Recipes

Taken from Ballymaloe Cookery Course, Darina Allen's latest book. Extensively revised and updated, this is Darina at her best sharing her knowledge, experience, enthusiasm, tips, techniques and seasonal snippets with us lesser cooks. This classic roast pheasant recipe is a good example.

Serves 2-3

    1 plump young pheasant
    50g (2oz) butter
    Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the stuffing

    35g (1½ oz) butter
    75g (3oz) onions, chopped
    60g (2½ oz) soft white breadcrumbs
    1 tbsp freshly chopped herbs (parsley, thyme, chives, marjoram)

For the cranberry sauce

    175g (6oz) fresh cranberries
    4 tbsp water
    75g (3 oz) granulated sugar

For the bread sauce

    600ml (1 pint) milk
    75-110g (3-4oz) soft white breadcrumbs
    2 onions, peeled and stuck with 6 cloves each
    50g (2oz) butter
    Salt and pepper
    2 good pinches of ground cloves or quatre spices
    75-125ml (3-4fl oz) double cream

For the gravy

    300ml (½ pint) game or chicken stock
    50g (2oz) butter

For the game chips

    Paper-thin rounds of potato deep-fried in extra virgin olive oil at 180C/350F until crisp, drained on kitchen paper and sprinkled with salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/ gas mark 5.

Gut the pheasant, if necessary, and remove the crop, which is at the neck end; wash all over and dry well.

To make the stuffing, melt the butter and sweat the onions until soft but not coloured, then remove from the heat. Stir in the breadcrumbs and herbs, season and taste. Unless you are about to cook the bird right away, allow the stuffing to get quite cold before you use it.

Make your cranberry sauce first. Put the cranberries in a heavy stainless steel pan with the water - don't add the sugar yet as it toughens the skins. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer until the fruit pops and softens - about seven minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar until dissolved.

Season the cavity of the pheasant with salt and pepper and fill it loosely with the stuffing. Sprinkle the breast with salt and pepper. Melt the butter and soak a piece of muslin or J-cloth in it. Wrap the pheasant completely in the muslin of J-cloth (fear not, the J-cloth will not melt; you can even wash it out and use it later).

Roast in the preheated oven for about 1¼ hours. Test by pricking the leg at the highest point: the juices should run clear. Remove the muslin or J-cloth and keep the pheasant warm on a serving dish while you make the gravy.

To make the bread sauce, put all the ingredients except the cream in a small, deep saucepan and bring to the boil. Season. Cover and simmer gently on a very low heat for 30 minutes. Remove the onion and add the cream just before serving. Correct the seasoning and add a little more milk if the sauce is too thick. Serve hot.

Spoon off any surplus fat from the roasting pan (keep it for roasting potatoes). Deglaze the pan with the game or chicken stock. Bring it to the boil and use a whisk to dislodge the crusty caramelised juices so they dissolve into the gravy. Season, taste and boil until you are happy with the flavour. Pour into a hot gravy boat.

Carve the pheasant and serve with the stuffing, gravy, cranberry and bread sauces and game chips.