BLACK AND WHITE PHEASANT RECIPES

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.

Steps:

• Prepare the pheasant first. Pheasant legs have tough tendons that need to be removed before cooking. Using a pair of pliers, tug hard on the exposed ends of the tendons (at the foot end), and pull them out.
• Cut the legs and thighs away from each bird, but leave the breast meat attached to the ribcage. Cut away the backbone using strong kitchen scissors or poultry shears.
• Place the flour onto a plate and season with salt. Dust the skin of the pheasant with the flour, shaking off any excess.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
• Heat a large frying pan until hot, then add the oil and knob of butter. Fry the legs and breast meat, skin-side down, until browned on all sides (don't crowd the pan - if necessary, fry the meat in batches). Set the breast sections aside on a plate and put the legs in a roasting tray.
• Put the pheasant legs into the oven to roast for 5-7 minutes. Add the breast sections, skin-side up, then continue to roast all the meat for another 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven onto a warm plate, reserving the cooking juices, and loosely cover the pheasant with foil. Allow to rest for five minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce while the pheasant is roasting. Into the same pan as the pheasant cooking juices, add butter the shallots, thyme and a little salt. Cover and cook gently for 10 minutes until the shallots have softened. Then add the garlic and fry for another minute.
• Pour in the wine, turn up the heat and boil the sauce furiously until the wine has evaporated away to leave no watery liquid. Add the cider or white wine vinegar and continue to cook until the liquid has disappeared.
• Pour in the stock and continue to cook, reducing the liquid to about a third of its original volume.
• Add the mustard and stir in the cream. Return to the boil then simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is just thickened. Add the reserved cooking juices and season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Carve the pheasant breast from the ribcage (it should still be a little pink). This will give two pieces of breast from each bird. Cut into thick slices.
• To serve, arrange Puy lentils on each of four plates, spoon over a generous amount of sauce, then top with one sliced breast and a leg per plate. Sprinkle over a little chopped curly leaf parsley.