ROAST PHEASANT w/BROWN SAUCE

By BobD

Ingredients

• 3 pheasant, about 2 1/2 pounds each
• Salt to taste if desired
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 6 thin slices unsalted fatback, each slice measuring about 4 inches by 8 inches
• 1/4 cup corn, peanut or vegetable oil
• Brown sauce
• Squash stuffed with vegetables

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from events.nytimes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Sprinkle the inside of each pheasant with salt and pepper. The breast of each pheasant should be covered with 2 slices of fatback. The birds should then be trussed, with the string anchoring the fatback neatly in place. It is probably best in most cases that this be done by the butcher.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Heat the oil in a large roasting pan and brown the pheasants lightly on all sides. Arrange them, on their sides, in the roasting pan. Place in the oven and bake 10 minutes. Turn each pheasant on its other side and continue roasting 10 minutes.

Place the pheasants on their backs and continue roasting, basting often, about 15 minutes. Untruss the pheasants. Discard the strings and fatback. Continue roasting, with the pheasants resting on their backs, about 20 minutes or until the cavity liquid runs clear when one of the pheasants is held, tail side down, over the roasting pan.

BROWN SAUCE

5 pounds bony chicken parts such as wings, backs and necks
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onions
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped celery
12 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 small bay leaves
4 cups fresh or canned chicken broth
Salt to taste if desired
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
5 ounces pheasant livers (or use chicken livers)
2 tablespoons Cognac
3 ounces canned, or, preferably, fresh pate of foie gras

Cut the chicken pieces into 2-inch lengths, leaving the skin on but discarding excess fat. Place the pieces in a heavy skillet and cook, without adding oil or other fat, about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. The chicken skin will give up its own fat. The pieces should be quite brown but not burned.

Add the onions, carrots, celery, parsley sprigs, thyme and bay leaves and cook, uncovered, about 30 minutes longer, stirring frequently.

Add the chicken broth, salt and pepper. Cook 20 minutes, stirring.

Pour the mixture into a food press or food mill, pressing the solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard the solids. There should be about 3 cups of sauce.

Heat the butter in a skillet and add the shallots and livers. Cook, stirring and turning the livers often, about 2 minutes. Add the Cognac.

Pour the sauce into the container of a food processor or electric blender and add the cooked livers and the foie gras. Blend as thoroughly as possible. Return the sauce to a saucepan and reheat gently. Do not overcook or the livers will become grainy. Add salt and pepper.

YIELD About 3 1/2 cups

Squash Stuffed With Vegetables

12 chestnuts
4 small carrots, about 6 ounces, scraped
1 turnip, about 6 ounces, peeled
12 brussels sprouts, about 1/4 pound
3 acorn squash, about 3/4 pound each
9 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh or canned chicken broth
Salt to taste if desired
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Using a small sharp paring knife, cut around the center of each chestnut, cutting through the shell. Drop the whole chestnuts into a saucepan of boiling water to cover and cook about 1 1/2 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle remove the shell and inner brown skin from each chestnut. Set the kernels aside.

Cut the carrots into 1-inch lengths. Cut the turnips into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Cut the slices into 1/2-inch-thick batons. Cut the batons in half. Trim the carrot and turnip pieces into olive shapes. There should be about 24 carrot pieces and the same number of turnip pieces. Set aside.

Trim the brussels sprouts of tough stems and outer leaves. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut each squash crosswise in half. For a more sophisticated look, insert a knife tip and carve up and down at a slight angle in a saw-tooth pattern. Pull the halves apart. Scrape out and discard the seeds and fibers from each half. Cut a thin slice off the bottom of each half so that the halves will sit upright.

Melt 8 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan and add the honey and brown sugar. Stir until thoroughly blended.

Spoon an equal portion of the honey and butter mixture into each squash half. Arrange the squash halves in one layer in a baking dish and pour 2 cups of the chicken broth around them. Cover closely with aluminum foil. Place the dish in the oven and bake about 45 minutes or until the flesh is tender.

Meanwhile, bring about 2 quarts of water to the boil and add salt to taste. Add the carrots and cook 5 minutes. Remove the carrots with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water to chill. Drain and put them in a mixing bowl.

Add the turnips to the boiling water and cook about 4 1/2 minutes. Remove the turnips with a slotted spoon and chill in cold water. Drain and add them to the carrots.

Add the brussels sprouts to the boiling water and cook 11 minutes or until tender. Remove them with a slotted spoon and put them in cold water to chill. Drain and cut each sprout in half lengthwise. Add them to the vegetables.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy saucepan large enough to hold the chestnuts in one layer. Add the chestnuts and stir so that they brown lightly on all sides. Add the remaining 1/2 cup broth and cover closely. Bring to the boil and cook until the broth is absorbed, about 15 minutes.

Remove the cooked squash from the oven and carefully pour off the liquid from the cavities into a skillet. There should be about Z cup. Add the cooked vegetable mixture, including the chestnuts, to the sauce. Add salt and pepper and cook, stirring gently, about 10 to 12 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and the vegetables are glazed. Spoon an equal portion of the mixture into each squash half and serve.

YIELD 6 servings