Vincent Price and Pheasant Under Glass

Vincent Price, 1911-93  

I know, many of you will go “What the???” when you see Mr. Price’s face and wonder if I had taken a wrong holiday turn and misplaced a Halloween post  … but you’d be as wrong as I was when I was a kid and heard that Price was an art collector.  I thought the idea risible (he was hawking his collection at Sears, after all) but the joke was on me.  Mr. Price was a respected collector of fine art as well as a renowned gourmet and host. An invitation to his Hollywood home was much prized -- as was his good humor and charm.

Often, when you see lists of great American cookbooks, his 1965 A Treasury of Great Recipes: Famous Specialties of the World's Foremost Restaurants Adapted for the American Kitchen is on it and with good reason. I got my copy many years ago from my ex’s wonderful mother,  have loved cooking from it and especially loved looking at the amazing menus and photos that really capture an enviable mid-century lifestyle beautifully.

Vincent and his wife Mary loved to cook and entertain, with a kitchen that anyone could only dream of… I mean is that an island or is that an island?

Not only did he entertain, boy did he know where to eat!   The book is a collection of menus and recipes for the great cuisines of the world from all the most famous restaurants of the day... from Paris’s Tour d’Argent and England’s Woburn Abbey to Chicago’s Pump Room and New York’s Trader Vics.  Thank heavens Vincent Price used his celebrity shamelessly. When he asked for recipes at incredible places, he got them.

Price came from a good deal of St. Louis, Missouri money (his father was president of The National Candy Company and his grandfather invented a popular cream of tartar baking powder).  He went to Yale majoring in Art History and was a member of the famous Courtauld Institute at University of London (founded in 1932), one of the premier centers for the teaching of art history in the world (said my friends at Wikipedia). Although he seemed to relish his career in theatre and film (especially in campy horror films), I think he enjoyed the fine art of living even more.

Faisan sous cloche, or pheasant under glass appears in a 1940 menu from Antoine’s restaurant in New Orleans (where my parents went for their honeymoon a decade later!).   From what I understand, the dish evolved over time from Escoffier’s famous Mushrooms sous cloche.

 Le Guide Culinaire 1903, Escoffier

Charles Ranhofer’s The Epicurean has a similar mushroom recipe in 1894 (an homage to Escoffier perhaps?) … with a lovely illustration.

I tried to find where the transition was made from mushrooms to pheasant (my theory is that it’s an early mid-20^th century American invention to evoke high-style to provincial American clientele) but came up empty.  I did find that as late as 1920, a creaky delight by James Lane Allen called “On the Mantelpiece” still referred to mushrooms under glass… the pheasant was a stuffed curiosity perched under a glass bell on a table.

“Who loved the domestic canary, and the owl if perched on a bookcase

And the pheasant With its young and its nest if well arranged on a table-

Served sous cloche like mushrooms.”

Ranhofer’s pheasant is still sans cloche even though he had done the mushrooms that way in 1894.

 The pheasant sous cloche preparation is different from the mushroom method in one significant way.  The mushrooms are cooked inside the cloche, keeping all of the precious aromas within the glass until the moment the fortunate diner removes the lid.  The pheasant is prepared beforehand and then the finished product is covered -- but the effect is the same -- the diner will open the lid and enjoy the dizzying aromas of truffles, cognac and Madeira in a potent blast of scent not unlike today’s magic pillows of fragrance created by gastro-geniuses like Grant Achatz.

I read a charming 2001 article by Jonathan Reynolds in the NYT’s in which Reynolds recalled eating pheasant under glass as a youth on an outing with an elegant uncle at The Westbury Hotel in NYC in the 50s (I am guessing -- he wasn’t clear on the year). I believe this was the heyday of the dish.  I remember films of the 30s and 40s always made pheasant under glass seem like the sine qua non of cuisine (funny I always remember it being ordered but never arriving!).  By the time I was old enough to enjoy it, it had gone the way of the dinosaurs but I have always wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Everyone in old black and white movies ordered pheasant under glass at fancy soirees… me too, please!

I based my recipe on the Jonathan Reynold’s version principally, and it is similar to one from the Greenbriar Hotel in WV (how long ago it was on the menu, I do not know) but added the truffle because I think it is essential for the effect to work properly.  Morels are great but they don’t knock you off your feet like the scent of a truffle does, Vincent knew best on that one (although I remember tasting truffles in a sauce as a kid in a fancy joint and they tasted like dirt… I think they were from a jar… blech!, I wonder if Antoines were the real deal?).  I did love the Antoine’s toast with pheasant liver idea so threw that in since it is a classic French technique when serving game birds.  The Antoine’s sauce wasn’t my cup of tea but I’ve included it for you to decide which you like.  All and all, great dish and a real show stopper if you have cloches (I used the top from a cake stand).  I can imagine the Pricean glee when young Vincent enjoyed the ceremony at Antoines nearly 70 years ago, bathing his famous face in the celestial steam to enjoy it to its fullest.

Oh yes, I got my pheasant from D’Artagnan and it was raised in NJ!!!   If you have never had raised pheasant, it is mild and like chicken and not dark like duck… every so slightly pink is the ideal degree of doneness.  The wild version is darker but equally superb! I have another recipe for it that is related, but with foie gras and truffles called Pheasant Souvaroff that you can find HERE.

Pheasant Under Glass for 2

1 whole large pheasant breast from D'Artagnan, split and boned (Duck or chicken would work too) *

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons unsalted butter (plus 2 T for sautéing livers)

6 dried morels from Marx Foods, brushed off

1 T brandy

1 T Boston Bual Madeira  from Rare Wine Company 

2 large shallots, peeled and chopped

2 shitake mushrooms, sliced

2 small crimini mushrooms, sliced

1 tablespoon plus 1 t. brandy

1/3 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 T  demi-glace from D'Artagnan

1 small truffle from D'Artagnan, sliced   or a few drops of good white truffle oil from D'Artagnan 

 Pinch cayenne pepper.

pheasant liver (optional, if you have one, mine did not)

2 pieces toast (optional)

I used arugula for a garnish and loved the flavor with the rich sauce… you may want to use it as an edible side dish.

1. Flatten pheasant breasts slightly with a mallet or rolling pin, then rub with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and season with black pepper.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat in a 9-inch skillet. When it foams, sear the pheasant, skin side down, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a plate, cover and keep warm (raised pheasant breast is light like chicken and not like duck… every so slightly pink is the ideal degree of doneness).

3. Steep the dried morels in ½ cup hot water, cognac and madeira for an hour. Drain and strain them, reserving the soaking liquid. Discard stems and slice caps thinly.

4. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in the skillet and sauté the shallots for 2 minutes, until golden, then add the morels and mushrooms for 5 minutes. Remove to a bowl and keep warm.

5. Boil the reserved soaking liquid with the brandy and white wine until reduced by 1/2, about 1 minute, then whisk in the cream and demi-glace and boil about 1 minute, until sauce is thickened and smooth. Whisk in the remaining lemon juice and the cayenne.

6. If you have one, sauté the pheasant liver in butter, season and add 1 t cognac and then spread on toast.

7. Place the pheasant breasts skin side up on your toast on a hot serving plates and top each with half the mushroom mixture, then the sauce and shaved truffles or drops of truffle oil.

8. Enclose with a glass cover.  It is classically served with wild rice. 

* You will have many pheasant bits left after removing the breast.  What I did was brown them and cook them for 6 hours in 6 c stock at the lowest heat possible.  I will be using the legs for a holiday cassoulet ( and Petunia the St Bernard gets the rest)!

And now, another holiday drink for you via Cooling Cups and Dainty Drinks.  Those slushy punches are hot again.  Mark Bittman did a version in the NYTs  this week.  I have done one before HERE . A version of Punch Romaine (and there are many) was served on the Titanic’s last night as a palate cleanser between courses. I can tell you, they are delish… boozy and refreshing all at once.  I’ll keep ‘em coming till New Years.  They really knew how to drink in the 19^th century!  Oh yes, drop over and visit David Solmonson at 12 Bottle Bar  if you want to find out more about great cocktails… I’m a novice at mixology having been a wine person most of my life.  He tells great stories with lots of history and is doing a 12 days of Christmas drink special.

Ponche á la Romaine, á la Hall

2 c pineapple syrup*

2 drops essence of orange peel (I used Aftelier’s essence of Bergamot )

a few gratings of orange peel

a few gratings of ambergris from Ambergris Co. NZ   (optional)

2 cups dry sherry

2 c cider

4 egg whites in an Italian meringue**

½ c rum

Put the pineapple syrup to warm in a pan.  When it is quite warm, add the ambergris and orange essence.  Cool the mixture, then add the peel, sherry, cider, meringue and rum and freeze.  Unless your freezer can go very cold, the texture will be like a stiff, albeit boozy slushy.  If you’d like, you can dollop any leftover meringue you have on the top or put fresh fruit in the bottom ( I tried raspberries and they were delicious and cut the sugar… it is a sweet drink!).

*Pineapple Syrup 

2 cups cane sugar

1 cup water

1/2 small pineapple

Combine sugar with water and stir. Skin and cube a small pineapple, add the fruit to the sugar mixture and muddle somewhat.  Let stand for 24 hours. Put the mixture in a blender for a moment to put some juice into the mixture. Stir to dissolve any residual sugar and pour the resulting syrup through a strainer or cheesecloth-lined funnel and let it drip through for an hour. Add a small dash of vodka as a preservative. Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

**Italian Meringue

1 1/3 c sugar

4 egg whites

¼ t cream of tartar

Combine sugar with 1/3 c of water and bring slowly to a boil and continue cooking till it reaches 238º. 

Beat the egg whites till foamy, add cream of tartar and continue beating till stiff.

Add the syrup slowly while beating the eggs for 10 minutes until cooled.  It will be smooth and glossy.

Ambergris Co. NZ

Aftelier

* If I may recommend, a great foodie gift for the holidays (or a treat for you!)  would be a selection of chef's essences from Aftelier. The fir has just come out and it is TO DIE FOR!  I had it in a gin drink at Astor Center and felt faint from pleasure... 

**Tis the season to give… to WIKIPEDIA!!  It’s a great service that most everyone uses and it is done out of the goodness of many hearts.  Fill their holiday coffers, won’t you??

Donate a few bucks to keep them going. 

Thanks!

Thanks to Gollum for hosting foodie friday!