Put some pate de foie gras forcemeat, or any other forcemeat, into a small stewpan, and spread it all over at the bottom and sides, rubbing the stewpan first with b.u.t.ter. Put in a couple of pigeons trussed for roasting, some sweetbreads and tongue cut into neat pieces, and some b.u.t.ton mushrooms; arrange all these tastily in the pan, place some more forcemeat on the top, cover it over with slices of bacon, and bake it in a gentle oven. Before closing it, pour some good gravy inside. The pigeons should be seasoned with pepper and salt, and just rubbed with garlic. When it is cooked, take it from the oven, and turn it carefully out into its dish, and pour a very rich sauce over it.

Pigeon en Ragout de Crevettes.

Prepare a couple of pigeons, cut them in half, and put them in a stewpan with a gla.s.s of Sauterne, half a pint of stock, a sprig of parsley, two cloves, pepper, salt, and a shalot; simmer till cooked, strain the gravy. Now put an ounce of b.u.t.ter with a dozen b.u.t.ton mushrooms and two or three dozen skinned prawns into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of flour and the gravy the pigeons were stewed in; simmer this for half an hour, then thicken it with a gill of cream and two yolks of eggs, add some finely chopped parsley and a grate of nutmeg. Dish up the pigeons with the mushrooms and prawns in the centre.

Pigeons au Soleil.

Take a couple of roasted pigeons and put them into a marinade of an ounce of b.u.t.ter, four shalots, an onion, and a carrot cut up into dice, a little parsley, a bayleaf, a little thyme, and a clove; put them into a stewpan and fry till they are of a light brown, then moisten with a little vinegar and water. When they have simmered for half an hour in the marinade let them cool, drain, and put them into a batter made of four spoonfuls of flour, a little salt, a little olive oil, and moisten with a sufficient quant.i.ty of water and two beaten whites of eggs; then fry them a good colour, and serve up with fried parsley in the middle, with a poivrade or piquant sauce around.

Pigeons a la Soussell.

Bone four pigeons, and make a forcemeat of some fillet of veal, some ham fat, some grated breadcrumbs, mushrooms, truffles, a shalot, a bouquet garni, a little cayenne, pepper and salt, mixed with b.u.t.ter cooked over the fire and then pounded in a mortar; put some of this forcemeat into the pigeons and stew them gently for half an hour. Take the pigeons out and mask them well with more of the forcemeat, brush some beaten egg over each, and put them in the fryingpan and fry them in good dripping.

Take the gravy they were stewed in, skim off all fat, thicken well with a liaison of cream and eggs, season with a little pepper and salt, and mix all together. Make a mound of spinach puree in the centre of the dish, and place the pigeons around, standing up against the puree. Take some very small boiled tomatoes, of a good shape, make a wreath round the base, place a few b.u.t.ton mushrooms on the top of the spinach, and pour the sauce all round.

Grey Plovers Cooked in Brandy.

After trussing the plovers, flatten them and warm them in a stewpan with a little melted bacon fat, a bouquet garni, two onions, three mushrooms, and two or three truffles (the latter may be left out). As soon as they begin to colour, add half a pint of brandy and toss over a quick fire till the brandy is in flames; as soon as the flames go out, moisten with gravy and simmer over a slow fire. When the birds are done, skim off all grease, add the juice of a lemon, and serve hot.

Golden Plover.

Trim, truss, leaving the inside in, cover with fat bacon, and roast or bake for twenty minutes. Put a piece of well-b.u.t.tered toast one-third of an inch thick to catch the trails. Dress grey plovers exactly the same.

Golden Plover aux Champignons.

Take three golden plover, chop up the trails with parsley, shalots, salt, pepper, and sc.r.a.ped bacon, and stuff the plover with it; cover the b.r.e.a.s.t.s with slices of bacon and roast. When done, serve on stewed mushrooms.

Fried Plover with English Truffles.

Truss three plover for roasting, lay them breast downwards in a stewpan with plenty of b.u.t.ter, enough to entirely cover the b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Put in nine or ten well-washed raw truffles pared very thin and cut into slices about the size of a florin. Add a bayleaf, pepper and salt. Stir over a brisk fire for ten minutes, then pour in a pint of stock mixed with a spoonful of flour and a gla.s.s of sherry. Simmer by side of fire for twenty minutes, skimming carefully. Dish up the birds, and then boil the sauce till it is thick and smooth, add the strained juice of a lemon, a lump of sugar, and a few drops of some XL colouring, and pour over the birds.

Stuffed Pullet.

Bone the pullet, stuff with forcemeat made with minced veal, egg, ham, onions, foie gras, and mushrooms. First warm the veal, onion, and ham in melted b.u.t.ter, then add the mushrooms and foie gras, moisten with stock and boil. Stir in two yolks of eggs and a teaspoonful of lemon juice before taking off the fire, season with a little salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. After stuffing the fowl with this mixture, sew it up, turn the skin of the neck half over the head and cut off part of the comb, which will give it the appearance of a turtle's head. Blanch and singe four chickens' feet, cut off the claws and stick two where the wings ought to be and two in the thighs, so as to look like turtle's feet. Stew the pullet with a little ham, onions, and carrots, tossed previously in b.u.t.ter, moisten with stock, skim occasionally. When done, cut the string where it is sewn, lay it on its back in a dish, garnish the breast with sliced truffles cut in fancy shapes, and place a crayfish tail to represent the turtle's tail.

Veloute sauce may be handed with this dish, or it may be eaten cold and garnished with aspic.

Quails a la Beaconsfield.

Put, having trussed, six quails in a stewpan wrapped in slices of bacon.

Moisten with two spoonfuls of stock, a bouquet garni, two bayleaves and a clove, pepper and salt to taste. Stew them for twenty minutes over a very slow fire. Drain them well, make a puree of peas in which a tablespoonful of aspic jelly has been mixed. Mask each quail with the puree, dish them in a crown shape with little rolls of bacon in front of each, have a few truffles or mushrooms cooked and placed in the centre, and pour over the quails a rich brown sauce.

Quails en Caisse.

Bone six quails and halve them, take the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs and stew them in some stock with two carrots, one onion, one shalot, a bayleaf, a small piece of lean ham, a small piece of parsley, pepper and salt. This must be reduced, and then strained. Make a forcemeat of the quails'

livers, a small piece of calf's liver, and half their quant.i.ty of bacon.

Put these into a saute-pan with a couple of shalots and an ounce of b.u.t.ter, and toss them over the fire for five minutes, then pa.s.s this mixture through a sieve. Have the paper cases ready oiled, and place at the bottom a layer of this farce, having already stuffed the half quails with it. The stuffed half quails, rolled, must now be put into the cases with a thin slice of very fat bacon over them. They must now be baked in the oven for about twelve minutes. Remove the bacon, and pour over the gravy, which must be thickened with flour rolled in b.u.t.ter. Strew a little very nicely minced parsley over each case.

Compote of Quails.

Take six quails, cut the claws off, and truss them with the legs inside.

Cut eight pieces of bacon rolled up like corks, blanch them to draw out any salt, and fry them till they are of a light brown; take them out and put in the quails, which must be stewed till they begin to be of a light brown, then remove them. Make a thickening with flour and b.u.t.ter, and put it into a good gill of veal stock; add a bouquet garni, some small onions and mushrooms. Skim the sauce well, and strain it over the quails, then dish the bacon, mushrooms, and small onions, and send up hot.

Quails and Green Peas.

Cook the quails in a stewpan with a slice of veal and a slice of ham, carrots, onions, and a bouquet garni; cover with rashers of bacon and b.u.t.tered paper; place hot coals on the lid, and, when done, dish up the quails with green peas in the centre which have been cooked in b.u.t.ter.

Boudins of Rabbit a la Reine.

Cut the meat from a young very fine rabbit, which put into some reduced Bechamel sauce. When cold, roll it into large boudins the shape of sausages, egg and breadcrumb, and fry. Serve under them veloute sauce.

Boiled Rabbit a la Maintenon.

Cut a young rabbit into neat joints, and put them in a stewpan with enough white stock just to cover them; add a bouquet garni, a stick of celery, a shalot, an onion, a few peppercorns, a carrot, and six mushrooms. Let all simmer slowly for half an hour, or it might be a little longer, then take them up and drain them; then cut as many pieces of white foolscap paper as there are pieces of rabbit, b.u.t.ter them, sprinkle the pieces of rabbit, and lay on each a little piece of fat bacon, then roll them in the paper and broil over a fire till the bacon has had time to cook. Serve in the papers. Thicken the gravy in the usual way, and serve it in a tureen.

Galantine of Rabbit.

Take a couple of young rabbits, bone, and lay them on a linen cloth; lay over them a good meat stuffing seasoned to taste, putting over this stuffing, which should be laid on about the thickness of a crown, first a layer of ham cut in slices, and then a layer of hard eggs. Cover these layers with a little forcemeat, roll up the meat, taking care not to displace the layers, and cover it with thin slices of fat bacon, wrapping the whole in a cloth; wind some packthread round it and let it boil three hours in stock, adding salt and coa.r.s.e pepper, some roots and onions, a large bunch of parsley, shalots, a clove of garlic, cloves, thyme, bayleaves, and basil. Allow this to cool, take off the cloth, and serve cold.

Gibelotte de Lapin.

Cut a rabbit into pieces. Saute it in two ounces of b.u.t.ter, add an onion, two shalots, and a pint of poivrade sauce; put it in the oven for one hour, being careful not to burn it. Small pieces of cauliflower and croutons of fried bread should garnish this dish.

Fillets of Rabbit with Cuc.u.mber Sauce.

Cut two cuc.u.mbers into thin slices and soak them in vinegar, with pepper, salt, and a bayleaf, for two hours, then half roast the rabbit, take the skin off, and fillet it. Make a sauce of white stock, and put the pieces of rabbit into it with the cuc.u.mber until it is quite done.

Arrange the pieces of rabbit in a circle, put the cuc.u.mber in the middle, and pour the sauce over the fillets. Fried sippets should garnish this dish.

Fricandeau of Rabbit.

Take the fleshy portion of a good-sized rabbit, lard the flesh and lay it in a deep baking dish, cover it with some highly flavoured stock.

Place a piece of b.u.t.tered paper over the dish, and bake in a moderate oven till it is tender, basting it frequently. Lift the rabbit out and keep it hot whilst the gravy is boiling to thicken. Spread a teacupful of good tomato sauce on a hot dish, lay the rabbit on it, hold a salamander over the larding to crisp it, and pour the gravy over all.