Pleasant Pheasant Soup

This soup is perfect for those cool fall nights when you need a little bit of comfort food to warm things up.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2-2 lbs pheasant
• 4 quarts cold water
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons dried parsley
• 2-3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon seasoned salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Place pheasant in pot with water and salt. Simmer until pheasant falls off bone. Separate meat from bone, reserve broth. In stockpot, add olive oil and butter to pot. Brown onion on medium low heat until onions are translucent Place meat in stockpot with liquid from first step. Add broth from pheasant, onions, garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, celery salt, black pepper and bay leaves. Add remaining vegetables and pheasant meat. Add chicken broth to cover 1 inch above vegetables, return soup to a boil, stirring to distribute ingredients. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes. Add butter the last 10 minutes. Just before serving, season with salt and pepper and add fresh chopped parsley. To remove excess fat from surface of soup, swirl a lettuce leaf around surface; it will pick up a lot of the fat. Serve with extra sourdough bread toasted with butter and fresh garlic. Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan cheese.

Number of Servings: 6