Sauteed breast of pheasant with wild mushrooms

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
4 Pheasants, about 1 lb. each
Salt & freshly ground pepper
16 Thin asparagus trimmed to 3-inch tips
1 cup Kale (packed) torn into 1-inch pieces
1 large Ripe tomato; peeled
6 tablespoons Butter
2 Shallots; finely chopped
1 Leek; white part only, thinly sliced
2 larges Scallions; sliced
8 larges Shitake mushrooms stems removed, cut into 3/4-inch wedges
1 cup Chicken or Poultry stock
¼ cup Dry white wine

Directions

Disjoint the pheasants and reserve the legs for another use. Bone the breasts and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Reserve the bones, gizzards and wings for making Poultry Stock.

Cook the asparagus for 3 minutes in boiling salted water and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Cook the kale for 2 minutes and drain and chill it in the ice water. Squeeze out the kale and drain both asparagus and kale on paper towels.

Halve the tomato and scoop out and discard the pulp. Cut the shell into thin strips and reserve.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet and add the pheasant breasts, skin side down; cook 3 to 4 minutes more, just until golden but still pink in the center. Transfer the breasts to a plate, cover loosely with foil and keep warm.

Wipe the skillet and add 2 tablespoons of fresh butter. When it is hot, add the shallots, leek, scallions and mushrooms and cook, partially covered, for 3 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add the stock, wine and salt and pepper to taste, and cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and the liquid is reduced by half.

Heat the remaining butter in a skillet. Add the asparagus and cook just to warm through. Arrange them in a fan to one side of each of 4 warmed plates. Add the kale to the skillet and stir to warm through and gloss with the butter. Divide among the plates.

Cut the pheasant breasts into thin diagonal slices and place them on the kale. Cover with some of the mushroom mixture.

Toss the tomato strips in the skillet for 30 seconds, just to take off the chill, and arrange a few pieces on each of the plates.

Source: Freshfields - West Cornwall, Connecticut : American Bistro - Contemporary Books, Inc. ISBN: 0-8092-5047-0

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