Pheasant, Housewife Style

Ingredients

• two nice pheasants
• two ounces of butter
• two ounces of fat bacon
• a shred union
• a carrot
• half a head of celery
• a pint and a half of water
• season with salt
• season with pepper
• a bay-leaf

Method

1. 1

   Fry the pheasants in a stewpan with butter, bacon, onion, carrot, and celery.

2. 2

   Season and moisten with water.

3. 3

   Simmer for 35 minutes, basting frequently.

4. 4

   Prepare a thick risotto, strain the pheasant liquor, and mix with the risotto.

5. 5

   Serve pheasants on top with gravy.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Practical household cookery (1891) by E. Duret, page 144. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

PHEASANT, HOUSEWIFE STYLE. Draw and truss for braizing two nice pheasantfl, fry them on a brisk fire in a stewpan with two ounces of butter, two ounces of fat bacon, a shred union, carrot, and half a head of celery, and season with salt, pepper, and a bay-leaf. When of a nice golden colour all over, moisten with a pint and a half of water, set to simmer for about thirty-five minutes, with the pan partly covered, taking care to frequently baste them with their own liquor, and to turn them over once. PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. 331 In the meantime prepare a thick risotto, and when the pheasants are properly cooked place them on a hot dish, strain and skim off the fat from their liquor and add it to the risotto, stir this well together, and when ready dish it up, put the pheasants on the top, and serve with some good gravy in a sauce-hoat apart. 668. PHEASANTS A LA NAPOLITAINE. Select and draw two nice yoimg pheasants; lard the breasts in the usual way with small strips of fat bacon ; wrap them in well -buttered paper, and set them to roast before a moderate fire for twenty-five minutes, taking special care to baste them frequently with clarified butter ; after which, remove the paper from the birds and roast them ten minutes longer ; baste again two or three times, and see that the strips of bacon do not colour too much. Meanwhile prepare some macaroni Italienne (No. 89), and when ready, and the pheasants are properly cooked, pour the macaroni over a dish, place the pheasants in the centre, and serve with some good gravy in a sauce- boat apart. Note, — In order to roast game to a nicety, attention and experience are required, as it is of the utmost importance that birds should be removed from the fire as soon as they are done. This is generally found to be the case when a certain amount of evaporation is emitted from the bird s flesh. 664. PHEASANTS A LA HILANAISE. Pick, draw, and truss two pheasants for boiling, and braize them as for pheasants, housewife styla When done, put them on a dish and keep hot; add one pint of broth to the liquor in which the birds were braized, boil this and pass it through a tnmmy, then skim off the 332 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. fat, and put it in a stewpan with some of the liquor, two savoy cabbages each cut in four, the cores taken out, and previously blanched for five minutes in boiling salt water, And half a pound each of Bologna sausage and streaky bacon ; season with salt, pepper, and a " bouquet garni ; *' cover with a sheet of buttered paper, to prevent the cabbages colouring, simmer for three-quarters of an hour with the pan covered; then remove the paper and " bouquet ; " squeeze the gravy out of the cabbage bj* pressing it in a colander ; cut the sausage and bacon into slices a quarter of an inch thick ; cut also the cabbage into small squares ; untie the pheasants and dish them up ; place alternately cabbage, sausage, and bacon around the pheasants, and serve with the remainder of the birds' liquor, previously reduced to a half-glaze, in a sauce-boat apart, 665. ROAST PHEASANT STUFFED WITH TRUFFLES. Select two young and plump pheasants, and draw then, in the same way as a turkey. Peel two pounds of fresh trufRes, cut them into small filbert shaped-pieces, and put them in a stewpan; pound the trimmings in a mortar, with a quarter of a pound of chopped pickled cooked ox- tongue and the same quantity of fat bacon ; add this to the truffles with one pound of sausage-meat ; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg; set it to simmer for about ten minutes; stir frequently; then moisten it with a gill of either rum, Madeira, or broth ; mix well together, and let it cool. When properly set stuff the pheasants with it; sew up the vents and breast- skin ; truss them for roasting ; wrap in a sheet of paper and put them by in a small box or jar tightly shut, in a cool place for two or three days ; or better still, bury them (folded in the paper) a foot deep in the ground for the same number of days, when PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. 333 the truffles will have imparted their aroma and flavour, to the flesh of the birds. Three-quarters of an hour before serving, bring the birds out ; remove the paper ; lay on each breast a thin slice of fat bacon; tie these round with twine, and set them to roa&t before an even fire for thirty-five minutes, frequently basting them. When done (see note on Pheasants a la Napolitaine) remove the string, dish up the birds with good brown gravy, and serve with Bread sauce in a boat apart. ' Note. — AVJien pheasants are roasted without stuffing, sei-ve then with seasoned watercress. 666. BOUDINS AND QUENELLES OF PHEASANT. Follow the same directions as given for boudins of chicken a la Bichelieu and quenelles a la Toulouse. 667. SALMI OF PARTRIDGES. Roast for twenty minutes, let cool, and cut up two pai-tridges as in salmi of pheasants. Pound the liver and trimmings of the birds in the usual way, and add them to the Salmis sauce (No. 199)} together with half a pint of button champignons or fresh mushi'ooms nicely shi*ed ; simmer and stir till the mushrooms are done, then pour the sauce over the pieces of paitridge, and warm the con- tents of the stewpan, gradually, by the side of the fire, with- out boiling; squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, and then dish up the pieces in a pyramidal form, pour the sauce over, garnish with croiitons fried in butter, and serve. 668. STEWED PARTRIDGE WITH CABBAGE. After having picked, drawn, singed, and trussed two partridges, with the legs tucked in as for boiling, ivy them 334 PRACTICAL HOUSEHOLD COOKERY. to a nice colour all round in a sautd-pan with an ounce of butter. Cut a good cabbage (savoy preferred) into quarters and blanch it for five minutes; then steep it in cold water, cut off the cores, press the water out, and put it in a stewpan with the partridges nicely imbedded in it ; season with a ** bouquet garni," two medium carrots, two onions with two cloves stuck in each, salt and pepper to taste; moisten with enough broth to cover the cabbage, add half a pound of streaky bacon, and cover the whole with a buttered sheet of paper ; close the stewpan tightly, and set it to simmer for an hour and a half. When done tiike out the birds and bacon, and put them in the oven to keep hot ; remove the " bouquet garni " and onion ; put the carrots

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.