Galantine de Faisan

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Short flexible boning knife
• •Food processor with chilled bowl and blade
• •Large oval pot, about 6 quarts (5.7 litres)
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Butcher's needle and food-safe twine
• •Two pieces of clean muslin, each about 24 inches (60 cm) square
• •Small board or tray with a 2½ lb (1.1 kg) weight

Instructions

1. 1

   Bone Through the Back

   Keep the pheasant cold and set it breast-side down. This pheasant follows the governing preparation Galantine de Volaille (No. 1708): cut through the skin from neck to tail along the backbone, then use the point of a short, sharp knife to free the flesh and skin together, following the rib cage instead of cutting blindly into the meat. Disarticulate the wings and legs where they meet the trunk, lift away the bare carcass, and strip out the thigh bones and tough leg tendons. Remove the breasts in broad fillets and reserve about 5 oz (140 g) of clean leg meat and breast trimmings for the forcemeat. A small tear is not a verdict. Ça se rattrape: lay a scrap of trimmed skin over it from the inside and position the patched area beneath the final seam, where the wrapping cloth will support it.

   If your butcher will bone the bird through the back while returning every scrap, the skin, leg meat, breasts, carcass, and neck, accept the help. The boning may be delegated; the intact skin and correct assembly may not.
2. 2

   Build the Poaching Liquor

   Put the pheasant carcass and neck into a snug pot with the blanched pork rind and unsalted stock. Bring it slowly to a bare simmer, skim the pale froth, and cook gently for 45 minutes. Strain without pressing on the bones, then return the liquor to the cleaned pot. Keep it below a boil while you prepare the filling. The carcass supplies the bird's own character, while the rind gives the finished jelly the body that a continually tended veal stock once supplied.

3. 3

   Cut the Inlays

   Cut the pheasant breasts lengthwise into regular ⅓-inch (8 mm) batons. Season them with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and a pinch of white pepper, add the Cognac, and chill for 20 minutes. Cut the salt pork, ham, tongue, and truffle to roughly the same thickness and keep each in a separate cold pile. Regular pieces give the sliced galantine its ordered stripes; random chunks leave gaps and make the roll difficult to bind.

4. 4

   Make the Forcemeat

   Chill the bowl and blade of a food processor. Dice the reserved 5 oz (140 g) of pheasant leg meat and trimmings, the equal weight of veal, and the 10 oz (280 g) of fatty pork. Process them with the remaining salt, white pepper, nutmeg, and the Cognac drained from the breast until the mixture is very fine, cohesive, and tacky. Stop and scrape the bowl often. The forcemeat must stay cold; if it becomes warm, shiny, or greasy, stop immediately and chill it for 20 minutes, then pulse in 1 tablespoon of ice-cold poaching liquor. Continuing while warm separates the fat, but cooling it promptly usually restores the bind. Poach a teaspoonful in the liquor, taste it cold for seasoning, and correct the remaining mixture before assembly.

   A food processor replaces the brigade's pounding and sieving, but not the need for a fine, cold paste. Short pulses and chilled meat preserve the close texture.
5. 5

   Layer the Galantine

   Spread a clean damp piece of muslin on the board and lay the pheasant skin over it, flesh-side up, arranging it as a broad rectangle. Spread a 3-inch (7.5 cm) band of forcemeat down the center from end to end. Lay alternating lengthwise batons of pheasant breast, salt pork, ham, tongue, and truffle over it. Cover with a second equal layer of forcemeat, repeat the ordered batons, then use the remaining forcemeat to enclose them completely. Bring the skin firmly around the filling. If the roll is too full to close without strain, remove a little forcemeat and poach it separately as a cook's portion; forcing the seam only tears the vessel you worked to preserve.

6. 6

   Wrap and Tie

   Overlap the skin edges and sew them with butcher's twine using close, simple stitches. Tuck in the neck and tail ends, shaping a compact cylinder about 10 inches (25 cm) long. Roll it tightly in the damp muslin, twist the ends in opposite directions, and tie each one securely. Add loops of twine around the cylinder every 2 inches (5 cm), firm enough to hold its shape but not so tight that the forcemeat bulges between them.

7. 7

   Poach at a Tremble

   Lower the wrapped galantine into the poaching liquor and keep it submerged with a small heatproof plate if necessary. Hold the liquid between 175°F and 185°F (80°C and 85°C), with only an occasional tremble at the surface, until the center reaches 165°F (74°C), about 75 minutes. Boiling tightens the skin, forces out fat, and can open the seam. If the pot begins to boil, lower the heat and add a ladle of cold stock around the roll to settle it promptly.

8. 8

   Rewrap and Press

   Lift out the galantine, drain it on a tray, and wait exactly 10 minutes. Remove the wet muslin without disturbing the seam, roll the galantine tightly in a fresh dry cloth, and retie the ends. Set it between two flat trays or beneath a small board and apply a light 2½ lb (1.1 kg) weight. Refrigerate under the weight for at least 8 hours. Do not exceed 3 lb (1.35 kg); heavier pressing compacts the mosaic and drives out the fat that should remain inside.

9. 9

   Set the Clear Jelly

   While the galantine chills, skim the fat from the poaching liquor. Pass 3 cups (710 ml / 710 g) through a fine sieve lined with damp muslin and reduce it gently to 2 cups (475 ml / 475 g), tasting before it becomes too concentrated. Bloom the gelatin in the cold water for 5 minutes, dissolve it in the hot liquor, and pour into a shallow container to chill until tenderly set. Test a spoonful in the cold before committing the whole batch. If it sets too firmly, remelt it with a little poaching liquor; if it remains loose, remelt it and add another small pinch of bloomed gelatin.

10. 10

    Glaze and Slice

    Unwrap the cold galantine, remove the stitches, and trim both ends neatly. Warm some of the jelly only until it loosens, then brush a thin coat over the skin and chill for 10 minutes; repeat once for a clear gloss. Slice the galantine ½ inch (1.25 cm) thick with a long sharp knife, wiping the blade between cuts, and arrange it on a low platter with rough-cut pieces of the remaining jelly. Let it lose the deepest refrigerator chill for 15 minutes before serving. Cooking well is not cooking fancy. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Choose a plump farmed pheasant with supple, unbroken skin. A bird a little too firm for roasting is welcome here, but a spent, stringy bird makes dry forcemeat no matter how much pork surrounds it.
• •Preserved whole black truffles are the honest classical pantry answer when fresh truffles aren't in season. Drain them well and keep the pieces large enough to show as black stripes in every slice.
• •A good butcher or charcutier can provide cooked salted tongue and unsmoked salt pork in the small quantities required. Ask for pieces thick enough to cut into batons, not paper-thin sandwich slices.
• •Serve the galantine with cornichons, firm bread, and either dry Champagne or a poised white Burgundy. It already carries ham, tongue, truffle, and jelly, so the table needs freshness, not another rich sauce.

Advance Preparation

• •The galantine requires at least 8 hours under its light weight and is better prepared the evening before serving. Leave it wrapped until you are ready to glaze and carve it.
• •The finished galantine and its jelly may be made two days ahead. Keep them covered and refrigerated separately, then glaze the roll on the day it will be served.
• •For a picnic, transport the unsliced galantine below 40°F (4°C) with ice packs. Carve it shortly before lunch and return leftovers to the cold within 2 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 335g)