BUFFALO PHEASANT BURGER

By Jeff Benda

IG: @wildgameandfish
Website: www.wildgameandfish.com

Serves: 4
Prep time: 8 minutes
Cook time: 7 minutes
Total time: 15 minutes

Buffalo Pheasant Burgers are a staple here in North Dakota! Packed with flavor and so delicious, they combine our love of pheasants, burgers, and buffalo wings. And it’s also a great way to use that meat from the breasts, wings, and thighs that can be difficult to enjoy just as themselves. 

You can’t treat pheasant legs, thighs, and wings the same as you would a chicken. There are far too many tendons that won’t break down, no matter how long you braise them in a slow cooker or Dutch oven. Instead, I use a sharp knife to debone the breasts, wings, legs and thighs from 2 pheasants, scrupulously remove the tendons, and ran the remaining meat through a grinder. It usually yields about 1 pound of ground pheasant meat, perfect for this burger recipe.

Just make sure you have a big stack of napkins nearby. This pheasant burger is mouthwatering, but it’s also messy! For more pheasant recipes by Jeff Benda, check out his Golden Pheasant Curry and Pheasant Pesto Pasta.

Ingredients

·      1 pound ground pheasant (from 2 birds)

·      4 Tablespoons melted butter

·      4 Tablespoons Buffalo wing sauce

·      2 Tablespoons olive oil

·      4 Tablespoons Blue cheese dressing

·      2 celery stalks with leaves, roughly chopped

·      4 Brioche buns

Instructions

1.     In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the ground pheasant, 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter, and 2 Tablespoons Buffalo wing sauce and mix thoroughly.

2.     Form the mixture into 4 evenly sized burger patties.

3.     Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons olive oil to the pan and swirl to coat well. Add the pheasant burger patties to the hot pan and cook for 4 minutes. Flip the burgers and cook for about another 3 more minutes until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F.

4.     Remove burgers from the skillet and place on a cutting board to let rest. Meanwhile, top the bottom portion of each bun with 1 Tablespoon of Blue cheese dressing, some chopped celery stalks & leaves, and a drizzle of the remaining wing sauce butter mixture. Add a pheasant burger patty, and top with the remaining celery stalks and leaves and wing sauce butter mixture.