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Pheasant, Fillets Of

Take a well-hung young pheasant; pluck, draw, and singe it, and then braise the fillets. To do this, cut off the flesh from the breast and wing in one slice from each side; this will give two large fillets; and to get three fillets of uniform size, lift the minion or smaller fillets, which consist of the strips of flesh which lie under the wings, together with the flesh of the merry-thought, and any little pieces that can be lifted off. Dip the fillets into beaten egg, and then into rather highly-seasoned bread-crumbs. Fry in hot fat thin slices of bread of the same size as the fillets until they are lightly browned; drain and dry them. Fry the fillets also, and when they are equally and brightly browned, serve upon the pieces of toast on a hot dish, with a good gravy poured round them. To make the gravy, stew the bones and trimmings of the pheasant in half a pint of water, with an inch or two of lemon-rind, a pinch of salt, and half a dozen peppercorns. When they have simmered for half an hour or more, strain the gravy, skim carefully, and thicken with a tea-spoonful of brown thickening. Add a dessert-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, or a tea-spoonful of strained lemon-juice, if either are liked; make the sauce hot, and serve. Time, three-quarters of an hour to stew the sauce, ten or twelve minutes to fry the fillets. Probable cost of pheasants, 3s. each when in full season.