Dr. Ralph Campanale traded the hustle bustle of running the trauma center at UC-Davis in Sacramento for the solitary beauty of Idaho hunting fields in 1984.

“My wife said she hadn’t seen me 58 days out of the last 60 days,” he recounts. “When we moved here there were no stoplights—I remember there was such a debate when they put in the first light at Sun Valley Road and Main Street.  And, thanks to the hunting opportunities, I have not bought commercial meat for 38 years.”

Campanale taught himself to cook game after watching his mother turn wild game into something akin to cardboard by cooking it way too long. And he recently stopped by in Marie’s Kitchen to share one of his favorite pheasant recipes, which includes a lovely pomegranate sauce. Don’t have pheasant? It’s also great on chicken, turkey, quail, and grouse, as well, said Campanale.

Pheasant (or Chicken or Turkey) in Pomegranate Sauce

pheasant breasts

a few tablespoons flour

onion powder

garlic powder

salt and pepper

thyme

butter, a couple tablespoons

olive oil

¼ cup demi-glace (Campanale makes his own out of elk marrow but the rich brown sauce can be purchased at the store or made using a regular demi-glace recipe)

pomegranate seeds (or currants or lingonberries)

1 tablespoon molasses

shallot, diced

Remove the tendon from pheasant breasts. Toss flour with onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper and thyme. Dredge the breasts in this flour mixture. Warm butter and olive oil in pan and cook coated breasts for 2.5 minutes.

Heat up mixture of demi-glace with pomegranate seeds, molasses and shallots; thicken it with flour and reduce. Pour over the pheasant breasts. Serve with cous cous or curried rice to which you can add green beans, peas or broccoli if you like.