Pheasant Madeira Recipes

BRAISED PHEASANTS IN MADEIRA

Steps:

• Make the stock: wash the necks and giblets then place them in a medium-sized saucepan with 1 pint (570 ml) water and add all the stock ingredients. Bring everything up to the boil, skim off any scum that rises to the surface, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Put a lid half on the pan and simmer for 1½-2 hours. After that, strain the stock to use for the sauce. If you haven't managed to persuade your supplier to do it for you, begin by jointing the pheasants. This you do with your very sharpest knife as follows: hold the pheasant with the breast-bone uppermost, make a small incision at the back end, then turn the pheasant up, neck end down, in a vertical position, insert the knife where you made your cut and cut right down to the neck end. Then open the bird out flat, skin side down, and cut all along the backbone. Now turn each side skin side up and pull each end, stretching the whole thing out as far as you can. This will reveal a line which naturally separates the two joints, so simply cut along this line. Do the same with the other half and you will have four joints. Begin cooking the joints of pheasant by seasoning them with salt and pepper and frying them in butter and oil until they have taken on a good golden brown colour. As they brown, transfer them to the casserole. Then, in the fat remaining in the pan, fry the shallots until golden brown and also remove them with a slotted spoon to a plate. The bacon should be de-rinded, cut into 1/3 inch (7.5 mm) cubes and browned as well. Then remove these to join the shallots and leave aside for later. Now add the thyme, bay leaves and chopped garlic to the pheasant and pour in 10 fl oz (275 ml) of the stock, the wine and Madeira. Bring everything to simmering point, then keep the heat low so that the contents just gently, almost imperceptibly bubble. Put on a tight-fitting lid and cook on top of the stove for 45 minutes. After that add the small whole mushrooms, the bacon and shallots, and spoon some of the juices over them. Then put the lid on, bring everything back to a gentle simmer and simmer for a further 45 minutes or until the pheasant is tender when tested with a small skewer. To finish the sauce, mix the softened butter and flour to a smooth paste. Then, using a slotted spoon, remove the pheasant, bacon and vegetables from the casserole to a warmed serving dish and keep warm. Bring the liquid up to a fast boil and let it bubble and reduce by about a third. Next add the butter and flour mixture, using a wire whisk to distribute it. Then, as soon as the sauce comes back to the boil and has thickened, pour it over the pheasant, bacon and vegetables and serve; or cool, refrigerate and re-heat gently the next day. Although imported new potatoes are not very flavoursome, in the winter months they are an ideal accompaniment to something very flavoursome like this and a few snipped chives sprinkled on them improves their flavour. A little steamed broccoli or tiny button sprouts would also be a good accompaniment.

EMERIL'S FAVORITE ROAST PHEASANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven.
• Season the cavities and the outside of each pheasant liberally with salt and pepper. Divide the chopped onion and carrot equally among the cavities of the pheasants. Squeeze the juice from both halves of the orange and set aside. Cut 1 of the squeezed halves into 3 pieces, and tuck inside of the cavities along with the veggies. Insert 1sprig of thyme into the cavity of each pheasant.
• Arrange the pheasants in a large roasting pan, breast sides up. Lay 2 strips of bacon over the top of each pheasant, cutting the bacon into pieces if necessary to cover as much of the pheasant as possible. Roast for 15 minutes, then remove the bacon strips and continue roasting for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear. (It is important to not overcook the pheasants, as they are very lean birds.) Remove the pheasants from the oven and transfer to a serving platter, loosely tented, while you make the sauce.
• Using a spoon, carefully remove as much extra fat from the pan as possible. Place the roasting pan over high heat and, when hot, deglaze with the reserved orange juice and Madeira, using a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the orange juice and Madeira have reduced by half, add the chicken stock and continue to cook until sauce has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes. Swirl in the butter and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
• Remove the back bone from each pheasant, then cut along the breast bone to divide the birds into two halves. Serve 1/2 pheasant per person, napped with some of the sauce and with some of the Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding.
• Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden brown and tender, 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon of the garlic, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the Essence, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 3/4 teaspoon of the pepper, and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms are tender and have given off their liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the beer and cook, stirring, to deglaze the pan and until the mixture is almost dry, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• In a large bowl, combine the eggs, cream, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of Essence, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, and whisk well to combine. Add the mushroom mixture and cheeses and stir well. Add the bread cubes and let sit until the bread has absorbed the liquid, 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish with the butter. Add the bread crumbs, shaking to cover the bottom evenly. Pour the bread pudding mixture into the prepared pan and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and uncover. Continue baking until risen and firm in the center, and golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before serving.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly and store in an airtight jar or container.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch. Published by William and Morrow, 1993.

POT-ROASTED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Dust the pheasants with the flour, then heat the oil in a large flameproof dish. Brown the pheasants all over, then remove from the dish.
• In the same dish, fry the bacon, vegetables, garlic and herbs with 1 tbsp of the dusting flour for 5 mins, until the vegetables start to colour. Put the pheasants and any resting juices back in the dish, pour on the Marsala, wine and stock, add the sugar, then cover and cook for 1 hr 30 mins - 1 hr 50 mins or until the leg meat easily comes away from the bone. Serve with bread sauce.

PHEASANT MADEIRA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Salt and pepper the pheasant pieces, then brown in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, a few at a time, in the butter. Remove browned pieces and set aside as they are ready.
• Saute onions and mushrooms in drippings until onions turn clear. Place pheasant pieces on top of the vegetables, pour wine over, cover and place in preheated oven. Cook until tender - about 90 minutes (see note). Remove birds to warmed serving platter.
• Place Dutch oven on top of the stove and raise temperature to boiling. Reduce sauce by almost half.
• Beat the egg yolk in a cup. Using a tablespoon, begin spooning hot sauce into egg yolk, stirring all the time, until you have a cupful of hot egg yolk and sauce. (If the egg yolk strings, you have added the hot sauce too fast. You'll have to throw out the cupful and start again.) When you have a well-blended cup of hot egg yolk and sauce, pour it back into the boiling sauce, stirring vigorously. Cook and stir until it thickens like gravy. Place in a gravy boat and serve with the birds.

ROAST PHEASANT WITH MORELS

Steps:

• Two days in advance, place the unwrapped pheasant on a rack in the refrigerator with a plate underneath. Allow to air-dry, turning occasionally.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If they are gritty, rinse the morels quickly under running water and dry with paper towels. Slice the tops and stems. Soften the shallots in one tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add the morels. Cook over high heat until the liquid evaporates. Chop the liver and heart and briefly saute. Set aside.
• Insert the remaining butter and the tarragon under the pheasant breast skin, distributing it as evenly as possible. Fill the cavity with the morel mixture, season to taste and truss.
• Place the pheasant on its side in a roasting pan and roast for 10 minutes, basting when you do so. Turn on the other side and roast a further 10 minutes. Then turn the pheasant breast up and finish cooking until it is tender, about 45 minutes to an hour.
• Place the pheasant on a warm serving dish. Skim the fat from the roasting juices and add the stock. Bring to boil and simmer until reduced by half. Meanwhile, remove the morels from the pheasant cavity. Add them to the stock and simmer for 30 seconds. Pour into a heated sauce boat and serve separately.