Golf, like tennis, is a sport as steeped in tradition as it is in competition.
Golf clubs are known as much for their idiosyncracies — charming dress codes, byzantine membership politics, sky-high fees — as for their challenging courses. Belonging to or visiting a club isn’t just for access to the greens; it’s about participating in a mini-culture.
“Golf is more than courses,” writes Jon Rizzi, co-author of the new book “The Club Menu,” (Pindar Press). “It’s about traditions — and those traditions manifest themselves most expressively through a club’s signature dish.”
And so it was that Rizzi and co-author Scott Savlov tackled the tables at dozens of top golf clubs, from East Hampton to Pebble Beach, gathering recipes from the chefs. The result? A luxurious new cookbook.
Three Colorado clubs made the cut: Cherry Hills Country Club (Joe Piazza’s signature dish: flamed duckling), Castle Pines Golf Club (Dan Mattoon’s signature dish: rack of lamb), and Ballyneal Golf and Hunt Club in Holyoke, where executive chef and gamekeeper Rich Cummings’ signature dish, sauteed pheasant sausage, is the house specialty. And during the pheasant season (mid-November until Jan. 31), chances are Cummings shot the pheasant himself.
Ballyneal, which opened in 2006, is a hybrid golf club and hunting retreat, located in one of the most productive game bird environments in the country, the rolling plains of Phillips County about 2 1/2 hours east of Denver. Before hitting the links, members can bag a couple of birds.
But lack of membership shouldn’t keep the rest of us from enjoying game birds. “You can do anything to a pheasant that you’d do to a chicken. Marsala, for example,” says Cummings. “Or fingers.”
Cummings recognizes that cooking game birds can be tricky for the uninitiated, because the meat tends to be dry. His fix? Bacon. “Bacon is a classic for any kind of game. It’s the all- around go-to. Use just enough to keep it from drying out.”
Cummings points to retailers like Whole Foods and local, small-scale butchers as the best sourcing options for game birds. “Buy it with the skin on, because the skin has so much flavor, and it gives you protection from dry meat.”
If you can’t find pheasant at your local grocer, improvise. “You can substitute any bird — the sausage recipe is great with turkey,” says Cummings.
More info:
Members only: Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club. Holyoke, 970-854-5900, .
Read: “The Club Menu: Signature Dishes from America’s Premier Golf Clubs,” by Scott Savlov and Jon Rizzi, .
Pheasant Sausage
Recipe by Rich Cummings, executive chef at Ballyneal Golf & Hunt Club. From “The Club Menu: Signature Dishes from America’s Premier Golf Clubs” (Pindar Press). Available at . Serves 4.
Ingredients
Breasts of 2 pheasants (4 breasts)
1/4 cup chopped sweet bell peppers (red, yellow and orange)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped fresh jalapeño
3 strips raw bacon, chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes
Pinch salt
Pinch white pepper
Directions
Cut the pheasant breasts into 1/2-inch cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly by hand.
Place mixture on a large cutting board and, using a large chef’s knife, continue to chop and mix the ingredients until the mixture resembles sausage.
Heat a saute pan with a little bit of olive oil over medium heat. Form sausage into patties and cook on each side 2-3 minutes until interior reaches desired doneness. Be careful not to overcook!
