Pheasant Stewed in Apple Cider, Mushrooms and Pork Sausages with Zucchini Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Ingredients (4-6 servings):

• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 whole pheasant
• a pair smoked pork sausages
• 2 onions
• 600 ml apple cider
• 2-3 tablespoons pork lard
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 red hot chilli pepper
• 1 garlic head
• 4 celery stick slices
• 50 ml double cream
• a few branches of thyme

for the Mashed potatoes

• 1 kg large potatoes
• 100 g butter
• 2 zucchinis

Preparation method:

1. Cut the sausages into thick slices.
2. Chop the onions and the chilli pepper.
3. Chop the celery stalks.
4. Melt the lard in a frying pan and brown the pheasant on all sides together with the sliced sausages and the whole garlic cloves.
5. Place some lard from the pheasant frying into a large pot and fry the chopped onions, chilli pepper and bay leaves until fragrant.
6. Add the pheasant and the celery, the thyme branches, the apple cider and fill the rest of the pot with water, season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
7. Bring to boil, and cook over medium heat for about 2 hours until the pheasant is soft.
8. About one hour into the cooking add the halved mushrooms.
9. When the meat is fork tender, remove it from the cooking pot and leave it to rest about 15 minutes before cutting it into pieces.
10. Meanwhile add the flour diluted into a bit of water, the double cream, stir it well and cook about 30 minutes to thick up cooking juices into a gravy.
11. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes in their skins until fork tender.
12. Peel their skins and mash them, add the butter.
13. Wash the zucchinis, grate them  and slowly integrate them into the mashed potatoes