Pheasant A' L'orange

Ingredients:

2 (2 1/2-lb) farm-raised
-ready-to-roast pheasants
2 md Navel oranges
1 lg Carrot; quartered
1 md Onion; quartered
2 tb Butter or margarine
2 1/2 c Water
Wild and brown rice mix
-(optional)
1/4 c Sugar
1/4 c Red-wine vinegar
1/4 c Dry red wine
2 tb Cornstarch
3/4 ts Salt

Instructions:
From: Wendy Lockman <[email protected]>

Date: Mon, 12 Feb 1996 16:16:12 -0500

Country Living Holidays/92 Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl & <GG>

1. Heat oven to 375'F. Rinse pheasants and pat dry. Remove any excess fat
from body and neck cavities. Reserve necks and giblets. Loosen skin from
the breast meat of each pheasant with your fingers, With knife, cut peel or
rind and all membrane off 1 orange; cut peeled orange crosswise into
1/4-inch-thick slices. Reserve peel.

2. Place half of the orange slices on breast meat under the skin of each
bird. Tuck wing tips under back to hold neck skin down. Place 1 carrot
quarter, 1 onion quarter, and half of the orange peel inside each body
cavity. Using kitchen string, tie the legs of each pheasant together.

3. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Place pheasants,
breast sides up, on rack in a large roasting pan. Brush birds all over with
melted butter. Set aside pan with any leftover butter.

4. Roast the birds 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in saucepan with leftover butter,
brown reserved necks and giblets. Add remaining onion and carrot quarters;
saute 1 minute. Add water; heat to boiling. Partially cover pan; simmer
giblet mixture over medium heat 45 minutes or until liquid is reduced by
almost a third.

5. Brush birds with pan drippings. Turn each bird on its side; cover
breasts with pieces of aluminum foil. Continue to roast birds 15 minutes.
Turn birds to roast on other side; roast 15 to 20 minutes longer orjust
until juices run clear when thighs are pierced with a fork and breast meat
near wing joint cut parallel to the bone is white with a touch of pink but
no longer wet and soft.

6. While pheasants are roasting, prepare rice following package direc-
tions, if desired. Drain body-cavity juices from birds into roasting pan;
cut string off birds. Transfer birds to a serving platter; surround with
hot cooked rice blend; keep warm. Add giblet mixture to the roasting pan;
heat and stir to loosen browned-on bits from the bottom of the pan. Strain
mixture into a 4-cup measuring cup or bowl; discard particles. Spoon off
fat from top of strained liquid. You should have 2 cups liquid; if not, add
water or chicken broth.

7. In 2-quart saucepan, heat sugar and vinegar to boiling, stirring often
until sugar dissolves. Continue to boil sugar mixture or syrup until golden
brown or it caramelizes 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. In
cup, combine wine and cornstarch; stir into syrup in sauce- pan. Whisk in
strained 2 C liquid and salt; return to heat and boil, stirring constantly,
until sauce thickens. Brush some sauce over birds; pour remainder into
small pitcher.

8. Peel and thinly slice remaining orange. Arrange over pheasant breasts.
To carve, using sharp knife, remove the legs and thighs from the birds. Cut
the drumsticks from the thighs. Thinly slice the breasts off the bone. Pass
sauce with the meat.

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