At my house, Pimm’s equals summer. For this recipe I have used its classic sweet, fruity and slightly bitter flavours to make a delicious glazed pheasant summer salad.

Ingredients

Serves 2

Cucumber mint and strawberry salad

1 small shallot, peeled, cut in half lengthways then thinly sliced

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 medium cucumber, chopped into small bite-sized chunks

8 large leaves of mint, finely sliced

5 strawberries, roughly chopped

1 large handful of salad leaves

4 tbsp light rapeseed or extra virgin olive oil

Marinade and glaze

60ml Pimm’s

40ml orange juice

2 tsp cider vinegar

ó tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp brown sugar

Pheasant

4 pheasant joints, breasts or legs or a combination

2 tbsp light rapeseed or olive oil

Method

Marinade and Glaze

1 Put all the ingredients in a pan. Bring to a simmer, pour off half and leave to cool.

2 Place the pheasant in a dish, add the cooled marinade and chill for 1 hour.

3 Return the mix in the pan to the heat and reduce by half so it is thickened and sticky.

4 Preheat the oven to 180°C fan/Gas Mark 6. Rub the pheasant in the oil and season.

5 In a pan-to-oven skillet on a medium heat, sear the joints on both sides until browned. Remove from the heat, add any extra marinade from the dish then roast in the oven. The breasts will take about 8 minutes and the legs around 20 minutes.

6 Once cooked, brush with the glaze and leave to rest for a few minutes.

Salad

1 In a small bowl, season the shallots with salt and pour over 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Leave for a couple of minutes.

2 In another bowl add the cucumber, mint, strawberries and salad leaves.

3 Season then mix in the remaining lemon juice, the oil and the shallots.

To serve

1 Pile the salad on to a plate and top with the cooked pheasant.