Ingredients for the Known Ground reconstruction
Ingredient amounts shown for 8 servings.
Known Ground reconstruction
- 1whole pheasant, patted dry
- 2legally harvested woodcocks, boned; meat, livers, clean intestines, and carcasses separated
- poached beef marrow, one-quarter the weight of woodcock meat
- fresh fatty bacon, one-quarter the weight of woodcock meat; plus 6 slices for wrapping
- 1large thick sandwich-loaf croûton
- 3 tbspclarified butter
- 1anchovy fillet, well washed
- 1 ozunsalted butter, Offal spread
- 1/2 ozraw black truffle, Offal spread
- 1bitter orange, thinly sliced
- 1 cupgame stock, for gravy
- kosher salt, pepper, and mixed herbs, to taste
Stuffing
- 6 ozfresh black truffle, quartered and butter-stiffened
Known Ground reconstruction
Only legally harvested, promptly chilled woodcock with intact, clean offal should be used. A high roasting rack reproduces the source's drip-fed croûton arrangement. This version has not been personally tested by Known Ground. Cook the bird and any poultry forcemeat to 165°F (74°C) in its thickest portion.
Instructions
1. Chop the woodcock meat with marrow and fresh bacon in the source's 4:1:1 weight ratio; season with herbs and mix in the six ounces butter-stiffened truffle. Stuff and truss the pheasant, wrap in bacon, and refrigerate at or below 40°F (4°C) for 24 hours.
2. Fry the large croûton in clarified butter. Cook the reserved livers and clean intestines thoroughly, then pound them with an equal weight of grated bacon, anchovy, butter, and the half-ounce raw truffle. Spread on the croûton.
3. Roast the pheasant at 375°F on a high rack. When about two-thirds cooked, place the coated croûton beneath it to catch the drippings; continue until both stuffing and croûton topping reach 165°F (74°C).
4. Set the pheasant on the croûton, surround with bitter-orange slices, and serve pan gravy separately. Give each portion a slice of orange and a small piece of coated croûton.
Historical formula
Method
Bone two woodcocks, and put their livers and intestines aside.
Chop up their meat, together with a quarter of its weight of poached and cooled beef-marrow, and as much fresh, fat bacon; salt, pepper, and herbs. Add to this hash six oz. of raw, peeled, and quartered truffles, slightly cooked in butter.
Stuff the pheasant with this preparation; truss it; wrap it in slices of bacon, and keep it in the cool for twenty-four hours, that the aroma of the truffles may be concentrated.
Roast the pheasant on the spit, or, if in the oven, set it on a somewhat high stand in a baking-pan. Cut a large _croûton_ from a sandwich-loaf, and fry it in clarified butter.
Pound the woodcocks’ livers and intestines with an equal weight of grated fresh fat bacon, the well-washed fillets of an anchovy, one oz. of butter, and one-half oz. of raw truffle. When this forcemeat is very smooth and all its ingredients thoroughly mixed, spread it over the fried _croûtons_.
When the pheasant is two-thirds cooked, set this coated _croûton_ under the bird in such wise as to allow the juices escaping from the latter to drop upon the _croûton_. Complete the cooking, and dish the pheasant on the _croûton_. Surround with slices of bitter orange, and send the gravy separately.
When serving, accompany each piece of pheasant with a slice of orange and a small slice of the coated _croûton_.
Source
A Guide to Modern Cookery — Recipe no. 1844.
Updated since publication
Last revised 8/21/2026. Evidence and limitations should be interpreted as described in the article.
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