food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
food-and-wine-pairing-a-sensory-experience-robert-harrington
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Pacific Northwest Menu 243<br />
Food Item: Roasted Columbia Basin Pheasant Marinated in Grappa<br />
with German Bread Dumplings<br />
Yield: 6 servings (12 in a multicourse menu)<br />
Ingredients for Pheasant<br />
1 c (225 ml) grappa<br />
1–2 oz (30–60 g) fresh thyme<br />
3 bay leaves<br />
Salt<br />
Black pepper<br />
3 whole pheasants<br />
1 /2 bottle Lemberger or other red <strong>wine</strong><br />
3 c (675 ml) veal stock<br />
1 tbsp (15 ml) Dijon mustard<br />
1 tbsp (15 ml) molasses<br />
Salt<br />
Coarsely ground black pepper<br />
Cornstarch<br />
Ingredients for German dumplings<br />
6 oz (170 g) bacon, small dice<br />
3 oz (85 g) onions, finely diced<br />
4–5 kaiser rolls, thinly sliced<br />
3 /4 c (170 ml) milk<br />
3 eggs<br />
1 tbsp (15 ml) finely chopped parsley<br />
Salt<br />
Pepper<br />
Breadcrumbs as needed<br />
2 tbsp (30 ml) butter<br />
Preparation<br />
To make the dumplings, cook the bacon until crisp <strong>and</strong> drain<br />
well. Sauté the onions in the bacon fat until tender.<br />
Remove from heat <strong>and</strong> allow to cool. Combine the<br />
bacon, onions, <strong>and</strong> rolls. Soak them in the lukewarm<br />
milk for 30 minutes. Add the eggs, parsley, <strong>and</strong> salt<br />
<strong>and</strong> pepper to taste <strong>and</strong> mix well. If the mixture is a<br />
little too wet, add some breadcrumbs to give it the<br />
same consistency as a bread dressing for<br />
Thanksgiving. Divide the mixture into two equal<br />
portions. Roll each portion into tube shapes in clean<br />
cloth napkins. Tie the napkin ends so that the bread<br />
dumpling tubes are evenly distributed <strong>and</strong> firm.<br />
Carefully put the napkin tubes into salted, barely<br />
simmering water. Cook for about 25 minutes. Remove<br />
from the cooking liquid <strong>and</strong> allow to cool completely.<br />
Once cold, unwrap the napkins <strong>and</strong> place the cooked<br />
dumpling tubes on a cutting board. Slice them into<br />
1 /2-inch-thick medallions. Melt the butter <strong>and</strong> sauté<br />
the sliced bread dumplings until golden brown just<br />
prior to serving.<br />
For the pheasant, combine the grappa, thyme, bay leaves,<br />
<strong>and</strong> salt <strong>and</strong> pepper to taste. Marinate the pheasant in<br />
this mixture for several hours or overnight. Preheat<br />
the oven to 400°F (200°C). Remove the pheasant from<br />
the marinade <strong>and</strong> season the cavity with additional<br />
salt <strong>and</strong> pepper. Place in a roasting pan <strong>and</strong> roast for<br />
1 to 11 /2 hours until the meat is tender, the internal<br />
juices run clear, <strong>and</strong> the internal temperature reaches<br />
165°F (75°C). Remove the roasted pheasant from the<br />
pan <strong>and</strong> keep warm. Deglaze the roasting pan with<br />
the red <strong>wine</strong>. Add the stock <strong>and</strong> reduce by half.<br />
Season the liquid with the mustard, the molasses,<br />
<strong>and</strong> salt <strong>and</strong> pepper to taste. Thicken the sauce to a<br />
jus lie consistency with a little cornstarch mixed in<br />
water. Split the pheasants in half <strong>and</strong> remove all of<br />
the interior bones, leaving only the outer bones of the<br />
leg <strong>and</strong> wing. Serve one-half of a pheasant as a main<br />
course portion; cut the birds into quarters for a<br />
smaller portion. Serve each pheasant portion atop<br />
one or more sautéed slices of dumpling. Drizzle each<br />
portion with sauce.<br />
Fish Course This is a fish course with some characteristics of a light salad course. It<br />
has a minimal amount of acidity, which allows it to be successfully served with <strong>wine</strong>. Cedarplanking<br />
salmon is a traditional cooking technique derived from the Northwest’s Native<br />
American tribes. Cedar planks can be purchased online or in many specialty cooking stores.<br />
The cooking technique is really a combination of baking, steaming, <strong>and</strong> light smoking. The<br />
cedar plank is soaked in water prior to using. The fish is placed directly on the plank <strong>and</strong><br />
baked in a hot oven. During the cooking, the moisture in the plank steams the fish <strong>and</strong><br />
provides a slight cedar-smoked flavor, while the top develops a firm baked texture. Many<br />
restaurants serve the planked fish directly on the plank. In this case, it was presented in a<br />
more ‘‘refined’’ fashion at this upscale event.