The South Dakota Cowgirl

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Feathers, Family and Supper. Please.

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This was a fun-filled weekend full of feathers, family and friends!

Let me explain.

I made feather earrings- which are for sale in my shop:

And my friend, Kim, from Sargent Ranch Lodge, brought me pheasant feathers and a rooster- a rooster that I had to clean so that I could cook it- which I did (there’s a first time for everything!). More on that later. But the pheasant feathers, oh the feathers. They’re just beautiful. And they’re going to become earrings, Christmas garland embellishments as well as Christmas decorations. Who is excited about that besides me? Will the excited parties please stand up? And if you’re excited about it, know that when the decorations are available, they’ll be for sale in my jewelry shop!

On to the pheasant rooster- We did manage to save more feathers from it for my projects; and my helpers were sure enough awesome. That was the first time I’ve ever cleaned a bird, and the cowboy’s son, Ty, found us a 9 minute video on Youtube about skinning and cleaning a pheasant. Smart boy, that one. So the three of us- Ty, our niece Juju, and myself watched a “how to” video and then proceeded to clean the pheasant.

The kids really got in to helping; they even gutted it! And then asked to wash it in the kitchen sink. And I should add, they did a superb job.

Then it was time to cook it. I’ve never cooked pheasant before, so I asked my friend how she liked it. She said she likes it in a casserole type dish with wild rice. So that’s what I did. I have some fabulous wild rice, that I get from an Indian Tribe over in Minnesota and along with some portabella mushrooms made a dish that’s to die for.

And because I love you, I’ll share.

One pheasant rooster- this one was about 2 lbs.
4 c Water (roughly)
4 c Chicken Broth (roughly)
4TBS Olive Oil
Baby Carrots (optional)
Celery (optional)
2TBS Fresh thyme
6 oz Canned or fresh portabella mushrooms
3/4 c Wild Rice
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Bread Crumbs (optional)

To begin, boil the whole bird in a mixture of water and chicken broth- about a 50/50 mixture. Enough to just cover the bird. I added fresh thyme to the water and if I’d have had my thinking cap on, I’d have thrown some olive oil in there too- along with some baby carrots and celery if I’d have had some. I didn’t, but if you do, I recommend it! I let that cook, once it began to boil, for about 45-60 minutes on a low heat- until the meat started to fall off the bones.

Then remove it from the pan- but don’t get too eager to throw out the liquid left in that pan. You’re about to use it because there’s all kinds of flavor in there!

Pull all the meat off the bones and throw it in a 9 x13 casserole pan. Then you want to add all but about 2 cups of the reduced broth mixture to that pan. If you had carrots and celery in that pan, add that too. Then throw in 3/4 to a cup of wild rice, a can of portabella mushrooms- or fresh if you have them, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. And more fresh thyme.

I cooked it for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees- and then another 15 at 400 degrees.

Sprinkle with cheese or breadcrumbs or nothing, and enjoy it. It was really quite tasty!

I hope your weekend was as fun as ours, and that your Monday is better than average!

XO

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About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.

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