Roast Pheasant

Ingredients

• Pheasant
• flour
• butter

Instructions

1. _Choosing and Trussing_.--Old pheasants may be known by the length and sharpness of their spurs; in young ones they are short and blunt.
2. The cock bird is generally reckoned the best, except when the hen is with egg.
3. They should hang some time before they are dressed, as, if they are cooked fresh, the flesh will be exceedingly dry and tasteless.
4. After the bird is plucked and drawn, wipe the inside with a damp cloth, and truss it in the same manner as partridge, No. 1039.
5. If the head is left on, as shown in the engraving, bring it round under the wing, and fix it on to the point of the skewer.
6. [Illustration: ROAST PHEASANT.] _Mode_.--Roast it before a brisk fire, keep it well basted, and flour and froth it nicely.
7. Serve with brown gravy, a little of which should be poured round the bird, and a tureen of bread sauce.
8. or 3 of the pheasant's best tail-feathers are sometimes stuck in the tail as an ornament; but the fashion is not much to be commended.--See coloured plate, F1.