While the end of the calendar year may have just gone, here at The Star the final day of the main Game Season on February 1 is an equally important date in our year.

As the season comes to a close, we find ourselves using different kinds of game in as many ways as possible, probably because we are mindful that it will soon be no longer available to us.

These two recipes would be great for a picnic or a buffet.

The Pheasant pasties are meaty and bursting with flavour, while the crunchy walnuts add a good contrast of texture. They would be great served with buttery mash, peppered Savoy cabbage and a jug of onion gravy. (They also make fantastic bait for the discerning fish).

The mallard sausage rolls use normal baking mixed peel, dried mixed herbs and orange zest, together with finely chopped mallard breast bound with a little pork shoulder sausagemeat, which is then wrapped in full butter puff pastry, and baked until golden brown. Best eaten within a few minutes of coming out of the oven.

Chef Andrew Pern owns the Star Inn at Harome and the Star In The City, York


Mallard and mixed peel sausage roll

Makes: ten

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

500g homemade or a good readymade quality puff or shortcrust pastry
Plus 2 egg yolks
A sprinkling of poppy seeds

For the filling:

225g pork sausagemeat
225g Mallard breast, skinless, finely diced
50g white breadcrumbs
Zest (fine) and juice of one large orange
A pinch of nutmeg
Seasoning

Method: 

Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.

First combine all of the filling ingredients together and set aside.

Roll out the pastry to a long strip approximately 30cm long, 15cm wide and the thickness of a 50p piece and arrange the mallard forcemeat in a sausage-like fashion evenly along the length of the strip and seal the pastry around it.

Brush lightly with the eggwash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cook in the preheated oven for approximately ten minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and place on a cooling tray, then munch as required.


Pheasant and walnut pasties

Serves: makes about ten medium sized pasties

Ingredients:

Homemade shortcrust pastry (or 1 packet of readymade)
110g cold butter
170g plain flour
1 large egg yolk
A little sea salt
A splash of cold water
1 pinch mixed dried herbs

Eggwash:
4 egg yolks
A sprinkling of dried herbs or poppy seeds

Filling:
500g pheasant breast and thigh meat, cut into 1cm dice
5g dried mixed herbs
5g crushed juniper
50g smoked bacon lardons, cut into 1cm strips
150g blanched vegetables: potato, carrot, swede, cut into 1cm dice
1 measure of port
50g walnut halves
200ml game stock
20g onion, finely diced and softened in a little oil
10g unsalted butter
5g cornflour 
Seasoning 

Method:

To make the pastry: First cut the butter into small pieces. Sift the flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter until the texture is similar to small breadcrumbs.

Add the egg yolk, herbs, salt and a splash of cold water, and combine together to form a stiff dough.

Mix thoroughly, but don’t over ‘work’ it. Place in the fridge and allow to cool for around 30 minutes.

For the filling: First place a little butter in a thick-bottomed pan, and fry off the pheasant, bacon, roots and onion until golden brown.

Add the walnuts, herbs and juniper, and stir thoroughly to colour, then add the port and stock.

Bring to the boil, then simmer for approximately five minutes. Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and use this to thicken the sauce, check the seasoning, then leave to cool.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface, to a thickness of a 50p piece, then cut into 15-20cm discs with a round cutter (or cut around a side plate). Glaze the rim of each disc with a little egg wash, then place a couple of dessertspoons of the cooled pheasant mix into the centre.

Lift up the sides of the pastry discs to make a ‘purse-like’ pasty shape, then crimp the edge with your index finger and thumb to seal the pasty.

Egg-wash all over the pasties and sprinkle them with a little more dried herbs and poppy seeds, then place on a lightly greased baking tray and chill again for approximately 20 minutes to set.

Preheat the oven to 200°C, then place in the pasties for about 12 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.

Allow to cool on a rack (for as long as you can resist!), or serve as a hearty lunch with mashed spuds, greens and gravy.