Earthy Delights Recipe
http://www.earthy.com/
Fettuccine with Morels & Breast of PheasantThis is a truly memorable springtime dish - perfect
for a special occasion, and not too much work. Pheasant
is a very fine-grained and lean poultry with a mild
flavor that goes exceptionally well with the other
wild ingredients. If you can't find pheasant, substitute chicken.
Ingredients:
Morel Cream Sauce
18-25 fresh Morel
mushrooms, depending on size
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh ramps
1 ¾ cup heavy cream
Sea salt & freshly ground white pepper to taste
nutmeg to taste
Garnish
24 fresh fiddlehead ferns
2 tablespoons butter
Pheasant
2 boned, skinned, and halved pheasant breasts from birds approximately 3 pounds each
Sea salt & freshly ground white pepper
2 tablespoons butter
Fettuccine pasta
Preparation:
To prepare the sauce, clean the morels thoroughly. Pat
them dry and halve them lengthwise, then cut into small
pieces.
Melt the butter in a skillet, adding the morels
and ramps. Stir gently but continuously as they cook.
When they begin to soften, add the cream.
Simmer,
stirring often, until the sauce begins to thicken.
This should take roughly 15 minutes. Season with salt,
white pepper, and nutmeg to taste.
Rub any remaining brown fuzz from your fiddlehead
ferns, trimming the tails to leave less than an inch.
Drop them into boiling salted water, cooking until
they're tender, but not soggy. This should take about
5 minutes. Drain well and toss in butter.
About ½ hour before serving time, sprinkle the
pheasant with salt and pepper.
Heat the butter in a
large, heavy skillet. When the butter begins to
foam, add the pheasant breasts and brown lightly.
This should take about 5 minutes. Turn and cook the
pheasant over moderately low heat until they are
barely cooked in the center. Cooking them any longer
will cause them to toughen and dry. Remove them
from the skillet and allow them to sit for five minutes.
Cook enough fettuccine pasta to serve four people.
Toss the hot pasta with ¾ of the sauce.
Slice the
pheasant breasts into 6 vertical slices and "fan"
them over the pasta.
Top with the remaining sauce
and surround with the fiddleheads.
Directions:
This is a truly memorable springtime dish - perfect
for a special occasion, and not too much work. Pheasant
is a very fine-grained and lean poultry with a mild
flavor that goes exceptionally well with the other
wild ingredients. If you can't find pheasant, substitute chicken.