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Salmis De Faisan

There are many versions of this recipe online. Jessica adapted this recipe from The Nosey Chef.

Salmis de Faisan (pheasant) is an old French recipe that has become the source of much misconception over time. Essentially, salmis calls for undercooking small game birds and finishing them in a sauce. This way of cooking developed a bad reputation as some people adopted it to use up left over game meat, resulting in overcooked dry meat, and not a very tasty meal; However, recipes as far back as the 18th century call for under-roasting the birds, then adding the partially cooked meat back into the sauce towards the end to finish cooking. Once thought of by Escoffier as “one of the most luxurious and delightful ways to enjoy game,” this recipe pays tribute to its original glory.

Ingredients

  • For the Glace    
  • 1 qt chicken stock (homemade)    
  • For the Espagnole    
  • 2 Tbs butter    
  • 25g flour    
  • 1/2 cup mirepoix (diced onion, celery, carrot)    
  • 50g mushroom chopped    
  • 2.2 lb tomatoes crushed    
  • 9.5 C chicken stock    
  • For the Roast    
  • 2 pheasants    
  • 1 lemon, halved    
  • 2 Tbs butter, softened    
  • 2 cloves of garlic, cracked with the back of a knife    
  • 2 sprigs of thyme    
  • For the Salmis    
  • Glace de Volaille    
  • 2 tbsp brandy    
  • 1 C white wine    
  • 2 shallots, chopped    
  • 1 ¼ C pheasant/chicken stock    
  • 1 ¼ C pheasant-based Espagnole    
  • 2 Tbs. butter    
  • To Serve    
  • ~10 oz Sauteed mushrooms (cremini, trumpet, button, whatever is in season)    

Instructions

Make a Glace de Volaille (chicken glaze)
Simmer in stock pot until reduced by a little over half. Pour through strainer with cheesecloth into smaller pot. Lower the heat and continue reducing until the glaze coats the back of a spoon, ~ 1 cup.

Make Espagnole
Melt butter and heat until frothing. Stir in flour and cook for 2 min until it starts to darken. Add the mirepoix, chopped mushrooms, and crushed tomatoes. Cook for a few min without burning. Add the stock a little bit at a time until it has all been added. Simmer on a low heat for 3-4 hours, skimming occasionally. Allow to cool and strain through a sieve.

Make the Roast
Set an oven to 450°F.

Smother the birds with the butter, squeeze over the lemon, and season liberally. Push the spent lemon halves, garlic, and thyme into the cavities. Roast for 10 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 375°F and roast for another 7 mins. Remove the birds from the oven, and get them on a chopping board nice and quickly. Cut off the breast meat and joint the thighs legs and wings. Set aside the breast meat, thighs and legs and keep warm, but make sure they do not continue to cook. The wings and carcass will be used in the sauce preparation. Discard the lemons.

Melt the chicken stock pots in a sauté pan. Add the brandy and flame it. Once the flames are out, paint the bird joints with the glaze, cover, and keep warm. It is essential that these joints are kept warm, but that the cooking is not advanced by one iota. Either use the absolute lowest setting on your hob or place them in an oven at no more than 140F.

Heat the wine and shallot in a large pan and season with a little pepper. Break up the bird carcasses and wings and push them down into the wine with the thyme and garlic from the carcass cavity. Almost completely reduce the wine.

Add the stock and espagnole to the wine and carcasses/wings and cook on medium for 10 minutes. Once done, put the whole lot through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the solids that won't go through.

Reduce the passed sauce by a third, skimming off any impurities. Stir in the butter.

While the sauce is reducing, quickly pan-fry the mushrooms in a little butter and pepper.

To finish the dish, put the breast meat thighs and legs in the sauce (and truffle if using) and cook on medium heat (about 5–10 mins; use a meat probe to ensure you have 145°F in the center of the thighs and breasts, and take care not to overdo them). If pieces are cooking at different rates, pull them out of the pan and set them aside as they reach temp so nothing overcooks. Once the heat is turned off and all the meat has reached temperature, add all of the meat back into the pan.

To serve: flatten a ladle of polenta or mashed potatoes on a dish, top with some pheasant pieces, sprinkle mushrooms over the top and finish with more sauce over the entire dish.

Paired Wines

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