Pheasant with champagne cabbage

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 Pheasants (about 2 1/2 pounds each)
Pheasant Stock **
½ Chicken, breast (about 5 ounces) boned, skinned cut into 1-inch pieces
1 Egg white
¼ cup Cream, whipping
2 tablespoons Wine, Port
½ teaspoon Salt
Pepper, white, ground
2 tablespoons Carrot, finely diced (brunoise cut - 1/8\"
Champagne Cabbage **
6 tablespoons Butter, clarified ** cubes)
2 tablespoons Leek, finely diced (white part only)
2 tablespoons Turnips, finely diced
1½ tablespoon Celery root, finely diced (celeriac)
2 mediums Mushrooms, diced
3 Sage, leaves, fresh, chopped (or a pinch of dried)

Directions

MOUSSELINE STUFFING

** See recipes for these ingredients elsewhere in this file.

For Mousseline Stuffing: ======================== Puree chicken pieces in processor until smooth. Add egg white and process until smooth. With the processor running, add the cream in a thin stream - then add the Port wine, salt and pepper.

Transfer to a bowl, and fold in the remaining stuffing ingredients. Adjust seasonings to taste, and chill, covered.

The Pheasant: =============

With a sharp boning knife, carefully remove each breast half from the pheasants and set aside. Remove the legs with thighs attached. To bone each leg-thigh portion, use a sharp boning or paring knife to slit the leg and thigh meat, cutting parallel to the bones. Carefully scrape thigh meat away from the bone. Cut through the joint between the leg and thigh, keeping meat in 1 piece. Scrape away all remaining thigh meat and cut or pull out thighbone.

Use a cleaver to cut off the knob end of the leg. Scrape meat from the gone and pull out the bone.

Refrigerate meat, covered. Reserve bones and carcasses.

Place the leg-thigh portions, skin side down and short ends toward yourself between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; flatten gently with a mallet or side of a cleaver.

Spread about ⅓ cup of stuffing on each portion and fold meat over to form a ½-inch border on each of 2 long sides.

Starting with a short side, roll into a neat cylinder. Use kitchen twine to tie compactly, wrapping twine around once lengthwise and 3 times crosswise. Chill, covered, until firm (at least 30 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 450 F. Heat 6 tablespoons of clarified butter in a large oven-proof skillet. Salt and pepper the stuffed leg packages and saute, shaking pan occasionally, until golden on all sides (about 4 minutes.) Place skillet in over and roast for 4 minutes.

Return skillet to top of stove over medium-high heat. Add breast halves to the pan, skin side up, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Saute for 2 minutes, shaking pan occasionally. Turn breasts skin side down, sprinkle with salt and pepper and return to the oven until everything is tender (about 7 minutes.) For Sauce: ==========

Meanwhile, cook sugar, without stirring, in small heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until caramelized (about 4 minutes.) Add gin and stock; boil until reduced by half. Add wine and return to a boil. Lower heat and swirl in ¼ cup of butter, 1 or 2 pieces at a time, until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer meat to work surface. Cut leg-thigh portions crosswise into ½-inch-thick slices. Thinly slice breasts lengthwise on a diagonal.

Mound about ½ cup of cabbage in the center of each of 4 warmed serving plates. Place leg-thigh slices around bottom of each plate, overlapping slightly. Place breast slices in a fan pattern at top of each plate, overlapping slightly. Spoon some sauce around the meat and cabbage; serve the rest of the sauce separately.

Source: New York's Master Chefs, Bon Appetit Magazine : Written by Richard Sax, Photographs by Nancy McFarland : The Knapp Press, Los Angeles, 1985 Chef: Andy Kisler, Vienna 79 Restaurant, New York

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