Faisán Estofado Manchego

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy casserole with a tight lid, 30cm
• •Large frying pan or the casserole base for browning
• •Kitchen tongs
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Poultry shears if jointing the birds at home

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pheasant

   Ask the butcher to joint each pheasant into two bone-in breasts, two whole legs and two wings. Pat the pieces dry without rinsing them. If the birds are wild, run clean fingers carefully over the flesh and remove any shot, loose feathers or badly bruised tissue. Season with 12g of the salt and all the pepper, then leave them for 15 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.

   A dry surface browns properly. Wet pheasant sheds its flour into the oil and begins to stew before you've built any colour.
2. 2

   Flour and brown

   Spread the flour in a shallow dish. Coat each pheasant piece lightly, then shake off every loose patch. Heat 60ml of the olive oil in a wide, heavy casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the pheasant in two or three batches, starting skin-side down, for 3 to 4 minutes on the first side and 2 minutes on the second. Lift each batch to a plate. You are building a deep golden crust, not cooking the bird through.

   Leave space between the pieces. Crowd the casserole and the pheasant releases water, giving you grey flour instead of the browned base the sauce needs.
3. 3

   Build the sofrito

   Lower the heat and add the remaining 15ml olive oil. Add the onion, leek, carrot and remaining 4g salt. Cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring often, until the leek has collapsed and the onion is dark gold and sweet. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, until its raw water has gone, the colour has deepened, and the oil begins to show around the edges. This is the sofrito, the slow vegetable base. Rush it and the finished sauce tastes thin.

4. 4

   Reduce the wine

   Pour in the wine and scrape the browned flour and meat juices from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Raise the heat slightly and let the wine bubble for 4 to 5 minutes, until reduced by about half and no raw alcoholic sharpness remains.

5. 5

   Set the quiet braise

   Put the legs and wings into the casserole first, with the breast pieces resting above them. Add the bay leaf, thyme and 450ml hot water. The liquid should reach roughly halfway up the meat, not cover it. Bring it only to the first lazy bubble, cover tightly, and turn the heat to its lowest setting. Braise for 40 minutes, turning the pieces once without stirring them around.

6. 6

   Check each joint

   After 40 minutes, check the thickest breast pieces. Lift them to a covered plate as soon as they reach 74°C at the thickest part and a fine skewer enters without resistance. Continue cooking the legs and wings at the same bare tremble for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the thigh joints yield easily. Return the breast pieces for the final 5 minutes.

   An older cock can need 30 to 45 minutes longer. Remove its breast pieces when ready and give the legs their time. The bird decides by tenderness, not by the clock.
7. 7

   Finish the sauce

   Transfer all the pheasant to a warm dish and discard the bay and thyme. Simmer the uncovered sauce for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring gently, until it is glossy and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. If it is already thick, leave it alone; flour does its work quietly. Taste for salt, return the bird to the casserole, and spoon the vegetables and sauce over every piece.

8. 8

   Rest and serve

   Take the covered casserole off the heat and rest the stew for 10 minutes. The flour settles into the sauce and the meat relaxes after the braise. Serve one breast or leg piece per person with extra wings for the table, plenty of sofrito and thick candeal bread for the sauce.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for hen pheasants weighing about 800g dressed. They are smaller and juicier than cocks, with a gentler game flavour. Frozen birds are perfectly sound here; thaw them covered in the refrigerator for 24 to 36 hours.
• •If only a cock is available, buy one weighing about 1.4 to 1.6kg and allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes for the legs. Lift the breast meat as soon as it is tender so it doesn't dry while the tougher joints finish.
• •No pheasant where you live? Use one 1.6kg free-range chicken. The sauce will be milder and the meat a little fattier, so begin checking it after 45 minutes and expect it to finish within 55 minutes.
• •Hunting season and ripe-tomato season rarely meet. Good canned whole tomatoes are the honest answer in winter, and better than pale fresh ones. Crush them yourself and cook them until the oil reappears.
• •Use a dry Airén if you can find one, but any clean, unoaked dry white wine will do. Don't use sweet wine or anything you wouldn't drink; reduction concentrates faults as faithfully as flavour.
• •Serve it with a young Cencibel, the local name for Tempranillo, from Castilla-La Mancha. Choose one with fruit and little heavy oak so it sits beside the game rather than on top of it.
• •Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours and keep them for up to 3 days. Reheat covered over the lowest heat, turning the pieces once, until the centre reaches 74°C.

Advance Preparation

• •Have the pheasants jointed up to 1 day ahead. Keep the pieces covered on the lowest refrigerator shelf and pat them dry just before seasoning.
• •The onion, leek and carrot can be cut the day before and refrigerated separately from the raw bird. Grate fresh tomato shortly before cooking, or open canned tomatoes when you begin the sofrito.
• •The completed stew is very good made 1 day ahead. Cool it promptly, cover and refrigerate, then reheat it gently in its sauce. Add 30 to 60ml water only if the cold sauce has set too thick.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 610g)