Ingredients
2 pheasants
1 salt and pepper
3 oz butter
1 pt chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp to 2 ts arrowroot
8 oz seedless white grapes
4 tbsp double cream
1 tsp lemon juice
Directions
Set oven at 350 or gas 4. Wipe the pheasants, season, and rub well
all over with butter. Put a knob of butter inside each bird. Place
the pheasants breast side down in deep pot roaster or flameproof
casserole. Cover and cook with stock and buttered paper. Cook for 1
to 1 1/4 hrs until tender turning the birds breast side up after 25
minutes. When cooked remove the pheasants and keep hot. Boil the
remaining liquid to reduce a little and strain into a saucepan. Blend
the arrowroot with a little water and then stir into the hot stock.
Bring to a boil and stir until sauce thickens and clears. Add the
grapes, cream and lemon juice, then heat through without boiling.
Check the seasoning. Arrange the pheasants on a serving dish, spoon
the sauce over and serve. From Mrs Beetons Book of Cookery and
Household Management 1994 ISBN 0-7063-7320-0 From : Eleanor Creighton
Servings: 4 servings
Pheasant Veronique Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Pheasant; Poultry; Wild Game
The History of Recipes
It is quite feasible to follow the history of written cooking instructions way back into antiquity, in fact as far back into recorded history as the Egypt of the Pharoahs, and possibly even further. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these old cook books were just primitive hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for meal preparation.
Interestingly, the most ancient recipe found, according to Professor Solomon Katz, is a series of ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which recount the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making anyone who tried it feel blissful. As we move into The time of the romans 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a few scripts showing how to cook the recipes prepared by the Romans. In his works, he describes how the meals were separated into hors d`oeuvre, main meal and desserts, something we still use today. Aspicius also tells us how the ancient Romans made use of a good variety of spices and herbs, including a few you will know like thyme, mint and asafoetida. Later, in the 15th century, people returning from the crusades brought us many new foods and spices from the East, such as coriander, parsley, and rosemary. These new foods and tastes prompted an explosion in cookery books, most of which still exist in private libraries. During the succeeding few centuries, the rich and powerful families of Wesstern Europe strove to lay on the most extravagent banquests, and as a result cooks and their recipes were highly sought after. However, it wasn`t until the 19th century the formal cooking and recipe books really came of age. Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the USA, dedicated years of their lives to collecting, testing, and publishing recipes to help cooks of their time. By the time we get to the twentieth century, cookery publications are starting to become popular as a result of increased literacy, more spare time and being a little richer. Like it or not, the introduction of TV brings us celebrity TV chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. Which pretty much brings us to the present day and the invention of computers and the internet, permitting everyone to search through thousands of recipes such as those found on this recipe site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pheasant Veronique recipe.
