| 1 | Cook birds: split pheasant down the breastbone (or have your butcher do this). |
| 2 | Rinse the halves, place in a deep pot and barely cover with water. |
| 3 | Add bay leaf, onion, carrot, celery, salt and peppercorns. |
| 4 | bring to rolling boil, then turn down heat and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until tender. |
| 5 | Remove foam and scum as it forms. |
| 6 | Remove bird(s) from broth, reserving the broth. |
| 7 | using a heavy skillet, saute the halves in about 2 t of the butter until golden. |
| 8 | Place birds into small roasting pan or casserole with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan. |
| 9 | Sprinkle with thyme and rosemary. |
| 10 | Bake, lightly covered with foil, for 30-40 minutes at 350 °F. |
| 11 | make gravy: while the birds are in the oven, strain the broth and boil rapidly down to about 2 cups. |
| 12 | brown the mushrooms using the same skillet in which you browned the pheasant. |
| 13 | Remove the mushrooms and keep them warm. |
| 14 | melt the remaining 2 t of butter in the skillet. |
| 15 | Add the flour, stirring up the browning from the pan. |
| 16 | Cook over moderately high heat until golden brown. |
| 17 | Blend in the broth using a wire whisk. |
| 18 | add mushrooms and continue cooking approximately 1-2 minutes. |
| 19 | Turn down heat, cover and keep warm until pheasant is roasted. |
| 20 | when the pheasants are cooked, remove them from the oven and scrape the herbs from the skin. |
| 21 | After placing the pheasant halves on a warm platter (or leaving them in the casserole), pour the gravy over the pheasant. |
| 22 | Garnish with the chopped nutmeats and serve. |
| 23 | This dish is particularly good with wild rice. |
| 24 | notes: |
| 25 | * pheasant in the north american tradition -- this recipe is |
