Boise birds; a festive fall dinner. Use wild or farm-grown fowl - recipes

Sunset, Oct, 1989

On opening day of pheasant season, Emily and Peter Schott (assisted by a crew and a well-rigged trailer kitchen) serve the elegant multi-course game dinner above to two dozen special guests on the banks of the Boise River in Idaho.

But the Schotts' festive dishes aren't limited to the hunter's kitchen; they work just as well in tamer conditions and for smaller parties.

For an easy start, buy farm-grown fresh or frozen quail, pheasant, and mallard ducks. You may need to place a special order-in some cases, weeks in advance. Try deluxe supermarkets, poultry or meat specialty stores, or game farms. Some of the farms will ship frozen or chilled birds, and some mail-order food catalogs also offer them. (The Schotts, chef-owners of Peter Schott's New American Cuisine Restaurant, use farm birds for this meal themselves. Since they like to age the meat briefly, wild birds shot on opening day aren't usable until 3 or 4 days later.) These specialty birds are relatively expensive. Quail range from $1 to $3 each. Pheasant cost $4 to $8 per pound, mallards $4 to $7 per pound. Shipping adds more to the costs.

You can capture the essence of this extravaganza at home, featuring 1 kind of game bird to serve a party of 8. If you have a cooking team, you might produce all the dishes. Each poultry choice supplies 8 servings; increase the leek and cabbage dishes proportionately with every increase of the poultry entree.

Start the meal with a stand-up presentation of cheese paired with raw vegetables and accompanied by champagne. Next, you might serve soup to sip from mugs a light broth or creamed mixture. If you have help, you could sit down to soup, then to a second course of the leeks.

Choose duck, pheasant, or quail as the menu focus. The braised red cabbage complements any of them. You can also bake small apples (top each with currant jelly) and Idaho potatoes to serve with the birds. A full-bodied, mellow Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, or Merlot is a good wine selection to accompany this meal.

Dessert might be as simple as fresh pears and nuts, or as elaborate as the Schotts' two-tone chocolate mousse.

You can make the leeks and their dressing, the cabbage, and the dessert 1 to 2 days ahead. Several hours before serving, start the mushroom sauce for the pheasants or marinate the ducks. When cooking the birds, take care to keep them slightly underdone as directed, or they will get dry and stringy Reheat cabbage to serve.

If you don't want to prepare this whole menu, you can use the dishes singly, incorporating them into one of your own favorite menus. The sweet-tart braised cabbage goes well with roast pork, chicken, or grilled sausages. Offer the leeks as a light lunch or as a fancy appetizer salad to start an elegant dinner.

Grilled Mallard Ducks with Soy

4 mallard ducks (each 2 to 2 1/2 Lb.) 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced 3/4 cup light soy sauce 1/4 teaspoon crushed dried hot red chilies

2 lemons, cut into wedges 1/2 cup canned lingonberries

About 2 cups watercress sprigs, rinsed and crisped

Cut ducks in half lengthwise with poultry shears, or use a hammer to pound a heavy knife through bone. Remove backbones. Cut off wings at upper joints. On each duck half, start at edge of breast and slide a small, sharp knife parallel to the bone, cutting meat free from breast and back bones. Then cut thigh from body so you end up with boned body meat with a leg attached. Trim off any loose skin flaps. If breast fillets fall free, reserve. Reserve wings and carcass bones for broth. Rinse duck halves and pat dry.

Place duck halves in a large plastic bag set in a dish or pan. Add garlic, soy, and chilies. Seal bag and turn to coat meat well. Cover and chill, turning often, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.

Lay duck halves out flat, skin down, on a grill 4 to 6 inches above a solid bed of medium-hot coals (you can hold your hand at grill level only 3 to 4 seconds). Cook, turning often to brown evenly and avoid burning and flares, until breast is still red and moist in the center of the thickest part (cut to test) but no longer wet-looking, about 20 minutes. Place on a platter; if needed, keep warm in a 150 degree oven up to 30 minutes. Garnish duck with lemon, lingonberries, and watercress. Makes 8 servings.

Accurate nutritional data not available. Estimated 580 calories per serving.

Quail in Raspberry Sauce

16 quail (each about 4 oz.) 2 to 3 tablespoons salad oil 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar

2 cups regular-strength chicken broth

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1 cup fresh or partially thawed, frozen, unsweetened raspberries

2 tablespoons brandy 2 tablespoons lemon juice Salt and white pepper

Rinse birds and pat dry; save necks and giblets for another use.

Pour 2 tablespoons oil into a 10- to 12inch frying pan over medium-high heat. Add birds, a few at a time (do not crowd), and brown all over, about 5 minutes per bird; add oil as needed. Arrange birds, breast up and slightly apart, on a rack in a 12- by 1 7-inch roasting pan.