Pheasant Breast with Rosemary and Vanilla ▶
What a wonderful combination of flavors! The pheasants are roasted with vanilla, rosemary, and mirepoix stuffed into the cavities. The scented breast meat is fanned over a sauce which incorporates bourbon, vanilla, rosemary, and sun-cherries steeped in port. Cornbread waffles studded with onion — a sort of uptown version of hush puppies — accompany the pheasant. Let the birds rest about 5 minutes before deboning them, to let the juices settle in the meat.
Ingredients
- Pheasant
- Pheasant - Three 2-1/2 pound, cleaned
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Unsalted Butter - 1 tablespoon
- Mirepoix (mixed diced carrots, celery, onions, mushroom stems, garlic, and shallots) - 6 cups
- Tahitian Vanilla Bean - 1/2
- Rosemary Sprigs - 3 fresh
- Vegetable Oil - 2 ounces
- Cornbread Waffles
- Yellow Corn Meal - 1/2 cup
- Flour - 1-1/4 cups
- Sugar - 1/4 cup
- Baking Powder - 3 teaspoons
- Salt - 1 teaspoon
- Vegetable Oil - 1/4 cup
- Milk - 1 cup
- Egg - 1, slightly beaten
- Onion - 1 medium, minced
- Sauce
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Shallots - 2 medium, minced
- Tahitian vanilla bean - 1/2
- Rosemary - 1 sprig
- Bourbon - 1/2 cup
- Veal Demi-Glace - 12 ounces
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Sun-Dried Cherries - 1/2 cup, steeped in port wine
- Rosemary Sprigs - 6 fresh
Instructions
To prepare the pheasants: Season the pheasant cavities with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat and add the mirepoix, Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Simmer until the vegetables are slightly softened and the onions are translucent, stirring occasionally. Fill the pheasant cavities with the mirepoix. Put 1/2 sprig of rosemary in each cavity. Truss each pheasant, enclosing the filling.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Heat the vegetable oil in a large ovenproof saute pan or skillet over high heat and brown the pheasants on all sides. Discard any excess fat in the pan and roast for 25 to 30 minutes, until the inner thigh temperature registers 170 F. Remove from the oven and set aside; keep warm.
To prepare the waffles: Combine the corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Cut in the vegetable oil, adding a little at a time. Mix the milk and egg together and add to the dry ingredients with a few strokes; do not beat or work the mixture. Add the onions and stir just enough to mix. Prepare in a waffle iron according to the manufacturer’s directions; use vegetable oil spray as needed to prevent sticking. Keep the waffles warm.
To prepare the sauce: Melt the butter in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook for one minute, until softened and translucent. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the pan, then drop in the pods. Add the rosemary and stir. Reduce the heat to medium, add the bourbon, and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half in volume. Stir in the demi-glace and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sauce coats a spoon. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Set aside; keep warm.
To serve: Cut the waffles into triangles. Warm the sauce if necessary and stir the cherries into the sauce Debone the pheasants. Cut the breast meat diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Spoon sauce on warmed plates. Fan the slices from one breast on each plate. Place leg and thigh pieces at the apex of the vans. Add two or three waffle triangles to each plate. Spoon sauce over and around the pheasant, and place a few cherries on the waffle triangles. Garnish each plate with a sprig.
