Expert: Keith Patton - 5/18/2009

Question
My husband took whole pheasants out of freezer on a Friday, defrosted them and breasted them out on Saturday, pounded them flat and placed in fridge. On Sunday I rolled them with a whole chilies, monterey jack cheese, dipped them in butter and rolled them in chilies/cumin bread crumbs....how many days can I keep in fridge...3 more? thank you

Answer
I would thing that with the acidity of the chilis that they would keep four or five days if wrapped and kept in the lower part of the fridge.  One thing to keep in mind, salmonella is introduced into poultry at the plant.  Wild game is not contaminated with it.  So barring any mold or other bacteria introduced during your preparation, the pheasant should be good until your nose tells you otherwise.  Remeber that cheese is alive with mold too.  Just be sure that you cook the meat through.

Keith