Pheasant a la mode de mon

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 Pheasant
1½ cup Port (*NOT* \"cooking port\", real port. \"Cooking port\" has salt added)
5 slices Onion (slice thin)
2 tablespoons Mushroom peelings
1 cup Chicken stock
1 Bay leaf
2 Cloves, whole (or more to taste)
1 Garlic clove
1 tablespoon Parsley, chopped fine
2 tablespoons Celery leaves, chopped fine
1 slice Lemon (peeled and chopped)
12 Juniper berries (less or more to taste)
1 Tangerine (whole), peeled
¼ pounds Larding pork (bacon will do)
10 Peppercorns (bruised)
¼ cup Mandarine Napoleon (a tangerine liqueur; you could probably substitute Cointreau in a pinch. Use more or less, to taste.)
1 cup Sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Rub pheasant inside and out with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with port. Stuff with bay leaf, cloves, garlic, parsley, celery leaves, lemon, juniper berries and tangerine.

Sew the body cavity of the pheasant shut. Moisten the larding pork or bacon with port and cover the breast. To the roasting pan add onion slices, mushroom peelings, about 1 cup of port, chicken stock, salt to taste, peppercorns, more juniper berries to taste, and Mandarine liqueur. Roast 40-45 minutes, basting every 10 minutes at least.

Strain gravy. Let stand and skim fat. Just before serving, add sour cream.

NOTES:

* HOMME Pheasant for Thanksgiving -- A couple of years ago, we decided that pheasant would be the perfect Thanksgiving meal for two.

My husband conflated the best parts of all the pheasant recipes we could find (most came from the Gourmet cookbook) and came up with a recipe that I find wonderful. It's moist and tender; tastes like chicken gone to heaven. (One of pheasant's main problems, by the way, is that it tends to be dry.)

* (We usually stick the whole cloves into the tangerine, insert all the other spices into the body cavity, then add the tangerine.) * Some of these ingredients may be hard to find; feel free to omit them. "Mushroom peelings" are simply mushroom stems and leftovers, chopped fine. "Bruised peppercorns" are peppercorns that have been hit with a wooden mallet. Bon appetit, and good luck! : Difficulty: moderate.

: Time: 1 hour.

: Precision: approximate measurement OK.

: Elizabeth Hanes Perry

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