Tuscan Grilled Pheasant Recipes

TUSCAN GRILLED CORNISH HENS

Steps:

• Sprinkle the Cornish hens with 1 teaspoon salt on each side.
• Combine the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, rosemary, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a ceramic or glass dish just large enough to hold the flattened hens. Add the hens, and turn to coat. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight, turning once or twice.
• When ready to grill, prepare a hot charcoal fire on one side of a grill (or turn a gas grill on low heat). Spread 1/4 of the coals across the other side of the grill. Place the hens on the cooler side skin-side up and weigh them down with a gratin dish with a foil-wrapped brick inside.
• Cook for 12 minutes, until the underside is golden brown. Turn the hens skin-side down, weigh them down again, and cook for another 12 minutes until the skin is golden brown and the hens are cooked through.
• Place the lemon halves on the cool side of the grill, cut-side down, for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Remove the Cornish hens and lemons to a plate or cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Cut the hens in half, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and serve with the grilled lemon halves.

GRILLED TUSCAN CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
• Add the chopped rosemary, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a large resealable plastic bag.
• Using kitchen shears, cut down both sides of the chicken's backbone and remove the backbone.
• Oil the grill grates, remove the chicken from the marinade and place the chickens skin-side down on the hot grill rack.
• Place 2 foil-covered bricks on top of the chicken to weigh it down. Grill 20 minutes, then remove the bricks and flip. Continue cooking for 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before carving.
• Serve the chicken on a bed of arugula with lemon slices.

TUSCAN GRILLED CHEESE

Steps:

• Brush 1 side of each bread slice lightly with oil, using about 1 tablespoon total. On 2 slices, arrange half of cheese, then tomato, basil, and remaining cheese. Top with remaining bread slices, oil side down. Brush tops of sandwiches with about 1 tablespoon of remaining oil.
• Heat medium skillet or range-top grill pan over medium heat. Place sandwiches, oil side down, in skillet. Brush tops with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Cook until sandwiches are golden brown on both sides and cheese is melted, turning once, about 5 minutes per side.
• Toss arugula with vinaigrette and divide between 2 plates. Cut sandwiches in half or quarters and arrange around arugula. Serve.

GRILLED PHEASANT LEGS

Steps:

• 1. Partially bone the pheasant legs by cutting out each thigh bone, working from the inside of the top of the leg. Prepare the stuffing as described, then stuff the pheasant legs with the stuffing and tie or sew the openings shut, or pin shut with toothpicks. Wrap each pheasant leg in 2 strips of pancetta with a sprig of rosemary underneath. Tie the pancetta in place with butcher's string.2. Preheat the grill to medium-high.3. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the pheasant legs on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs, until the skin is nicely browned and the tip of a skewer or sharp knife comes out very hot, 8 to 12 minutes per side. Move the legs as needed to avoid flare-ups from the dripping pancetta fat. Untruss the legs before serving.Serves 2

TUSCAN-STYLE GRILLED TROUT

Steps:

• Rub trout with oil. In a small bowl, combine the zucchini, red peppers, tapenade, parsley, garlic and vinegar; spoon into fish cavities., Place fish in a well-greased grill basket. Grill, covered, over medium heat until fish is browned on the bottom, 8-10 minutes. Turn; grill until fish flakes easily with a fork, 5-7 minutes longer., In a small bowl, combine the relish ingredients; serve with trout.

GRILLED TUSCAN-STYLE PORTERHOUSE STEAKS

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate. Season steaks with salt and pepper.
• Cook steaks on the preheated grill until they are beginning to firm and are hot and slightly pink in the center, about 12 to 14 minutes, flipping halfway. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) for medium.
• While the steaks are cooking, place garlic in a microwave-safe bowl. Sprinkle some salt over top and pour in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Mash garlic with the back of a sturdy knife into a fine paste. Stir in remaining oil and red pepper flakes. Heat in the microwave until hot, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, mixing every 30 seconds.
• Remove steaks from the oven and let sit covered for 4 to 5 minutes. Drizzle 2 tablespoons oil mixture over each steak and squeeze lemon wedges over top.

TUSCAN GRILLED PHEASANT

Steps:

• Da Delfina, in the village of Artimino near Florence, is the just sort of restaurant you want to wind up at after a long day on the barbecue trail. You drive up progressively narrower roads to a village perched atop a precipitously steep Tuscan hilltop. You come to a dining establishment that feels less like a restaurant than a private home. You're in Chianti country now, and Da Delfina has a terrace where, weather permitting, you can dine with an almost extraterrestrial view of the manicured vineyards below you.The first thing you see when you enter the restaurant is an open kitchen with a massive hearth equipped with a multi-spit rotisserie and wood-burning grill. Cords of Tuscan oak lie stacked on the floor and in the courtyard below. The white-haired woman shelling cannellini beans at a table by the door is none other than Delfina Cioni herself, who founded the restaurant, after a stint as a private chef for a nearby countess, in 1961. Today the restaurant is run by her son, Carlo.According to Carlo, it makes sense to cook game on the grill. After all, it wasn't so long ago that our hunter-gatherer forebears caught their own food and cooked it over communal campfires. Nonetheless, when grilling game, you have to keep its inherent dryness in mind. Game is much leaner than domesticated animals as a result, it tends to dry out during cooking. The best way to avoid this is to wrap the game in pancetta, bacon, or caul fat.I was the only person at my table eating pheasant the day I dined at Delfina, so they served me a boned, stuffed pheasant leg. This recipe calls for a whole pheasant, which you can bone if you're feeling ambitious (see below). But the pheasant will be perfectly delicious even if you don't bone it.Note that if you can't find pheasant, chicken and game hen are delicious prepared in this fashion.1. Rinse the pheasant, inside and out, under cold running water, then drain and blot dry, inside and out, with paper towels. If you're feeling ambitious, partially bone the pheasant. Start at the neck opening. Using the tip of a sharp paring knife, cut the flesh away from the rib cage. When you get to the wing joints, cut right through them. As you bone the bird, pull the flesh back over the rib cage, the way you would peel off a glove. Continue boning until you get to the leg joints. Cut through them as well. Cut out the thigh bones. Pull out the rib cage and turn the pheasant back inside in (like turning an inside-out sock back to right side out). This sounds a good deal more complicated and messy than it really is. You can certainly stuff and cook the pheasant without removing the bones. Refrigerate the bird, covered, while you prepare the stuffing.2. Pour the milk over the bread in a shallow bowl and let soak for 30 minutes.3. Meanwhile, cook the Swiss chard in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until tender, about 5 minutes. Refresh under cold water, drain well, and blot dry with paper towels. Chop the Swiss chard as fine as possible and squeeze it in your hands to wring out any water. Place in a medium-size bowl.4. Squeeze the bread to wring out the milk. Add the bread to the chard in the bowl along with the garlic and cheese and mix well, adding salt and pepper. Spoon this mixture into the pheasant and sew or skewer the bird shut.5. Salt and pepper the pheasant on the outside. Wrap the bird in strips of pancetta, tucking sprigs of rosemary beneath them. Use kitchen string to tie the pancetta in place.6. There are two ways to cook the pheasant. One is on a spit on a rotisserie over a high heat. The other is by indirect grilling.Rotisserie method: Set up the grill for rotisserie cooking. When ready to cook, place the pheasant on the spit and set the spit in place on the grill. Turn on the rotisserie and cook, covered, until the bird is nicely browned and the tip of a metal skewer or sharp knife inserted into the thickest part of the thigh comes out very hot to the touch, 40 to 60 minutes.Indirect grilling method: Set up the grill for indirect grilling placing a drip pan in the center, and preheat to medium. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Place the pheasant on the hot grate over the drip pan. Cover the grill and cook until the bird tests done as above, about 1 hour.7. To serve, remove the trussing string. Let the bird stand for 10 minutes, then cut in half and serve.Serves 2