Pheasant Stew with Spinach and Oranges

The fact that it's 25 degress above zero and I'm dancing a jig at how beautiful it is outside tells you how rough the weather has been around here lately. 

The past few weeks plunged North Dakota into an ice bath, with few moments of reprive to come up for air.  It's that below-zero cold where metallic notes hang in the icy air.  Where we find ourselves trotting from car door to home door, just to shave a couple seconds off the time exposed to the elements.  Where car engines groan and shudder when trying to start.  Where even a road trip on the heavily-traveled Interstate 94 means you double-check that your cell phone is fully charged and you have blankets and a good pair of snowboots in the trunk, since a stalled car in this weather is a dangerous thing indeed. 

But today, what a glorious day.  Kent got up on the roof to shovel some snow off (an overdue chore, since the neighbors have shoveled their roofs off at least twice by now).  And little Ben, who has been house-bound for weeks, finally got outside today today, a bundled little boy playing in the snow.  You never saw a happier kid.

Meanwhile, I did some shoveling myself and found little chores to do outside to enjoy the weather a bit more.  Then I went in, threw open the windows to bring in some of that brisk fresh air, and made this stew for Sunday dinner, steaming up the kitchen with its brothy, vinegary goodness. 

Pheasant Stew with Spinach and Oranges
Adapted from this recipe, which originally called for chicken thighs.  I had a couple frozen chicken backs from our family chicken farmer Auntie T that I threw in at the beginning of the recipe for extra flavor and pulled them out before serving.  If you've never made a recipe that involved boiling down vinegar, it's going to stink up your kitchen a bit, so open a window. 

8-12 pieces of pheasant (breasts and thighs)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 lb. fresh pearl onions, peeled
6 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp. smoked sweet paprika (pimentón)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
4 large navel oranges
6 oz. fresh spinach, stemmed (4 cups)
2 Tbs. chopped fresh mint

Season the pheasant on both sides with salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in an 8-quart Dutch oven or other heavy-duty pot over medium heat. Cook meat until golden on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Add the onions, garlic, and paprika to the pot and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the vinegar and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium high and simmer until the vinegar is reduced by half, 7 to 10 minutes. Increase the heat to high and add the broth. When the liquid comes to a boil, add the pheasant to the pot skin side up, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until pheasant is cooked through and tender, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the peel off the oranges. Working over a medium bowl to catch the juice, cut the segments free from the membranes. Squeeze any remaining juice from the membranes into the bowl.

When the pheasant is done, add the orange segments and juice, spinach, and mint to the pot, gently stirring them into the sauce. Serve immediately over mashed potatoes.