Pheasant a' l'orange - country living holidays

2    2 1/2-lb farm-raised
           -ready-to-roast pheasants
      2 md Navel oranges
      1 lg Carrot, quartered
      1 md Onion, quartered
      2 tb butter or margarine
  2 1/2 c  Water
           Wild and brown rice mix
           -(opt.)
    1/4 c  Sugar
    1/4 c  Red-wine vinegar
    1/4 c  Dry red wine
      2 tb Cornstarch
    3/4 ts Salt
 
  1. Heat oven to 375'F. Rinse pheasants and pat dry. Remove any excess
  fat from body and neck cavities. Reserve necks and giblets. Loosen
  skin from the breast meat of each pheasant with your fingers, With
  knife, cut peel or rind and all membrane off 1 orange; cut peeled
  orange crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Reserve peel.
  
  2. Place half of the orange slices on breast meat under the skin of
  each bird. Tuck wing tips under back to hold neck skin down. Place 1
  carrot quarter, 1 onion quarter, and half of the orange peel inside
  each body cavity. Using kitchen string, tie the legs of each pheasant
  together.
  
  3. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter; remove from heat. Place
  pheasants, breast sides up, on rack in a large roasting pan. Brush
  birds all over with melted butter. Set aside pan with any leftover
  butter.
  
  4. Roast the birds 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in saucepan with leftover
  butter, brown reserved necks and giblets. Add remaining onion and
  carrot quarters; saute 1 minute. Add water; heat to boiling.
  Partially cover pan; simmer giblet mixture over medium heat 45
  minutes or until liquid is reduced by almost a third.
  
  5. Brush birds with pan drippings. Turn each bird on its side; cover
  breasts with pieces of aluminum foil. Continue to roast birds 15
  minutes. Turn birds to roast on other side; roast 15 to 20 minutes
  longer orjust until juices run clear when thighs are pierced with a
  fork and breast meat near wing joint cut parallel to the bone is
  white with a touch of pink but no longer wet and soft.
  
  6. While pheasants are roasting, prepare rice following package direc-
  tions, if desired. Drain body-cavity juices from birds into roasting
  pan; cut string off birds. Transfer birds to a serving platter;
  surround with hot cooked rice blend; keep warm. Add giblet mixture to
  the roasting pan; heat and stir to loosen browned-on bits from the
  bottom of the pan. Strain mixture into a 4-cup measuring cup or bowl;
  discard particles. Spoon off fat from top of strained liquid. You
  should have 2 cups liquid; if not, add water or chicken broth.
  
  7. In 2-quart saucepan, heat sugar and vinegar to boiling, stirring
  often until sugar dissolves. Continue to boil sugar mixture or syrup
  until golden brown or it caramelizes 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from
  heat; set aside. In cup, combine wine and cornstarch; stir into syrup
  in sauce- pan. Whisk in strained 2 C liquid and salt; return to heat
  and boil, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens. Brush some sauce
  over birds; pour remainder into small pitcher.
  
  8. Peel and thinly slice remaining orange. Arrange over pheasant
  breasts. To carve, using sharp knife, remove the legs and thighs from
  the birds. Cut the drumsticks from the thighs. Thinly slice the
  breasts off the bone. Pass sauce with the meat.
  
  Country Living Holidays/92  Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl &