Title: Pheasant a la mode de mon
Categories: Poultry, Holiday
Yield: 2 servings
1 Pheasant
1 1/2 c Port (*NOT* "cooking port",
-real port. "Cooking port"
-has salt added)
5 sl Onion (slice thin)
2 T Mushroom peelings
1 c Chicken stock
1 Bay leaf
2 Cloves, whole
-(or more to taste)
1 Garlic clove
1 T Parsley, chopped fine
2 T Celery leaves,
-chopped fine
1 sl Lemon (peeled
-and chopped)
12 Juniper berries
-(less or more to taste)
1 Tangerine (whole),
-peeled
1/4 lb Larding pork
-(bacon will do)
10 Peppercorns
-(bruised)
1/4 c Mandarine Napoleon
-(a tangerine liqueur;
-you could probably
-substitute Cointreau
-in a pinch. Use more
-or less, to taste.)
1 c Sour cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rub pheasant inside and out with salt and
pepper. Sprinkle with port. Stuff with bay leaf, cloves, garlic, parsley,
celery leaves, lemon, juniper berries and tangerine.
Sew the body cavity of the pheasant shut. Moisten the larding pork or
bacon with port and cover the breast. To the roasting pan add onion slices,
mushroom peelings, about 1 cup of port, chicken stock, salt to taste,
peppercorns, more juniper berries to taste, and Mandarine liqueur. Roast
40-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes at least.
Strain gravy. Let stand and skim fat. Just before serving, add sour
cream.
NOTES:
* HOMME Pheasant for Thanksgiving -- A couple of years ago, we decided
that pheasant would be the perfect Thanksgiving meal for two. My husband
conflated the best parts of all the pheasant recipes we could find (most
came from the Gourmet cookbook) and came up with a recipe that I find
wonderful. It's moist and tender; tastes like chicken gone to heaven. (One
of pheasant's main problems, by the way, is that it tends to be dry.)
* (We usually stick the whole cloves into the tangerine, insert all the
other spices into the body cavity, then add the tangerine.)
* Some of these ingredients may be hard to find; feel free to omit them.
"Mushroom peelings" are simply mushroom stems and leftovers, chopped fine.
"Bruised peppercorns" are peppercorns that have been hit with a wooden
mallet. Bon appetit, and good luck!
