Roast Pheasant

Ingredients

• 3 pheasant, about 2 1/2 pounds each
• Salt to taste if desired
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 6 thin slices unsalted fatback, each slice measuring about 4 inches by 8 inches
• ¼ cup corn, peanut or vegetable oil
• Brown sauce (see recipe)
• Squash stuffed with vegetables (see recipe)

6 servings

Preparation

1. Sprinkle the inside of each pheasant with salt and pepper. The breast of each pheasant should be covered with 2 slices of fatback. The birds should then be trussed, with the string anchoring the fatback neatly in place. It is probably best in most cases that this be done by the butcher.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
3. Heat the oil in a large roasting pan and brown the pheasants lightly on all sides. Arrange them, on their sides, in the roasting pan. Place in the oven and bake 10 minutes. Turn each pheasant on its other side and continue roasting 10 minutes.
4. Place the pheasants on their backs and continue roasting, basting often, about 15 minutes. Untruss the pheasants. Discard the strings and fatback. Continue roasting, with the pheasants resting on their backs, about 20 minutes or until the cavity liquid runs clear when one of the pheasants is held, tail side down, over the roasting pan.

About 1 hour 15 minutes