Original recipe was for pheasant breasts.
Mark got 2 pheasants hunting with our son Ryan, November 2025. I never cooked pheasant before, so I looked for a recipe online.
This one is a keeper. The sauce is amazing. You can easily substitute chicken instead of pheasant.
Serve over your favorite pasta, with mashed potatoes or however you choose.
Pheasant breasts are very low in fat, so don't skimp on the olive oil and butter when pan-frying; otherwise, the meat can dry out quickly.
4 pheasant breasts, skinless (or substitute chicken cutlets)
1 Tbls. butter
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
1 garlic clove peeled & chopped
6 oz. Pancetta cubed (or Bacon) – see Note
1 c. mushrooms, sliced
2 oz. white wine (I used chardonnay)
3-1/2 oz. heavy cream
1 t. whole grain mustard
1 Tbls. fresh parsley, chopped (1 t. dry)
If using pheasant: Soak breasts in milk for 12 hours to get rid of gamey taste. Rinse and pat dry. Then take a meat mallet and pound the thick portion of each breast to make breasts same width. Breasts should look like a cutlet.
If using Chicken: Use 2 thick breasts and cut them horizontally to get 4 cutlets. Or you can use a meat mallet to pound 4 chicken breasts into cutlets.
Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan until foaming. Season the pheasant or chicken breasts with salt and pepper; then place in the pan and cook for about 4-5 minutes (4 minutes for small breasts). Turn the breasts over and cook for another 4 minutes until golden brown (check with a sharp knife to see if they are cooked through).
Remove the pheasant or chicken to a plate. Allow the breasts to rest for 5-10 minutes to let the juices redistribute, ensuring a moist, flavor-some bite.
Put the chopped garlic, sliced mushrooms and pancetta in the frying pan (on a medium-high heat) and cook for 3-4 minutes until the mushrooms are tender.
Pour in the white wine and let most of the liquid evaporate off.
Stir in the cream, wholegrain mustard, and parsley; simmer on a low heat for 2-3 minutes.
Return the pheasant or chicken breasts to the pan and warm through for 3-4 minutes before serving.
Serves 4
For the pancetta, try to get rid of as much of the fat that you can (healthier that way). Ideally you want about 4-5 ounces without the fat.