Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• Vegetable oil – for frying
• 1tsp each ground cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg and coriander
• 1 whole pheasant
• 25g cooked, unsweetened chestnuts, peeled
• 1.5l litres hot chicken stock
• 1tbs lemon juice
• 2tbs double cream
• 2tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley
• Salt

Instructions:

• Fry the onion and carrot in a little oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan or casserole pot, then stir in the spices.
• Add the pheasant and let it colour all over. Add the chestnuts and stock, bring to the boil, cover with a lid and allow to simmer very gently until completely cooked. This will take about 30 minutes.
• Carefully lift out the bird, tipping it so that all the liquor in the central cavity returns to the pot rather than scalds your fingers.
• When it is just cool enough to handle, cut away all the meat from the bird. Keep a little diced breast meat for the finished soup, but return the rest to the pot.
• Blend the soup in a liquidiser, and if necessary, strain through a coarse sieve.
• Add the lemon juice, cream and a little salt, then stir in the parsley and serve with the smarter-looking pheasant dice you kept aside.

Courtesy: S Hill