Franconian pheasant

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 2 pheasant(s)
• 2 rolls
• 2 eggs
• 80g bacon
• 40 g bacon (lardo)
• 1 liter chicken stock
• 3 onions
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 carrots
• ¼ celery root
• 5 g porcini mushrooms, dried
• 10 juniper berries
• some salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• some ginger
• some rosemary
• some thyme

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

delicious pheasant recipe

For the filling, tear the bread rolls into small pieces and mix them well with the nutmeg, eggs and half of the lardo by hand. Wash the pheasants thoroughly inside and out, rub them dry and season with salt and pepper inside and out. Now fill the pheasants with the bread mixture and then tie the legs together with kitchen string so that the filling does not fall out during cooking. Place the pheasants breast-side up in the roasting tin, add all the spices, vegetables and chicken stock. Put the lid on and place in the oven at 160°C for 45 minutes. After this time, remove the pheasants from the roasting tin and strain the cooking juices through a sieve. Remove the carrots, celery, onions and garlic from the vegetables and puree very finely. Then press them through a sieve back into the cooking juices to make the sauce nice and creamy. Return the pheasants to the oven and grill for about 15 minutes using the large-area grill or another grill function, depending on your oven, until golden brown. Then remove them, halve them, and serve. If desired, thicken the sauce a little with a roux and season to taste. Depending on the chicken stock, a pinch of salt may be needed. I then add 2 tablespoons of aged cognac to the sauce for an extra hearty flavor. Don’t bring it back to a boil and only use cognac if there are no children present. For a side dish, I prepared creamed savoy cabbage and green Franconian dumplings.