serves eight
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, unpeeled
8 Toulouse sausages
400g whole piece of smoked streaky bacon
2 generous glasses of red wine
600g good-quality chopped canned Italian tomatoes
1 bay leaf
2 thyme sprigs
2 x 400g cans white haricot beans or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
50g fine white breadcrumbs
a little chopped parsley to serve
For the pheasant
4 x 500g jars goose fat
8 pheasant legs, bone in
10 black peppercorns
Locate your heaviest deep pan (with
a lid) and put it over a low heat. Add
2 tablespoons of the goose fat. Soften the celery,
onions and garlic cloves, then add the
sausages and brown them all for about
10-15 minutes (you may have to turn the
heat up a bit).
Remove the rind from the bacon and
cut the bacon into 8 square chunks. Add
the bacon and rind to the pot and pour
in the red wine and tomatoes; I like to put
the smoked rind in for flavour then pick it
out later. Add the bay leaf and thyme,
cover and simmer very slowly for 3 hrs.
While the base is cooking, prepare the
confit. This could also be done well in
advance, since it keeps so well. Heat
oven to 150ºC/300ºF and season
the pheasant legs well with sea salt and
pepper. Pack these together tightly into
an ovenproof casserole and cover with
the goose fat. Add the peppercorns and
cook for 2½ hrs, until the pheasant is
tender. Remove the legs carefully from
the hot fat and drain on a rack above a
roasting tray. Increase the oven temp to
200ºC/400ºF. If you are making
these ahead, cool and store in the fat
in the fridge. To serve, heat gently to melt
so you can lift out the legs.
To finish, tip the sausage mix into an
ovenproof dish, stir in the beans with
some seasoning and sit the pheasant
legs on top. Sprinkle the whole thing with
breadcrumbs and bake for 30 minutes until
golden. Scatter with parsley to serve.
bacon recipe source: Mike Robinson, Good Food magazine, November 2009
Pickled Chilies
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons white wine
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pickling spice, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied with string
2 Fresno chiles, seeded and cut into 1/8 inch thick slices
Bacon Confit
2 cups duck fat
1/2 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 shallot, peeled
1 small sprig rosemary
1 large garlic clove, peeled
1 small bay leaf
1 whole clove
1 bunch Thai basil or regular basil
1 bunch Thai basil or regular basil
Make the bread-and-butter pickles: combine the apple cider vinegar, sugar, water, onions, salt, jalapeño, turmeric, mustard seeds, and clove in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Pour over the sliced cucumbers in a heatproof bowl. Let cool and refrigerate for at least 1 day.
Make the pickled chiles: combine the water, wine, white wine vinegar, salt, sugar, and pickling spice in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Pour over the chiles in a heatproof bowl and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
Make the bacon confit: preheat the oven to 210ºF. Put the duck fat in a small, ovenproof pot and melt over low heat. Add the bacon. (It should be submerged in the fat). Add the shallot, rosemary, garlic, bay leaf, and clove. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and place in the oven. Cook until the bacon is tender when pierced with a knife, about 1 hour.
When the bacon is done, remove it from the fat and cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
While the bacon is still warm, place each piece on a skewer. Finish each skewer with a slice of bread-and-butter pickle, a pickled chile, and a basil leaf.
bacon recipe source: Ty Kotz, Topping Rose House, One Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor Turnpike, Bridgehampton, NY 11932; James Beard Foundation, 167 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011