Serves:4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cooking Time: 1 hour
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F, Gas 4) before placing the pheasants in a roasting tin, covering the breasts with the rashers of bacon and dotting with the butter. Roast in the top of the oven for 45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes. Remove and reserve the bacon, sprinkle the breasts with the flour, baste and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.
For the Game Chips
To make the game chips, slice the potatoes as thinly as possible with a sharp knife, or a wide cutting blade on a grater. Soak quickly in a bowl of cold, salted water, drain and dry well on kitchen paper. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan and fry the chips in batches until golden brown. Drain well on kitchen paper and keep warm.
For the Bread Sauce
To make the bread sauce, put the milk, onion, bay leaf, nutmeg and salt in a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. Remove from the heat at boiling point and stir in the breadcrumbs and butter. Heat gently, remove the clove-studded onion and bay leaf, add the cream and keep warm until serving.
For the gravy
Turn off the oven, remove the birds from the tin and put on a warm serving dish before returning to the oven to keep warm. Over a low heat, add the stock, lemon juice, salt and pepper to the roasting tin and bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer for a couple of minutes before straining into a warm sauceboat. Garnish the birds with fresh parsley sprigs or bunches of watercress, and wedges of orange.
