Ingredients
1/4 cup Jack Daniels
2 oranges, cut into 1/8ths
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) pheasants
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
6 slices bacon, halved

Citrus-Jack Sauce:
1 cup Jack Daniels
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons grated orange zest
1 cup red currant jelly
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne
Serving suggestion: Wild rice

Directions
For the pheasant: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oranges with 3 tablespoons of the Jack Daniels. Rub the pheasants with the remaining 1 tablespoon of whisky and lightly season with salt and pepper. Stuff each pheasant with the oranges and 1 sprig of fresh thyme, and close the cavities with skewers. Wrap the breast of each pheasant with the bacon and set in a roasting pan. Roast the pheasants until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees F., about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes.

For the Citrus-Jack Sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the whisky, orange juice, and orange zest, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 50 percent in volume to about 3/4 cup. Add the currant jelly, salt, and cayenne, and stir well.

Cook until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a decorative bowl. Cool slightly before serving.

Remove the bacon from the pheasant breasts, if desired, and cut each bird in half. Discard the oranges and thyme in the cavity. Serve hot with Ctirus-Jack Sauce and wild rice.

For more wild game recipes, visit Cooked Animals: Recipes for Wild Game - http://www.cookedanimals.blogspot.com

sear pheasants on stove top, seasoned with salt,pepper and corrender (SP)..

move to crock pot. cover with cream of mushroom and cream of chicken and about 1/2 cup of Italin dressing or white wine to give kick!
add: celery and onion
cook until falls of bone, debone...return to pot.
if just fillets of breast, when breast breaks apart with fork, it be done
serve over big egg noodles or mashed potato or eat as soup.

thicken with flour if want

Here is a walk away recipe for birds.
you'll need a crockpot and a few birds
Clean birds as usual and pat dry
Core enough Small Apples for 1 per bird
1 # sweet/mild or hot Italian Sausage
1 can per bird Sauerkraut
1 teaspoon of each per bird
Salt,black pepper and sage
mix together the salt,pepper and sage
Rub birds with mixture of spices and set aside
Stuff birds with Italian Sausage and apple mixture
Put bird or birds in crockpot and set on high.
Now you pour entire can or bag of Sauerkraut over bird
Let bird cook until meat falls off the bone.
If you like sweet and sour you'll love this recipe. Works well on all upland game birds. Quail,Pheasant,Dove,Grouse,Parmigan and even Turkey