Tuesday, November 27, 2012

In which WMM cooks pheasant and buys Lancome holiday makeup (not necessarily in that order)

Ah it is Tuesday.  But today's post is all about what I did on Sunday.

On Sunday I roasted pheasant. 

Pheasant is well loved in our house.  My daughter thinks it tastes like chicken nuggets.  I am quite sure that McDonald's does NOT use pheasant for its chicken nuggets...

Here is one of the two little beggars, waiting to go in the oven...




I used Emeril Lagasse's recipe, Roast Pheasant with Whiskey-Cumberland Sauce:

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup Scotch whisky
  • 2 oranges, cut into 1/8ths
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 (2 to 2 1/2-pound) pheasants
  • Salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 6 slices bacon, halved

Whisky-Cumberland Sauce:

  • 1 cup Scotch whisky
  • 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
  • 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
  • 1 cup red currant jelly
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch cayenne
  • Serving suggestion: Wild rice

Directions

For the pheasant: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, toss the oranges with 3 tablespoons of the whisky. Rub the pheasants with the remaining 1 tablespoon of whisky and lightly season with salt and pepper. Stuff each pheasant with the oranges and 1 sprig of fresh thyme, and close the cavities with skewers. Wrap the breast of each pheasant with the bacon and set in a roasting pan. Roast the pheasants until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 160 degrees F., about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes.

For the Whisky Cumberland Sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine the whisky, orange juice, and orange zest, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by 50 percent in volume to about 3/4 cup. Add the currant jelly, salt, and cayenne, and stir well.

Cook until thickened, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and pour into a decorative bowl. Cool slightly before serving.

Remove the bacon from the pheasant breasts, if desired, and cut each bird in half. Discard the oranges and thyme in the cavity. Serve hot with Whisky-Cumberland Sauce and wild rice.

It is important to note that I did not have bacon.  Hello Proscuitto!  Just as yummy I think!

It is also important to note that i did not have wild rice.  Hello potatoes! 

Out of the oven, surrounded by Sorrel (the last from my garden), roasted broccoli and potatoes:


Truly a yummy meal!

On another completely unrelated note.  I visited the Lancome counter on Saturday and went away much the poorer.  They had their Christmas offerings out and here is a confession:  I LOVE HOLIDAY MAKEUP!!!

So when I visited, I came away with the following goodies:

The Ombre Hypnose Mono: (in bronze - yummy!)

Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

Trésor Colour Collection Vernis in Love nail polish

Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

Flirty Red - OMG - this is a lovely rich red with gold highlights - divine!

And for my hands and the tips of my toes, ginger ritzini:


Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

Oh and then I thought I needed some lovely pink-y eyeshadow:

Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

It was called sparkling intoxication after all....

and then the most divine bronze eye pencil, the

Trésor Colour Collection crayon kohl


Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

Absolutely creamy and lovely - jazzy taupe!

Finally, I needed something for my lips:

Trésor Colour Collection L'Absolu rouge lip colour

Lancome Holiday 2012 Collection

Rouge ernestine.  I don't know who she is, but she has lovely berry-gold lips....

Yup.  All that.  All fabulous.. Why is it that holiday makeup is so yummy?  Oh right, I remember now: it is over the top.... sigh...

Have a most happy Tuesday and stay safe out there....

23 comments:

  1. Oh that bronze eyeshadow looks stunning, I love bronze it makes my eyes look really blue. What a treat it is to buy things like that, little packages of instant glamour.

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    1. I know! I had points at the store where I purchased all of that, so was really a tippance!

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  2. I love to shop for makeup. Even just a new lipstick can brighten your day, IMO. :) Did you get the chance to try Lancome's new scent La Vie est Belle? It has become my new 'signature' scent, and is so lovely. I get compliments every time I wear it, too. I really like the lip and nail colors you bought...perfect for the holidays. I'm going to look for them the next time I'm at the mall.

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    1. HI FFM!

      I did not try the scent - when I am in next week I definitely will! I am very impressed with the nail polish - it went on very well and has lasted on my hands for a few days!

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  3. ROUGE CLUES Ah, the new lipstick revealed, a Julie S. style "nosh".
    Make-up is a bit like candy for grown-up ladies AND the J. Crack because of the lovely colours and presentation. Not too drawn to the cosmetic counters' siren call, although some of the holiday sets are very pretty (yes, I can be a sucker for packaging). However nail polish, for my socks-encased toes regardless, is a big downfall. (I'm looking at you Chanel.)
    WMM, your pheasants look very cosy and tasty - applauding everyone who makes Sunday/ weekend dinner. (Too funny about kids, MacDough, Muffy etc. and gotta love Optimum points - assuming.)

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    1. Yes, optimum points are my friend!

      I wish we had chanel around here - closest is Saint John, but I rarely get there!

      As for Pheasant, it was yummy good! I am contemplating goose for christmas. My mother used to roast one, but for some reason we got out of it. Will depend on whether the out-laws are coming chez moi for boxing day dinner! Then Turkey it is so there will be plenty of leftovers for chicken a la king!

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    2. love roast goose - I do it with raspberry sauce, put tart apples into the cavity, witches' brew of gravy that screams for wild rice... and very carefully save the goose fat. it helps to have self-cleaning ovens.

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    3. WMM, cooking goose on a trivet/ rack makes draining the fat much easier. I am with WFF on the tart apples, around here we also add some prunes. The fat also makes great roasted potato chunks after.

      At hours always a day two discussion about turkey curry (Thai or Madras) versus pot pies.

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    4. Thanks for the ideas! My favourite after is turkey pot pies, but we will see!

      Love goose and goose fat is so lovely and decadent!

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    5. I always do a goose, it's my favourite meal of the year and I roast the taters in the fat and jar the rest.

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  4. Oh my, that pheasant looks absolutely delicious. Gotta love holiday makeup! What a great haul, love the metallics you chose. When I was a teen, I used to go to the Bay and moon over the giant Estee Lauder makeup palette that they bring out during the holidays.

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    1. It is expensive frippery, but oh-so-much fun and you know I love to glitter!

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  5. in love with the pink and beigey shadows, I find them eye-opening. After a certain birthday, I stopped wearing frosted or brightly colored shadows and eyeliner, went to pale lid, mild line of taupe in crease, pale pink above, no liner, lotsa mascara. People asked if I'd had "work done". Hah! Yes, at the Trish McEvoy counter!

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    1. When I get to NYC, I am definitely hitting that counter! I can't wear bright shadows anymore - the colours abobe go one very softly, which is all I can do as well. The bronze pencil is divine however - am quite crazy about it! Makes my eyes look very blue!

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  6. I've never had pheasant, but I am impressed by your ambitious cooking projects! Makeup counters intimidate me and send me into a panic. So I don't eat pheasant and I don't wear makeup very often so this comment of mine is basically useless, sorry! :-) Glad these made you happy, though!

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    1. Cate - I would gladly prepare pheasant for you and gladly go the makeup counter with you and help you spend all of your money!

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    2. Thank you, I am hopeless with makeup. I went to a Mary Kay party last year and my friends had a great laugh at my expense as I tried to apply foundation, so our trip to the makeup counter would surely be hilarious!

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    3. Well Cate - we would have one of Tab's snowballs first that would make us feel merry and bright!@!!

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  7. Uh, oh, drink and eyeliner that could get "interesting".

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  8. If I haven't been fooled by Google translate and Wiki, what we eat for Xmas in certain regions of Italy is the helmeted guineafawl, which is a particular type of phaesant. Is that what you had in the oven? My mom used to buy it when she wanted to have a fancy Xmas dinner (which wasn't her thing, really).

    I use very little makeup and I don't buy a lot but I love to buy nail polish. My favorite is the Opi top coat with all the paillettes: this year they made it green and red (mixed together). Very Xmas-y!

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    1. Hi Ema! I have heard of guinea fowl, but have not seen it in Canada - perhaps my TO buddies have? I bet it is pretty much the same!

      I love the pailettes by OPI, too - I just got the skyfall version! I love nail polish for fancy parties out - don't ever wear it through the week as I could rip it off - am such a klutz!

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  9. Drooling over the glittery nail polish! I saw some red glittery polish from Essie at Target and have been debating whether to get it. I'm not much of a nail polish person as it's too high-maintenance for me, but I do love me some red glitter!

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    1. I am like you, but I do love some party stuff - looks so nice! We are getting a target next year and I am really excited!

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