This noble bird deserves careful cooking if you want to prevent it from drying out. Grate the small piece of fat, salt and pepper, add 1 tablespoon of brandy. Put this stuffing into the pheasant, sew up all openings, truss tightly, cover the breast with the bard and tie up with a thread. Put into an ovenproof dish and bake in a hot oven (400íF). Turn 4 times to brown all over. Once golden, turn down the heat to 350íF. A few minutes before serving, remove the bard, sprinkle with the remaining brandy, cover with an aluminum foil and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. To serve, cut the pheasant in its roasting dish to collect all the juices. Generally nothing is burned in the bottom of the dish. Dissolve all the juices attached by scraping with the back of a fork. Serve with mashed chestnuts or lentils. Some people like the pheasant with bilberry or red currant jam (not a jelly). To make a finer dish, serve the pieces of pheasants on slices of bread browned in butter and spread with a foie gras mousse worked with the pheasant liver seared in butter.
