Ingredients: Cutlets
- 4 pheasant breast halves, trimmed and pounded to ¼-inch thickness
- 2 cups salted pretzels of your choice*, smashed in a zip-lock bag or blitzed up in a food processor
- ½ cup flour
- 2 large eggs
- Splash of milk
- Enough canola or peanut oil to fill ¼ inch of your skillet
- Salt and pepper to taste (taste your pretzels first; reduce if salty)
* Chef's note: Pretzel chips work especially well. They blitz into small flat pieces that adhere well to the cutlet and remain crunchy when fried.
Ingredients: Spätzle
- 2 cups flour
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- Healthy pinch of salt
Ingredients: Apple-Cream Sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)
- 1 small shallot or ¼ small onion, finely minced
- 1 medium tart-sweet apple (like Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced small
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or ¼ teaspoon dried)
- ½ cup pheasant (or chicken) stock
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (optional but adds depth)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (to brighten)
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- Optional apple and thyme for garnish
Instructions: Cutlets
- Pat the cutlets dry and pound lightly to ¼-inch thick.
- Set up a breading station by placing the flour, whisked eggs with a splash of milk, and crushed pretzels in three shallow dishes.
- Dredge each pheasant cutlet in flour, then egg, then crushed pretzels.
- Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook cutlets in batches, 3-5 minutes per side.
- Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and place in a warmed oven while you prepare the spätzle and sauce.
Instructions: Spätzle
- Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.
- Run the batter through a spätzle maker or wide-holed sieve over a large pot of salted boiling water.
- Cook until the small dumplings float and remove with a slotted spoon.
Instructions: Apple-Cream Sauce
- After frying the pheasant cutlets, pour off all but about 1 tablespoon of the frying fat.
- Add 1 tablespoon of butter and melt over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits from the pan.
- Add the minced shallot and cook 1-2 minutes until soft and fragrant.
- Stir in the diced apple and thyme; cook another 2-3 minutes until apples start to soften.
- Pour in the pheasant stock and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Cook 3-4 minutes to reduce by about half.
- Stir in the cream and Dijon mustard.
- Simmer another 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens enough to lightly coat a spoon.
- Remove from heat; stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter.
- Add apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for brightness and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place spätzle on a plate topped with a cutlet. Spoon the sauce over the top and garnish with extra thyme or a few thin apple slices if desired.