Pheasant Mushroom Soup. It’s creamy, hearty, and filling. I love a bowl of it on a cold evening, but even more so on an evening after a long day of pheasant hunting! Or deer hunting. Or elk hunting. Or even just afternoon of hunting around Netflix for new show to binge on a cold Saturday. Anyway, the point is, this is an amazing soup!

Pheasant hunting in Utah has been, ummm, I will say interesting for the last few years. Years ago, the state carried a healthy population of pheasants. My dad told me he remembered as a young boy standing in a line of hunters and dogs, anxiously waiting for the pheasant season to officially open. The clock hit 8:00 am and the entire line moved across the field, attempting to kick up roosters, and fill their bag limit of two birds.

Since then, the bird population has struggled. Multiple factors play into this decline, including habitat destruction, predation on birds, tough winters, and more. In southeastern Utah, where I live, the population has almost completely disappeared. There may be a few lone birds out in the once popular hunting areas, but I wouldn’t even go searching for them in fear that if I did find a rooster, I was taking the very last one.

The state department of wildlife has addressed the decline and implemented a release program for pen-raised roosters. During the pheasant season, they release about 10,000 birds over 54 different hunting areas throughout the state. The program has made it possible to hunt pheasant again around the entire state of Utah, which has been great!

Anyway, politics aside! Let’s make Pheasant Mushroom Soup

The Mushroom Stock

You could easily add vegetable or chicken stock to this recipe if you wanted. You could even probably find a mushroom stock at most grocery stores but making your own is really quick and easy. The few steps it takes to make a quick homemade mushroom stock really adds to the depth of flavor for your soup, so if you have the ingredients, I recommend this step.

In a small saucepan, add all the stems from your mushrooms. Cover with water, about four cups.

Also add in a few, like two, roughly chopped up carrots, a little celery, some onion, and a bay leaf. Season with a little salt and let reduce over medium low heat for at least thirty minutes.

Strain out all the solid and reserve the liquid for your pheasant mushroom soup.

The Pheasant Mushroom Soup

To help ensure that the pheasant is tender and easily shreds, I poach it first. In a large pot, I add enough water to cover the pheasant, which is still just on the bone at this point and poach it for one hour.

For poaching, add enough water to cover all the pheasant and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place a lid on the pot, reduce the pot to a simmer over low heat and let the poaching begin.

I just use water for poaching because the mushroom soup is going to add all the flavor to the pheasant. You could use vegetable or chicken stock to poach in, but it is almost a waste of stock. This was a hard tactic for me to follow at first, in my bones I felt like I needed to flavor the pheasant while poaching. But I resisted! And saved my stock for another day.

Once the pheasant is finished poaching, you can shred it into bite size pieces and set aside for adding to the mushroom soup.

In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot, melt two tablespoons of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the minced shallot and diced leeks, and cook for two or three minutes. Add your diced carrots, and add all the sliced mushrooms at this point, being sure to stir and coat the mushrooms in the oil and let cook down for ten minutes.

The mushrooms should be browned and softened by this point.

Sprinkle a little flour over the cooked mushrooms. This will be how we thicken the soup. A quarter of a cup should be good enough. Next, deglaze the pan with a half cup of marsala wine. I really liked the marsala wine in this recipe because it has kind of a sweet, musky flavor that dances wonderfully with the mushroom flavor. Let it simmer to cut some of the alcohol out and the develop the flavor of the mushrooms, maybe three to five minutes.

Now, add in your homemade mushroom broth! If you don’t have time to make your own mushroom stock, you can add vegetable or chicken stock at this point. Some homemade pheasant stock would also be fantastic!

Okay, now stir in your pheasant meat and let this pot gently boil for twenty minutes. No need to have a little jetted hot tub going on, just a gentle rolling boil will do.

Alright, we are almost done! I know you’re getting hungry! Add the can of coconut cream and a tablespoon of minced rosemary. Season to taste with a little salt and pepper. Let it warm on medium low heat for a little bit, just to give the mushroom flavor a little more time to infiltrate your pheasant and tango with the coconut cream.

Serve up piping hot bowls with some crusty bread and you will be one happy eater! Enjoy!

Happy Hunting!