Pheasant with pomegranates and a top Reserva

The pheasant season in Britain continues until the end of January, and oven-ready birds will be in the shops for a few days after that, so there's still time to enjoy one of the best food matches for Rioja. Adapted from a Jane Grigson recipe, this dish incorporates everybody's favourite superfood, pomegranate juice.

Serves four
3 pomegranates
1 pheasant
Bulgur wheat

1. Cut two of the pomegranates in half and squeeze them in an orange squeezer; it sounds improbable, but it works. Put the pheasant in an oven-proof pot with a lid and pour the juice over. Cook in the oven at 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 4 for 45 minutes or until cooked.

2. Take the seeds out of the third pomegranate, removing all traces of pith. This is the boring, time-consuming bit, but it's worth the trouble.

3. Cook the bulgur wheat according to instructions.

4. Remove from the pot and carve, arranging the pieces on a serving dish. Arrange the bulgur wheat around the pheasant, and pour the cooking juices, which will have a deliciously savoury, fruity flavour, over the meat. Serve any extra separately. Scatter the seeds over the bulgur wheat; they will look wonderfully jewel-like, and taste terrific.

Serve with
This dish goes superbly with a good, vigourous Rioja with plenty of complexity: a top Reserva, perhaps.