DURING COLONIAL TIMES AND THROUGHOUT THE nineteenth century, wild game birds were so abundant and relished in America that Benjamin Franklin suggested we adopt the wild turkey as our national bird. Hunting turkeys, quail, partridge, pheasant, canvasback ducks, and guinea hens was particularly fancied in the South, to such an extent that by the turn of the twentieth century, passenger pigeons were totally extinct and many other species of fowl on the verge of disappearing. One lady who remembered when pheasants were still relatively plentiful in and around her home village of Freetown, Virginia, was the renowned chef Edna Lewis. And “Miss Edna” always said she would much prefer to roast a brace of plump wild pheasants for Thanksgiving dinner than a big commercial turkey. (“We used to raise turkeys on our farm and ship every one of them up to the Yankees,” she would recall, laughing.) If you’re lucky enough to know a fervent huntsman, all the better for the fresh pheasant you can obtain; otherwise, the farmed frozen ones can be almost as flavorful, so long as they’re not overcooked and dry.
MAKES: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 cups finely torn fresh bread
- 1 cup finely diced celery (leaves included)
- 1⁄2 cup finely diced onion
- 1 cup peeled, cooked chestnuts (sold in cans and jars), coarsely chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried sage, crumbled
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
- 2 plump, young 21⁄2-pound pheasants, dressed
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the bread, celery, onion, chestnuts, sage, thyme, salt and pepper, half the chicken broth, and 6 tablespoons of melted butter. Stir until the dressing is well blended.
- Pack the cavity of each pheasant with as much dressing as it will hold, and secure the cavities with small metal skewers.
- Brush each bird with the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter.
- Spoon the remaining dressing into a baking dish and set it aside.
- Place the pheasants breast side down in a roasting pan, cover, and roast for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, moisten the dressing in the baking dish with just enough of the remaining broth to make a compact mixture.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, uncover the pheasants, and place both the birds and the pan of dressing in the oven.
- Cook until the pheasants are tender and the dressing is crusted, for about 30 to 40 minutes.
- To serve, cut each pheasant in half lengthwise with a sharp knife and serve hot, with the additional dressing on the side.
