ROASTED PHEASANT

                                                   ROASTED PHEASANT

    Fagiano Arrosto (Italian Name of the Recipe)

Yield: Servings 4

Ingredients:

Sauce

¼ cup dried porcini mushrooms

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 cup dry white wine

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped

1 small onion, crudely chopped

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 cups Chicken Stock

2 fresh bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

6 juniper berries

8 ounces chicken gizzards or wings

Gizzards and neck of the pheasant

Pheasant

½ teaspoon kosher salt

3 fresh bay leaves

3 sprigs fresh rosemary

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3-to-4-pound pheasant, dressed

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Place the porcini and 1 cup

super hot water in a spouted measuring cup, and soak ten

minutes. Drain and cut the porcini. Strain the soaking liquid, and

save for later.

In a moderate-sized roasting pan, toss the pheasant gizzards and

neck and the chicken gizzards or wings with the olive oil. Roast

until they are mildly browned on the underside, approximately

five minutes. Stir, and put in the onion, carrot, and celery. Roast

until the vegetables are just golden, stirring a couple of times,

approximately fifteen minutes. Drizzle with the flour, and put in

the rosemary and bay leaves. Stir well, and roast until everything

is thoroughly browned, approximately ten to fifteen minutes

more. Take the rosemary and bay leaves.

While the vegetables are roasting, roast the pheasant: Flavor it

with salt and pepper. Rub it with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil,

and stick the rosemary and bay leaves in the cavity. Heat a big

cast-iron frying pan on moderate heat. Put in the rest of the

tablespoon olive oil. Once the oil is hot, sear the pheasant on all

sides until thoroughly browned, approximately fifteen minutes.

Tent using foil, and roast for half an hour.

Move the roasting pan, with the vegetables, to the stovetop on

moderate heat. Put in the porcini, their soaking liquid, the

juniper, wine, stock, and salt, and stir to loosen the browned bits

on the bottom of the pan. Simmer until the sauce has reduced and

the flavors are condensed, approximately half an hour. Strain

through a sieve, pushing on the solids to extract all the liquid. Let

the sauce rest, and skim off the fat, or use a fat-separating cup.

Keep the sauce warm while the pheasant roasts.

Take the foil from the pheasant after half an hour, and continue roasting until the pheasant is thoroughly cooked and soft, an additional half an hour. Take out of the oven, and allow it to rest for about ten minutes; then carve it into serving pieces, removing the rosemary and bay leaves, and serve with the sauce.