Ingredients for the Known Ground reconstruction
Ingredient amounts shown for 6 servings.
Known Ground reconstruction
- 2whole pheasants, patted dry
- 4 tbspunsalted butter
- 1small carrot, finely sliced
- 1small onion, finely sliced
- 1celery rib, finely sliced
- 1 ozlean ham, finely diced
- 1sprig thyme
- 1small bay leaf
- 1/2 cupMadeira, divided
- 1 1/2 cupsgame stock or unsalted chicken stock
- 1/3 cupconcentrated pheasant fumet
- 1/2 cupheavy cream, lightly whipped
- 1 tspunflavored gelatin, dissolved according to package directions
- lemon juice, a few drops
- kosher salt, to taste
- cayenne pepper, small pinch
- 1 cupdemi-glace, for brown chaud-froid
- 1/3 cupconcentrated pheasant fumet, for brown chaud-froid
- 1/2 cupprepared aspic, for brown chaud-froid
- 1–2 tbspMadeira, for brown chaud-froid
- truffle juice, optional
- 1/2 cupChampagne, for the truffles
- 1–2 cupsclear aspic, chilled and cut for garnish
Pheasant mousse
- cooked leg meat and breast trimmings, from the pheasants
Assembly
- 8–12small black truffles, or small cremini mushrooms when truffles are unavailable
Known Ground reconstruction
A covered Dutch oven approximates Escoffier’s moist poêlé environment; prepared aspic and demi-glace replace restaurant-scale foundational preparations. The composed dish remains cold, rather than becoming a sauté. 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. Heat the oven to 350°F. In a covered Dutch oven, cook the pheasants with butter, carrot, onion, celery, ham, thyme, bay, Madeira, and stock until the thickest portion reaches 165°F (74°C). Cool the birds completely; strain and reserve the cooking liquor.
2. Remove the breast fillets and slice them thinly and evenly. Reserve the legs and trimmings for the mousse; keep the sliced breast chilled.
3. For the mousse, blend cooked leg meat and trimmings with fumet, gelatin, lemon, salt, and cayenne. Fold in the lightly whipped cream, pack into a small lined loaf pan or dome mold, and chill until firm.
4. For the brown chaud-froid, warm demi-glace, fumet, aspic, Madeira, and optional truffle juice until smooth enough to coat a spoon. Cool until thickened but still spreadable, then coat the chilled breast slices and return them to the refrigerator to set.
5. Simmer the truffles gently in Champagne until glossy; cool them in their liquid. Unmold the mousse, arrange the coated breast slices upright around it, and finish with Champagne truffles and aspic garnish. Serve cold.
Historical formula
Method
_Poële_ the pheasant in Madeira and let it cool. Raise the fillets; cut them into thin, regular slices; coat them with brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate according to fancy. With the trimmings and the meat of the legs, prepare a pheasant _Mousse_ after the manner described under No. 1711, and mould it in a Parfait mould which should have the depth of the chaud-froid-coated slices.
When this _Mousse_ has set, turn it out on a dish and place the slices all round, standing them upright and letting them lean one against the other.
Surround with a crown of fine, fair-sized, peeled truffles, cooked in Champagne, and set one of them on the top of the _Mousse_, fixing it there by means of a _hatelet_.
Border the dish with fine _croûtons_ of aspic.
Source
A Guide to Modern Cookery — Recipe no. 1862.
Updated since publication
Last revised 8/21/2026. Evidence and limitations should be interpreted as described in the article.
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