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CHAPTER XXII 



PREPARING THE PHEASANT FOR THE TABLE 



The meat of the pheasant is white and short-grained. The breast is 

 large and plump and a brace of these splendid birds furnishes ample food 

 for a family of four. The pheasant is usually roasted, though it may be 

 prepared in other ways. 



There follow some receipts that friends of long experience in pre- 

 paring pheasants for the table and high rank as housekeepers have been 

 good enough to furnish me. The first of these is from Mrs. Duncan Dunn, 

 wife of the superintendent of the New Jersey Game Farm, who acquired 

 the art of roasting the pheasant to a turn in her native Scotland: 



MRS. DUNN'S RECEIPT. "Kill your bird by wringing its neck 

 but do not sever the head nor let it bleed. Hang by the beak four to seven 

 days in a cool, dry, well- ventilated place. Be sure not to let the body of 

 your bird come in contact with ice and do not pluck or draw till you are 

 ready to cook your bird. Pluck the pheasant dry and prepare it for roast- 

 ing as you would a hen. No dressing is placed within the fowl but some 

 cooks place an onion inside. 



" Place three strips of fat pork over the breast of the bird, put it in a 

 covered roaster, and it is ready for the oven. No water or butter is needed 

 for basting and seasoning is done to taste. The time of roasting varies 

 with the size of the fowl, but it usually requires an hour. The oven should 

 be fairly hot to start with but care should be exercised in this, as the breast 

 of the bird is very thick and there is danger of overcooking the outside of 

 the breast before it is done through. 



"The sauce is prepared by placing an onion in a pint of sweet milk 

 and taking the vessel off the stove when the milk comes to a boil. Stale 

 bread crumbs are immediately added and care must be taken not to make 

 the sauce too thick." 



MRS. ROGERS' RECEIPT. Mrs. Harry T. Rogers is not only an 

 authority on the cooking of pheasants, but the rearing of them as well. 

 She is the only woman on the Committee on Pheasant Breeding of the 

 American Game Protective Association's Department of Game Breeding, 

 and she has well earned her appointment to that important body of pheas- 

 ant experts. Mrs. Rogers' receipt follows: 



" Remove the crop of the bird as soon as it is killed, as the food remain- 

 ing in it will ferment otherwise. Draw the bird forty-eight hours after 

 killing and pluck dry. Use a Scotch kettle for cooking the pheasant. 

 This is the old-fashioned iron kettle of our childhood. First place in the 



