Pheasant with Chestnut and Offal Stuffing

Name: Pheasant with Chestnut and Offal Stuffing
Cuisine: Spain
Ingredients: 1 whole bird pheasant; to taste salt; as needed manteca (lard); criadillas (sweetbreads); roasted chestnuts; slices of tocino (cured pork belly) and ternera (veal); slices of tocino and ternera; 1 glass Málaga wine; roasted chestnuts, crushed

Origin: Castile, Spain

Source: Anonymous, 1920

Ingredients

1 whole bird pheasant
to taste salt
as needed manteca (lard)
criadillas (sweetbreads)
roasted chestnuts
slices of tocino (cured pork belly) and ternera (veal)
slices of tocino and ternera
1 glass Málaga wine
roasted chestnuts, crushed

Instructions

Clean and prepare the pheasant as you would any poultry. Season with salt.
Heat manteca (lard) in a pan and fry the sweetbreads (criadillas) until golden. Remove, mince them finely, and combine with roasted chestnuts. Use this mixture to stuff the pheasant. Cover the stuffed bird entirely with thin slices of tocino (cured pork belly) and veal.
Line a cooking pot with additional slices of tocino and veal. Place the prepared pheasant on top. Pour the Málaga wine over the bird and cook gently over low heat until tender.
Thicken the sauce by crushing roasted chestnuts and stirring them into the pan juices. Arrange the pheasant on a platter and garnish with sliced sweetbreads (criadillas).