Makes 4 servings
- 16 small Brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed
- One 3-pound pheasant
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 medium porcini mushrooms, cut into 1/4" slices
- 8 medium fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices
- 16 crosnes, well scrubbed
- 8 ounces foie gras, cut into 4 slices
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken stock
- 1 ounce black truffle, finely chopped
1) Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl halfway with cold water and ice cubes and keep nearby.
2) Use a paring knife to make an "x" shaped incision in the bottoms of the Brussels sprouts. Put them into the boiling water and blanch for 5-7 minutes, until tender yet still quite green, before draining the sprouts and transferring them to the ice bath. Once cool, drain the Brussels sprouts, pat them dry and set aside for the moment.
3) Preheat the oven to 400° F. Put a roasting pan into the oven to warm.
4) Season the pheasant well with salt and pepper both inside and out and then truss it with kitchen twine. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and brush over the pheasant.
5) When the pan is hot, add the remaining butter to the pan and place the pheasant, breast side up, into the pan. Put the porcini, potatoes and crosnes around the bird, season the vegetables with salt and pepper and slide the pan into the oven. Roast, basting every 10 minutes or so with the pan juices and stirring the vegetables, for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 350° F, add the Brussels sprouts to the pan and continue to roast until the juices run
clear when the thigh is pierced with a knife, approximately 10-15 minutes more.
6) Transfer the pheasant to a cutting board to rest and the vegetables to a warm platter; keep both in a warm place.
7) Pour off all of the fat from the roasting pan and place over high heat. Add the wine and reduce, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate the caramelized juices, until there is no liquid left in the pan. Add the chicken stock and reduce by half. Strain the jus into a small sauceboat, season with salt and pepper, if needed, and stir in the chopped truffle.
8) Warm a medium sauté pan over high heat. Season the foie gras slices with salt and pepper. When the pan is very hot, add the foie gras to the pan and sear for 1-2 minutes before flipping over and cooking the other side for 1-2 minutes more. Lift the foie gras out of the pan and drain on paper towels.
9) Cut off the kitchen twine and discard. To carve the pheasant, remove the breasts from the bone and cut each breast in two. Remove the legs and separate them into two pieces each by severing the thigh from the drumstick at the joint between them.
To serve: Mound the vegetables in the centers of 4 warm dinner plates. Arrange 1 piece of breast meat and 1 piece of leg meat per person on top of the vegetables and place a slice of roasted foie gras on top of that. Spoon the truffle jus over the meat and serve immediately.
