BREAST & CONFIT OF BABY PHEASANT

By BobD

Ingredients

• 4 SERVINGS
• Seared Breast and Confit of Baby Pheasant with Zinfandel Reduction Sauce
• The first steps for both the legs and the breasts of these pheasants start the day before you serve them. You begin by marinating the breasts and making confit of the legs.
• 4 baby pheasants, 1 1/4 pounds each, necks, giblets, and 2 wing joints removed and reserved
• • Freshly ground black pepper
• • 1/4 cup olive oil
• • 5 whole cloves
• • 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• • 3 sprigs thyme, plus 4 sprigs, to garnish
• • 3 small bay leaves
• • 3 cloves garlic
• • 1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt
• • 3 cups plus 1 tablespoon rendered duck fat
• • 1 tablespoon olive oil
• • 1 cup sliced shallots
• • 1/2 tablespoon black peppercorns
• • 1 bottle (750 ml) good-quality Zinfandel
• • 3 cups pheasant or game stock, reduced to 3/4 cup, or 3/4 cup duck and veal demi-glace
• • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• • Potato Galette
• Serve with the Potato Galette, adding 1 tablespoon fresh savory or thyme, and the black truffle. Zinfandel is the obvious wine choice.

Details

Servings 4
Adapted from dartagnan.com

Preparation

Step 1

1. Remove breasts (rib cage and drummettes attached) and legs from birds. You can use the bones and trimmings to prepare the stock called for in Step 5 below. Combine breasts with olive oil, 2 of the cloves, the cinnamon, 1 sprig of thyme, and 1 bay leaf in a resealable plastic bag or bowl. Seal or cover, and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Combine legs with garlic, coarse salt, the teaspoon of black pepper, 1 sprig thyme, 1 bay leaf, and the remaining 3 cloves in a resealable plastic bag or bowl. Seal or cover, and refrigerate overnight.

2. The next day, preheat oven to 275°F.

3. Wipe off salt mixture from legs, reserving the garlic, cloves, thyme sprig, and bay leaf, if possible. Place legs and gizzards in a large heavy pot along with the garlic, thyme, cloves, bay leaf, and duck fat. Set pan in oven and cook slowly until meat pulls easily from bone, about 2 hours. Remove legs from fat and blot on paper towels. Legs may be made several days ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat before serving.

4. While confit cooks, heat olive oil in a nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and peppercorns, and sauté until shallots are caramelized, 5 to 8 minutes, shaking pan often. Add wine and reduce mixture until approximately 1 cup of syrupy liquid remains, 30 to 40 minutes. Add 1 sprig of thyme, last bay leaf, and the reduced stock or demi-glace. Bring to a boil and then strain. Season with salt and pepper. Wine reduction may be made several days ahead, covered, and refrigerated. Reheat before serving. Stir in butter.

5. Prepare Potato Galette.

6. Adjust oven temperature to 400°F, place legs on a flat baking sheet, and cook until crisp, 15 to 20 minutes.

7. While legs crisp, heat the 1 tablespoon duck fat in a medium skillet over medium0high heat. Wipe marinade from breasts, season with salt and pepper, and sear skin side until skin is crisp and rich golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Turn and sauté second side for the same amount of time.

8. Serve confit legs and seared breasts on wedges of Potato Galette. Ladle some Zinfandel sauce around pheasant. If desired, sauté pheasant livers until still pink in center, and add some as a garnish to each plate along with a thyme sprig. Serve at once.

NOTE: Use duck fat that you have rendered and saved in the freezer (it keeps up to 6 months), or order from D’Artagnan or from a local purveyor of fine meats and poultry.

Potato Galette
Ingredients

• 2 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/16-inch slices
• 1 medium-small onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons rendered duck fat
• 1 small black truffle, shaved paper thin (optional)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Directions

1. Blot potatoes dry on paper towels. Combine in a large bowl with onions and a liberal amount of salt and pepper, and mix well.

2. Heat fan until hot in a 10-inch nonstick skillet, over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, shaking the pan and turning them to cover evenly with fat. Once a few slices begin to brown, press potatoes with a spatula to flatten into a disk. Adjust heat to medium low, cover tightly, and cook until several slices are golden brown on the bottom, about 5 to 7 minutes. Carefully lift cover so condensation does not fall on potatoes, and wipe it dry. Mix cooked slices into other potatoes, and then add shaved truffles, if desired. Replace cover, and cook until bottom of galette is golden brown, about 5 minutes longer. Shake pan to loosen if potatoes are stuck.

3. Slide galette onto a plate, cover with a second plate of the same size, invert, then slide galtete back into pan. Do not worry if some slices need rearranging. Flatten potatoes again, and cover. Cook 10 to 12 minutes longer, removing lid after 5 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown, turning heat up slightly if needed to color potatoes. Turn galette again, if necessary, and cook uncovered for a few minutes longer, or until golden brown. Galette may be loosely tented with aluminum foil and kept warm in the oven or on top of the stove. Slide galette onto a flat plane. Season with salt and pepper. Combine parsley with garlic, and sprinkle over potatoes. Cut into 8 wedges and serve.