(In Season October to February)

Required: One pheasant. Slices of fat bacon. One ounce of butter or good dripping.

Pluck, draw and singe the pheasant, putting the long tail feathers carefully on one side. Truss it in the same way as you would a fowl, tie the slices of slitted bacon to cover its breast and wrap it up in a piece of greased paper. Put it in a baking-tin with the dripping, and roast it either before a clear fire or in a quick oven for about three-quarters of an hour. Baste it often and thoroughly; about ten minutes before bird is done remove the the paper and the pieces of bacon, so that the breast may brown nicely. Cut a slice of bread about an inch thick to fit the bird, notch it neatly round the edge, and fry it a golden brown in hot fat, or, if preferred, toast a neatly cut piece of bread. Put it on a hot dish, place the bird on it, remove skewers, stick the tail feathers firmly in place, and garnish the dish with a few sprigs of watercress.

Serve with it a tureen of bread sauce and one of brown gravy.

To make the gravy: Pour off all the fat from the tin, taking care to keep back all brown particles. Shake about a tablespoonful of flour into the tin and brown it nicely over the fire, then add a quarter of a pint or more of cold stock, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir the gravy over the fire until it boils and thickens, then strain it into a hot tureen.

N.B. - Roast grouse and roast partridge are cooked in exactly the same way, but without replacing the tail feathers.

In season from August 12th to February.