Gordon Ramsay’s Pheasant Casserole with Winter Vegetables and Colcannon

So you’d half expect him, and other celebrity chefs, to be showboating in the kitchen during the festivities by rustling up some highly extravagant and unfeasibly difficult dishes.

Well, not exactly. In fact Ramsay, along with John Torode, Delia Smith and Antonio Carluccio really are trying to keep it simple this Christmas and have furnished Taste with some delicious (but not too difficult) dishes to try out over the festivities.

We're posting one a day all week. Merry Christmas!

Gordon Ramsay’s Pheasant Casserole with Winter Vegetables and Colcannon

(Serves 6-8)

2 pheasants, about 550g each

15g plain flour

Sea salt and pepper

3tbsp olive oil

200g smoked bacon, cut into cubes

2 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced

2 large parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

1/2 celeriac, peeled and cut into chunks

12 baby onions, peeled

2tbsp runny honey

200ml red wine

Few thyme sprigs

500ml chicken stock

Colcannon:

750g floury potatoes

1/2 savoy cabbage, trimmed

80g butter, cut into cubes

75ml double cream, warmed

Preheat the oven to 180C. Joint the pheasants. Season the flour with salt and pepper and use to lightly dust the pheasant pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole and brown the pheasant pieces all over, in batches if necessary. Set aside on a plate.

Add the bacon cubes to the casserole and fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the carrots, parsnips, celeriac and baby onions to the pan and fry, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until starting to soften.

Add the honey, pour in the wine and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Return the pheasants to the casserole, add the thyme and pour over the stock.

Season with salt and pepper, put the lid on the casserole and place in the oven. Cook for 1-1¼ hours until the pheasant meat is tender.

Make the colcannon while the casserole is in the oven. Peel the potatoes and cut them into large, even-sized chunks. Add to a pan of salted water, bring to the boil and cook for 12-15 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, finely shred the cabbage. Place a frying pan over a medium heat and add a quarter of the butter. When it has melted, add the cabbage and saute gently for 4-6 minutes until tender.Remove from the heat and set aside.

Drain the potatoes well, then return to the pan and place over a low heat to dry out for a minute.

Take off the heat and pass through a potato ricer back into the pan, or mash well.

Slowly stir in the cream, season well and gradually beat in the rest of the butter. Stir the cabbage through the mashed potato and check the seasoning.

Divide the pheasant casserole between warm plates and serve each portion with a generous helping of colcannon.

Tomorrow, Antonio Carluccio's Roast Duck with Parma Ham