Chapter XVI: Poultry (volaille) (5)

Carefully clear the meat of the roebuck of all tendons, and chop it up with a knife, combining with it the while the third of its weight of fresh butter, as much bread-crumb, soaked in milk, and pressed, and one-third pint of fresh cream per lb. of meat. Season, divide into portions weighing two oz., mould to a nice round shape, wrap in pig’s caul, cook quickly at the last moment, and dish in the form of a crown.

Coat with Chasseur sauce, and send a timbale of celery purée separately.

1807—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL WALKYRIE

_Sauté_ the noisettes in the usual way, and dish them in the form of a crown, each on a small quoit of “Pommes Berny” (No. 2184). On each noisette lay a fine, grilled mushroom, garnished with a rosette of Soubise purée, made by means of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe. Pour a little venison sauce over the dish, and send a sauceboat of it separately.

N.B.—Roebuck noisettes and cutlets are still served with purées of chestnuts or celery, with truffles, _cèpes_, mushrooms, &c.

The sauces best suited to them are Poivrade sauce and its derivatives, such as Venison sauce, Grand-Veneur sauce, Romaine sauce, &c., also Roberts sauce Escoffier.

1808—CIVET DE CHEVREUIL

For “Civet de Chevreuil” the shoulders, the neck, and the breast are used, and these pieces are cut up and set to _marinade_ six hours beforehand with the aromatics and the same red wine as that with which the civet will be moistened.

When about to prepare the civet, drain and dry these pieces, and proceed exactly as for “Civet de Lièvre” (No. 1821), except for the thickening by means of blood, which the difficulty of obtaining the blood of the roebuck perforce precludes.

This civet, which should be classed among dishes for the home, is usually served in the form of a stew; for, inasmuch as the final thickening with blood is lacking, it can only be an imitation of the civet. When, therefore, hare’s blood is available, it should always be used in finishing this dish exactly after the manner of No. 1821—that is to say, the preparation should be given the characteristic stamp of civet by means of a final thickening with blood.

1809—BOAR AND YOUNG BOAR (SANGLIER ET MARCASSIN)

When the wild boar is over two years of age, it is no more fit to be served as food. Between one and two years it should be used with caution, and the various roebuck recipes may then be applied to it. But only the young boar less than twelve months old should be prepared in decent kitchens.

The hams of a young boar, salted and smoked, supply a very passable relevé, which allows of varying the ordinary menu. They are treated exactly like pork hams.

The saddle and the cushions may be prepared after the recipes given for saddle of roebuck, and the same holds good with the cutlets and the noisettes.

Finally, the saddle may be served cold, in a daube, when it is prepared after No. 1173.

As the various parts of the young boar are covered with fat, it is understood that they are not larded, nor do they need it.

1810—HARE AND LEVERET (LIÈVRE ET LEVRAUT)

As a result of one of those freaks of taste, of which I have already pointed out some few examples, hare is not nearly so highly esteemed as it deserves in England; and the fact seems all the more strange when one remembers that in many of her counties excellent specimens of the species are to be found.

Whatever be the purpose for which it is required, always select a young hare, five or six lbs. in weight. The age may be ascertained as follows:—Grasp one ear close to its extremity with both hands, and pull in opposite directions; if the ear tear, the beast is young; if it resist the strain, the hare is old, and should be set aside for soups and the preparation of _fumets_ and forcemeats.

1811—LIÈVRE FARCI A LA PERIGOURDINE

Take care to collect all the blood when emptying the hare; break the bones of the legs, that they may be easily trussed; clear the legs and the fillets of all tendons, and lard them. Chop up the liver, the lungs, the heart, and four fowls’ livers, together with five oz. of fat bacon.

Add to this mincemeat five oz. of soaked and pressed bread-crumbs, the blood, two oz. of chopped onion, cooked in butter and cold; a pinch of chopped parsley, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, and three oz. of raw truffle parings. Mix the whole up well; fill the hare with this stuffing; sew up the skin of the belly; truss the animal, and braise it in white wine for about two and one-half hours, basting it often the while. Glaze at the last moment. Serve the hare on a long dish.

Add two-thirds pint of half-glaze game sauce to the braising-liquor; reduce; clear of grease; strain, and add three oz. of chopped truffles to this sauce.

Pour a little sauce over the dish on which the hare has been set, and serve what remains of the sauce separately.

1812—RÂBLE DE LIÈVRE

The French term “râble” means the whole of the back of the hare, from the root of the neck to the tail, with the ribs cut very short.

Often, however, that piece which corresponds with the saddle in butchers’ meat alone is taken, _i.e._, the piece reaching from the croup to the floating ribs. Whatever be the particular cut, the piece should be well cleared of all tendons, and finely larded before being set to _marinade_; and this last operation may even be dispensed with when the “râble” is derived from a young hare.

_Marinading_ would only become necessary if the piece had to be kept some considerable time.

1813—RÂBLE DE LIÈVRE A L’ALLEMANDE

Set the _râble_ well dried on the vegetables of the _marinade_, which should be laid on the bottom of a long, narrow dish. When it is nearly cooked, remove the vegetables, pour one-quarter pint of cream into the dish, and complete the cooking of the _râble_, basting it the while with that cream.

Finish at the last minute with a few drops of lemon juice.

Dish the _râble_, and surround it with the cream stock, strained through a fine strainer.

1814—RÂBLE DE LIÈVRE AU GENIÈVRE

Roast it, as above, on the vegetables of the _marinade_.

Swill the dish with a small glassful of gin and two or three tablespoonfuls of _marinade_, and reduce to half. Add one-sixth pint of cream, two tablespoonfuls of poivrade sauce, and four powdered juniper berries.

Strain and serve this sauce separately at the same time as the _râble_.

1815—CUISSES DE LIÈVRE

Use the legs of young hares only; those of old animals may be used for the “civet” and forcemeat alone. After having cleared them of tendons and larded them with very thin strips of bacon, treat them like the _râble_.

1816—FILETS DE LEVRAUT A LA DAMPIERRE

Take five leverets’ fillets; _contise_ them with slices of truffle, after the manner directed for “Suprêmes de Volaille à la Chevalière” (No. 1458); shape them like crescents, and set them on a buttered dish.

Lard the minion fillets with a rosette consisting of strips of salted tongue, and set them also on a buttered dish.

With what remains of the meat of the leverets, prepare a _mousseline_ forcemeat, and add thereto some truffle essence and some chopped truffles.

Dish this forcemeat, shaping it like a truncated cone two and one-half inches high, the radius of which should be the length of a leveret’s fillet.

Set this forcemeat to poach in the front of the oven.

Sprinkle the fillets and the minion fillets with a little brandy and melted butter; cover them, and poach them likewise in the front of the oven. This done, arrange them radially on the cone of forcemeat, alternating the fillets and the minion fillets. Place a fine, glazed truffle in the middle of the rosette, and surround the base with mushrooms, separated by chestnuts cooked in consommé and glazed, and small onions cooked in butter.

Serve a poivrade sauce at the same time, combined with the fillets’ cooking-liquor.

1817—FILETS DE LEVRAUT A LA MORNAY (Recipe of the Frères Provençaux)

Trim two leverets’ fillets, and cut them into collops, one inch in diameter and one-third inch thick. Prepare (1) the same number of bread-crumb _croûtons_ as there are collops, and make them of the same size as the latter, though half as thick; (2) the same number of thick slices of truffle, cooked at the last minute in a little Madeira.

Toss the collops of fillet quickly in clarified butter; colour the _croûtons_ in butter at the same time, and mix the latter with the collops and the truffles in a saucepan.

Swill the sautépan with the Madeira in which the truffles have cooked; add a little succulent pale glaze; reduce sufficiently; strain the sauce through a sieve; finish it liberally with butter; add it to the _sautéd_ collops, and serve the latter in a very hot timbale.

N.B.—This recipe was given by the Comte de Mornay himself to the proprietors of the famous Parisian restaurant, and for a long while the dish was one of the specialities of a house no longer extant.

1818—FILETS DE LEVRAUT A LA VENDOME

After having _contised_ the leveret’s fillets, roll them round a buttered tin mould, and fasten them with a string, that they may form rings.

Set to poach. Meanwhile, spread on a buttered tray a layer one-half inch thick of game forcemeat; poach the latter; stamp it out by means of an even cutter into roundels of the same size as the rings, and set one of these on each of the forcemeat roundels, fixing it by means of a little raw forcemeat.

Cut the minion fillets into collops, and quickly toss them in butter with an equal quantity of mushrooms and five oz. of raw, sliced truffles.

Swill the saucepan with a little brandy and the poaching-liquor of the fillet-rings; add a little poivrade sauce; finish this sauce with butter, and plunge therein the collops of fillet, the mushrooms, and the truffles.

Set the rings in a circle on a dish, and fill them with this garnish. Serve separately a sauceboat of poivrade sauce and a timbale of chestnut purée.

1819—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE LIÈVRE

Proceed exactly as for all other _mousses_ and _mousselines_, except, of course, in regard to the basic ingredient, which in this case is the meat of a hare.

1820—SOUFFLÉ DE LIÈVRE

With one lb. of the meat of a hare, prepare a light _mousseline_ forcemeat; add thereto the whites of two eggs, whisked to a stiff froth; poach the _mousseline_ in a _soufflé_ saucepan.

Cut the hare’s minion fillets into collops, and toss them in butter at the last moment.

Cook the soufflé in a moderate oven; coat the top lightly with half-glaze sauce flavoured with hare _fumet_, and surround it with the minion-fillet collops, alternated with slices of truffles.

The minion-fillet collops and the slices of truffles may be added to the sauce, and this garnish is served separately in another timbale.

1821—CIVET DE LIÈVRE

Skin and clean the hare, taking care to collect all the blood in so doing. Put the liver aside, after having carefully freed it from the gall-bladder, as also from those portions touching the latter.

Cut up the hare, and put the pieces in a basin with a few tablespoonfuls of brandy and an equal quantity of olive oil, salt, pepper, and an onion cut into thin roundels. Cover and leave to _marinade_ for a few hours in the very red wine used for the moistening. Fry one-half lb. of lean bacon, cut into large dice, in butter, and drain it as soon as it is brown. In the same butter brown two fair-sized, quartered onions; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and cook this roux gently until it acquires a golden tinge. Put the pieces of hare into this roux, after having well dried them, and stiffen them.

Moisten with the wine used for the _marinade_. Add a large faggot, in which place a garlic clove; cover, and leave to cook gently on the side of the stove.

A few minutes before serving, thicken the civet with the reserved blood, which should be gradually heated, and mix therewith a few tablespoonfuls of sauce. Then transfer the pieces of hare, one by one, to another saucepan with the fried pieces of bacon, twenty small, glazed onions, and twenty cooked mushrooms.

Strain the sauce over the whole through a strainer.

Dish in a warm timbale, and surround with heart-shaped _croûtons_ fried in butter at the last moment.

=Cold Preparations of Hare=

1822—LIÈVRE EN DAUBE

Take a fresh hare, and bone it from the back without emptying it, that the skin of the belly may be untouched.

Detach the shoulders and the legs; do not touch the head; season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with a few drops of brandy, and leave to _marinade_. With the hare’s liver, some fat bacon, and some truffle parings, prepare a _gratin_ forcemeat. Prepare another forcemeat with the meat of the shoulders and the legs, an equal weight of fat bacon, one egg, a pinch of wild thyme, salt, pepper, spices, and the brandy of the _marinade_. Rub this forcemeat through a sieve, and add to it the _gratin_ forcemeat, one-half lb. of fat bacon, and five oz. of truffles cut into dice.

Fill the boned hare with this preparation; sew it up, and tie the head to the back in such wise as to give the piece the appearance of the animal at rest.

Wrap it in slices of bacon, and set it in a _terrine_ lined with the latter; sprinkle with a glassful of brandy, and place in the oven for thirty minutes with lid off.

Then pour into the _terrine_ a _fumet_ prepared with red wine from the hare’s bones; cover, and then cook in the oven gently for three hours.

Leave to half-cool; drain away the cooking-liquor, and carefully remove the slices of bacon. Strain the cooking-liquor through muslin; return it to the _terrine_, and fill up the latter with savoury jelly.

Keep in the cool for two hours before serving.

1823—PAIN DE LIÈVRE

This “Pain” is prepared according to No. 1689, and it may be served in “Belle-vue,” after the manner described for cold pieces prepared in this way.

1824—PÂTÉ DE LIÈVRE

Clear the fillets, the minion fillets, and the legs of all tendons; moderately lard them; season them; set them in a dish with an equal quantity of truffles and fat bacon strips; sprinkle with some brandy, and leave to _marinade_ for one hour. With what remains of the meat, some fillets of veal and pork, in the proportion of six oz. per lb. of hare; fresh, fat bacon in the proportion of one and one-half lbs. per lb. of hare; and spiced salt, prepare a forcemeat, and finish it with one egg and three tablespoonfuls of brandy per lb. of forcemeat.

Rub through tammy, and add a portion of the hare’s blood.

Line a round or oval buttered mould with raised-pie paste, and completely cover the paste with slices of bacon. Then coat inside with forcemeat, and fill up the mould with alternate layers of forcemeat, hares’ fillets, truffle, and fat bacon strips.

Finish with a layer of forcemeat; cover with a slice of bacon; sprinkle a pinch of powdered thyme and bay over the latter; close the pie with a layer of paste, which should be sealed down round the moistened edges; pinch the crest inside and out, and finish off the pie by means of imitation leaves made from paste.

_Gild_; bake in a moderate oven, and, when the pie is almost cold, pour some jelly flavoured with hare _fumet_ into it.

1825—TERRINE DE LIÈVRE

A “Terrine” or Patty is only a pie without a crust, and it allows of the same forcemeat and of the same garnish of bacon strips as the latter. The _terrine_ should first be lined with slices of bacon, whereupon it is garnished like the pie with alternate layers of forcemeat, bacon strips, hares’ fillets, and truffles.

Cover with a slice of bacon; sprinkle the centre of the latter with a little powdered thyme and bay, and a little spice. Put the lid on the _terrine_, place it in a saucepan containing a little water, and set it to cook in the oven.

The time allowed for cooking is naturally subject to the size of the _terrine_. It is known to be quite cooked when the grease which rises to the surface is quite clear.

As long as this grease is turbid, raw juices are still issuing from the forcemeat and the garnish inside. Another method of telling is by the insertion of a needle. If the latter withdraws evenly heated throughout its length, the _terrine_ is cooked.

If the patty is to be served immediately, add some aspic to it when it is just tepid, and set it to cool under slight pressure. When quite cold, clear it of grease; trim its surface, and cut it up in the utensil.

If it is to be served whole and presented, set it to cool under greater pressure; turn it out, and trim it all round. This done, cause a layer of jelly to set on the bottom of the _terrine_; return the trimmed patty to the latter, and surround it with melted aspic jelly.

When about to serve, turn it out after the manner of an aspic; set it on a long dish, and border the latter with jelly _croûtons_.

If it have to be kept some time, proceed as above, but use lard instead of aspic, and keep it well covered and in the cool.

1826—YOUNG WILD RABBIT (LAPEREAUX)

Use the wild rather than the tame young rabbit, and test its age after the manner described in regard to the hare, and also by means of a little lentil-shaped bone, which is to be found in the region of the patella.

As the wild rabbit ages, this bone shrinks and finally combines with the other bones of the articulation.

When the wild rabbit is old, it is tough, and can only be used for stock or forcemeats.

All the recipes given for “Poulet Sauté,” and those given for hare, may be applied to wild rabbit; the reader is, therefore, begged to refer to these.

1827—FEATHERED GAME

Feathered game comprises all esculent birds that live in freedom.

The number of species involved, therefore, is considerable, but from the culinary standpoint they may be grouped into ten principal classes, which are:—

1. The various pheasants, grey and red partridges, the Tetras
Californias.
2. The hazel-hen, grouse, prairie fowls, ganga, sand-grouse.
3. The various wild ducks and teals.
4. The woodcocks and snipes.
5. The various plovers, lapwings, sandpipers, water-rails, water-hens.
6. The quails, land-rails, Virginia quails.
7. The various thrushes, Corsican blackbirds.
8. The various larks.
9. The warblers.
10. The ortolans.

The birds of Classes 1 and 4 are better high—that is to say, they should be hung for a few days, before being plucked, in a moderate draught, that they may begin to decompose, and that the particular flavour of their flesh may be accentuated, a process which increases their culinary value. Whatever opinion may be held in regard to the gaminess of these birds, one thing is quite certain—namely, that the meat of a fresh pheasant and that of a high one are two totally different things. When fresh, the meat is flavourless, whereas when it is reasonably high it is tender, full of taste, and of an incomparable flavour.

Formerly, it was the custom to lard the birds of Class 1, especially when they were to be roasted. But this practice should be resolutely discarded, for, if the bird be young, it can only impair the latter’s flavour, and, if it be old, it cannot possibly restore those qualities to it which it has already lost.

Besides, an old bird should never be served; it ought only to be used in the preparation of game stock or forcemeats.

The birds belonging to the remaining classes are prepared fresh; or, if it be thought necessary to let them hang for a few days, at least they should not be allowed to get high, more particularly the aquatic ones, because gaminess is, if anything, deleterious to the flavour of their flesh.

1828—PHEASANT (FAISAN)

When this bird is young, its legs are grey and the ventral end of the sternum is tender and flexible. But with pheasants, as with partridges, an infallible sign of youth may be discovered at the extremity of the last large feather in the wing. If this feather be pointed, the bird is young; if it be round, the reverse is the case.

1829—FAISAN A LA MODE D’ALCANTARA

This recipe comes from the famous Alcantara convent. History tells us that at the beginning of the Portuguese campaign in 1807 the convent’s library was pillaged by Junot’s soldiers, and its precious manuscripts were used in the making of cartridges.

Now it happened that an officer of the commissariat who was witnessing the event found, among a collection of recipes selected by the monks, the particular one now under our notice, which was applied only to partridges.

It struck him as interesting, and after trying it when he returned to France in the following year, he surrendered it to the Duchess of Abrantès, who noted it in her memoirs.

It represents, perhaps, the only good thing the French derived from that unfortunate campaign, and it would tend to prove that foie gras and truffles, which had been known for so long in Languedoc and Gascony, were also known in Estremadura, where, even at the present day, tolerably good truffles are to be found.

The procedure is as follows:—

Empty the pheasant from the front; bone its breast, and stuff it with fine ducks’ foies gras, mixed with quartered truffles, cooked in port wine.

_Marinade_ the pheasant for three days in port wine, taking care that it be well covered therewith. This done, cook it “_en casserole_” (the original recipe says on the spit, but the saucepan is more suitable). Reduce the port wine of the _marinade_; add to it a dozen medium-sized truffles; set the pheasant on these truffles, and heat for a further ten minutes.

N.B.—This last part of the recipe may be advantageously replaced by the “à la Souvaroff” treatment—that is to say, having placed the pheasant and the truffles in a _terrine_, sprinkle them with the reduced port combined with slightly buttered game glaze; then hermetically seal down the lid of the _terrine_, and complete the cooking in the oven.

1830—FAISAN A L’ANGOUMOISE

Stuff the pheasant with a preparation consisting of two-thirds lb. of very fresh pork fat, rubbed through a sieve; four oz. of raw, peeled, and quartered truffles, and four oz. of fine chestnuts, cooked in consommé.

This preparation, which should be seasoned as for the ordinary truffling (No. 1956), ought to be quite cold when inserted into the pheasant.

Wrap the bird in slices of bacon; roast it gently for three-quarters of an hour, and take care to remove the slices of bacon seven or eight minutes before the cooking is completed, that the outside of the piece may be coloured.

Set on a long dish, and serve a Périgueux sauce at the same time.

1831—FAISAN A LA BOHÉMIENNE

Season a small foie gras with salt and paprika; stud it with raw quartered truffles, and poach it in Madeira for twenty minutes.

When it is cold, insert it into the pheasant, which should be high. Truss the bird, and cook it in butter in a saucepan or a _cocotte_ for forty-five minutes. When about to serve, remove some of the butter used in cooking; sprinkle the pheasant with a glassful of burnt brandy, and add a few tablespoonfuls of reduced game gravy to the cooking-liquor.

Serve the pheasant in its cooking utensil.

1832—FAISAN EN CASSEROLE

Truss the pheasant as for an entrée, and _poële_ it in butter only. This done, swill the saucepan with a few drops of brandy and a tablespoonful of game gravy.

Cover the utensil, and serve the dish burning hot.

1833—FAISAN EN COCOTTE

Proceed exactly as for pheasant “_en casserole_,” and, when the cooking is two-thirds done, surround it with a garnish of small onions cooked in butter; small, cooked mushroom-heads and olive-shaped truffles, the latter taking the place of the potatoes, which are one of the garnishing ingredients of fowls “_en cocotte_.”

1834—FAISAN EN CHARTREUSE

Parboil a fine, round-headed, quartered cabbage, and braise it as directed under No. 2100, adding thereto an old, oven-browned pheasant.

The _chartreuse_ may be made with the pheasant kept whole or cut into pieces, but in any case, roasted or _poëled_, it should be very tender and only just cooked. The old pheasant put in with the cabbage only serves in imparting its flavour to the latter, but it must not and cannot be used for the _chartreuse_.

If the _chartreuse_ be made with a cut-up pheasant, proceed as in the case of No. 1778. If whole, line an oval mould _chartreuse_-fashion; coat the inside with a portion of the braised cabbage, which should be slightly pressed; set the pheasant, breast undermost, in the mould; cover it with what remains of the cabbage, and then turn it out on a dish.

Send a sauceboat of excellent half-glaze, flavoured with pheasant _fumet_, separately.

1835—FAISAN A LA CHOUCROÛTE

Prepare the sauerkraut after No. 2097, and bear in mind that when it is specially prepared to accompany a pheasant, it is considerably improved by being braised with foie-gras fat.

_Poële_ a very tender pheasant, and only just cook it. Lay the well-drained sauerkraut on a long dish; set the pheasant upon it, and surround it with a border consisting of rectangles of bacon, cooked in the sauerkraut.

Serve separately the _poëling_-liquor combined with a little game _fumet_, strained, and kept somewhat greasy.

1836—FAISAN A LA CRÈME

Cook the pheasant in butter, in a saucepan, with a medium-sized, quartered onion. When the cooking is three-parts done, sprinkle the bird with one-quarter pint of cream (sour if possible), or with ordinary cream, acidulated by means of a few drops of lemon juice.

Finish the cooking, basting the piece the while with cream and serve in the saucepan.

1837—FAISAN DEMIDOFF

Proceed exactly as directed under “Poulet à la Demidoff” (No. 1464).

1838—FAISAN A LA GEORGIENNE

Truss the pheasant as for an entrée, and put it into a saucepan with thirty fresh, halved, and well-peeled walnuts; the juice of two lbs. of grapes and of four oranges, pressed on a sieve; a wineglassful of Malmsey wine; a glassful of strong, green tea; one and one-half oz. of butter, and the necessary seasoning.

Poach the pheasant in this preparation for about thirty minutes, and colour it when it is almost cooked.

When about to serve, dish it and surround it with fresh walnuts.

Strain the cooking-liquor through a napkin; add thereto one-third pint of game Espagnole, and reduce to half.

Slightly coat the pheasant and its garnish with the sauce, and serve what remains of the latter separately.

1839—FAISAN GRILLÉ DIABLE

For this preparation only young pheasants are used; although, provided they be tender, adult pheasants will answer the purpose. The procedure is precisely the same as that described under “Poulet Grillé” (No. 1636).

1840—FAISAN KOTSCHOUBEY

Cook the pheasant “_en casserole_,” and add to it, when it is almost done, two oz. of fine, raw truffle slices, and a little excellent game glaze, clear and well buttered.

Serve the following garnish separately:—Fry in butter four oz. of _blanched_, fresh breast of bacon, cut into dice. When the pieces are properly frizzled, add to them one lb. of freshly-cooked, well-drained, uncooled, and roughly-chopped Brussels sprouts. Add two oz. of fresh butter, a little pepper and grated nutmeg, and stew gently for one-half hour, that the garnish may just be ready in time for dishing.

1841—FAISAN A LA NORMANDE

Colour the pheasant in butter.

Meanwhile quarter, peel, mince, and slightly toss in butter six medium-sized apples.

Garnish the bottom of a _terrine_ with a layer of these apples; set the browned pheasant thereon; surround it with what remains of the apples; sprinkle it with a few tablespoonfuls of fresh cream; cover the _terrine_, and cook in the oven for from twenty to twenty-eight minutes.

Serve the preparation in the _terrine_.

1842—FAISAN A LA PÉRIGUEUX

Stuff the pheasant with truffles, proceeding as for ordinary truffling (No. 1956). _Poële_ it in Madeira; dish, and surround it with a border of quenelles consisting of truffled game forcemeat, moulded by means of a coffeespoon, and poached at the last moment.

Serve separately a Périgueux sauce combined with the reduced _poëling_-liquor, cleared of all grease.

1843—FAISAN A LA RÉGENCE

_Poële_ the pheasant, and dish it on a low _croûton_, carved from a sandwich-loaf and fried in butter.

Surround it with small, decorated, round game quenelles; large, grooved, cooked mushrooms; and cocks’ kidneys; all three arranged alternately.

Serve separately a Salmis sauce, flavoured with truffle essence, and combined with the strained and reduced _poëling_-liquor, cleared of all grease.

1844—FAISAN A LA SAINTE-ALLIANCE

Bone two woodcocks, and put their livers and intestines aside.

Chop up their meat, together with a quarter of its weight of poached and cooled beef-marrow, and as much fresh, fat bacon; salt, pepper, and herbs. Add to this hash six oz. of raw, peeled, and quartered truffles, slightly cooked in butter.

Stuff the pheasant with this preparation; truss it; wrap it in slices of bacon, and keep it in the cool for twenty-four hours, that the aroma of the truffles may be concentrated.

Roast the pheasant on the spit, or, if in the oven, set it on a somewhat high stand in a baking-pan. Cut a large _croûton_ from a sandwich-loaf, and fry it in clarified butter.

Pound the woodcocks’ livers and intestines with an equal weight of grated fresh fat bacon, the well-washed fillets of an anchovy, one oz. of butter, and one-half oz. of raw truffle. When this forcemeat is very smooth and all its ingredients thoroughly mixed, spread it over the fried _croûtons_.

When the pheasant is two-thirds cooked, set this coated _croûton_ under the bird in such wise as to allow the juices escaping from the latter to drop upon the _croûton_. Complete the cooking, and dish the pheasant on the _croûton_. Surround with slices of bitter orange, and send the gravy separately.

When serving, accompany each piece of pheasant with a slice of orange and a small slice of the coated _croûton_.

1845—FAISAN SOUVAROFF

Cook six fair-sized truffles for five minutes in a glassful of Madeira and an equal quantity of light meat glaze. Withdraw the truffles and put them in the _terrine_ in which the pheasant will complete its cooking.

Cut one-half lb. of foie gras into large dice; stiffen these in the truffles’ cooking-liquor, and stuff the pheasant therewith. Truss the latter; wrap it in slices of bacon, and two-thirds _poële_ it.

This done, put it into the _terrine_ containing the truffles; add the _poëling_-liquor, a small glassful of Madeira, and the same quantity of game gravy; hermetically close the _terrine_, and continue cooking for about a quarter of an hour.

Serve the preparation as it stands.

1846—SUPRÊMES, CÔTELETTES ET FILETS DE FAISAN

Pheasant Suprêmes, Cutlets and Fillets, allow of the same garnishes as those of fowl. But, whereas in the case of the latter, they are raised raw, and then poached, my advice in regard to pheasant is, that it should be previously roasted or _poëled_ (keeping it just underdone) and that the _suprêmes_ be only raised at the last moment.

By this means, a much better result is obtained than by the poaching of raw fillets; which, once cooked, are generally dry if they have to wait but a few seconds.

I also advise, when the garnish consists only of foie-gras collops and truffles (as in the case of the _Rossini_ garnish), the sending separately of a small timbale of noodles with cream.

1847—SALMIS DE FAISAN

Salmis is perhaps the most delicate and most perfect of the game preparations bequeathed to us by old-fashioned cookery. If it be less highly esteemed nowadays, it is owing to the fact that this recipe has been literally spoiled by the haphazard fashion in which it has been applied right and left to game already cooked, and cooked again for the purpose.

But the Salmis given above may always be included in any menu, however sumptuous. It is applied more particularly to game of the 1st and 2nd classes, which should be somewhat high when treated.

The recipe I give may be applied to all the birds in the two classes referred to.

Roast the pheasant, keeping it moderately underdone. Quickly cut it into eight pieces, thus: two legs, two wings (separated from the pinions), and the breast cut into four lengthwise. Skin the pieces; trim them neatly, and keep them at a temperate heat in a covered vegetable-pan, with a few drops of burnt brandy and a little clear melted meat glaze.

Pound the carcass and the trimmings, and add to them half a bottleful of red wine (almost entirely reduced), three chopped shallots and a few mignonette pepper. Add one-quarter pint of good game Espagnole sauce; cook for ten minutes; rub through a sieve, pressing well the while, and then strain through a strainer.

Reduce this sauce to about one-third, and despumate it; strain it once more through a close strainer; add a small quantity of butter, and pour it over the pieces of pheasant, to which add a fine, sliced truffle and six grooved mushroom-heads.

I advise the discarding of the old method of dishing upon a cushion of bread fried in butter, as also of the triangular _croûtons_ fried in butter and coated with _gratin_ forcemeat, which usually accompanied the Salmis.

A speedy preparation and a simple method of dishing, which facilitate the service and allow of the Salmis being eaten hot, are the only necessary conditions. Moreover, the goodness of the preparation is such as to be independent of a fantastic method of dishing.

1848—SAUTÉ DE FAISAN

Unless it be prepared with the greatest care, _sautéd_ pheasant is always dry. I therefore do not recommend it; but, should it be necessary to make a dish of it, care should be observed in selecting a young, plump bird. It should be cut up like a fowl, cooked in butter on a moderate fire and kept somewhat underdone.

Dish it after the manner of a “poulet sauté” and cover it. Swill the sautépan and prepare a sauce after the recipe in common use.

This sauce must always be short, and it should be poured over the pheasant just before serving it.

1849—PÂTÉ CHAUD DE FAISAN

The preparation of hot, raised pheasant pies is the same as usual; the ingredients alone changing. The reader will, therefore, kindly refer to “Pâté chaud de Canard” (No. 1752), and duly note the following modifications:—

(1) Use a _gratin_ forcemeat (No. 202) prepared from game livers and meat.

(2) Roast the pheasant, keeping it underdone, and mix the pieces of cooked mushroom with the sliced truffles.

(3) Accompany the pie by a Salmis sauce, prepared from the pheasant’s carcass and remains.

1850—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE FAISAN

As already stated in various parts of this work, the constituents and their quantities are the same for _mousses_ and _mousselines_, and but for the basic ingredient, which is pheasant in this case, the procedure does not differ from that already described.

The base of the sauces served with these _mousses_ and _mousselines_ is a _fumet_ made from the carcasses and remains.

1851—SOUFFLÉ DE FAISAN

Prepare a very light, _mousseline_ forcemeat of pheasant.

Set in a buttered _soufflé_ saucepan, and cook in a moderate oven.

Send a fine, half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game essence, at the same time.

=Cold Pheasant=

1852—FAISAN A LA BOHÉMIENNE

Proceed as for “Faisan à la Bohémienne” hot (No. 1831). Cook it in an earthenware _terrine_, and add thereto, at the same time as the prescribed brandy, enough succulent, savoury jelly to fill up the _terrine_.

Leave to cool for a day or two, and, when about to serve, remove the grease that has settled on the surface, by means of a spoon. Remove the last vestiges of grease by repeated scaldings; carefully wipe the _terrine_, and serve it incrusted in a block of ice.

1853—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN

Proceed exactly as for “Chaud-froid de Volaille” (No. 1689), and use a brown chaud-froid sauce, flavoured with pheasant _fumet_.

In regard to the decoration, dishing, &c., follow the recipe already referred to.

1854—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN A LA BULOZ

_Poële_ a pheasant, keeping it underdone; raise its _suprêmes_, and cut these into thin collops.

With a _fumet_ prepared from the carcass and the _poëling_-liquor, prepare a brown chaud-froid sauce. Coat the collops with this sauce, and also coat ten cooked and grooved mushrooms with a white chaud-froid sauce.

_Clothe_ a dome-mould with clear aspic jelly, and deck it with truffles.

Set the collops of pheasant and the chaud-froid-coated truffles inside, alternating the two in so doing; fill up the mould with the same jelly, and let it set on ice. When about to serve, turn out after the manner of an aspic, on a low cushion of rice or semolina, lying on a round dish.

Border with neatly-cut _croûtons_ of very clear aspic.

1855—FAISAN A LA CROIX DE BERNY

Roast the pheasant and keep it underdone. When it is quite cold, raise its fillets and leave the legs and the wings attached to the carcass.

By means of scissors, completely bone the carcass; garnish its inside with a truffled foie-gras Parfait, and cover it with a thin coat of foie-gras _Mousse_.

Replace the fillets upon this _Mousse_, after having sliced them, and fill any gaps that may exist between the slices with some of the same _Mousse_: thus reconstructing the bird.

Let the _Mousse_ set thoroughly, and glaze with aspic jelly.

Meanwhile, coat eight boned, stuffed, poached and cold larks with brown chaud-froid sauce. Decorate them with pieces of truffle and salted tongue, and glaze them with aspic jelly.

Dish the pheasant on a low cushion; surround it with the larks, and garnish the gaps between the latter with chopped and very clear aspic.

1856—FAISAN EN DAUBE

Proceed as for “Terrine de Poularde à la gelée” (No. 1701), making due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference between the sizes of the two birds.

1857—CÔTELETTES DE FAISAN

Proceed as for “Côtelettes froides de Volaille.”

1858—GALANTINE DE FAISAN

See “Galantine de Volaille” (No. 1708).

1859—MOUSSE DE FAISAN

Prepare the _Mousse_ according to the usual procedure, and mould it after the manner of “Mousse de Volaille” (No. 1711).

1860—PAIN DE FAISAN EN BELLE-VUE

The procedure follows that of No. 1709, but for the difference in the basic ingredient, which in this case is pheasant.

1861—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN CHÂTELAINE

Raise the _suprêmes_ and prepare them exactly like the _suprêmes_ of fowl in “Chaud-froid Félix Faure” (No. 1691). Poach them; cool them, and cut them into medallions as explained.

Cover half of these medallions with chicken _Mousse_, and the other half with pheasant _Mousse_. Keep on ice for some time that the _Mousse_ may set. This done, coat the first lot with brown chaud-froid sauce and the second lot with white chaud-froid sauce. Deck each medallion with small pieces of truffle. Set them in a deep, square dish (alternating the two colours), and cover with very clear, succulent aspic jelly. Leave to set and serve on a block of ice.

1862—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN GASTRONOME

_Poële_ the pheasant in Madeira and let it cool. Raise the fillets; cut them into thin, regular slices; coat them with brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate according to fancy. With the trimmings and the meat of the legs, prepare a pheasant _Mousse_ after the manner described under No. 1711, and mould it in a Parfait mould which should have the depth of the chaud-froid-coated slices.

When this _Mousse_ has set, turn it out on a dish and place the slices all round, standing them upright and letting them lean one against the other.

Surround with a crown of fine, fair-sized, peeled truffles, cooked in Champagne, and set one of them on the top of the _Mousse_, fixing it there by means of a _hatelet_.

Border the dish with fine _croûtons_ of aspic.

1863—TERRINE DE FAISAN

Prepare it after the manner of the “Terrine de Lièvre” (No. 1825), and take care to make due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference, in the matter of tenderness, between the two meats. But the explanations already given on this subject ought to suffice for ascertaining whether or not the patty have cooked sufficiently.

PARTRIDGE (PERDRIX ET PERDREAUX)

Three kinds of partridges are used in Cookery:—the Grey Partridge, which is commonest in flat country, and which is also the most highly esteemed; the Red Partridge, which is to be found in hilly and wooded country; and the Bartavelle (perdix vertevella), which is a somewhat larger species than the two former. To these three kinds may be added the American Colin (Ortix Virginianus), an excellent bird sometimes seen in English markets.

All the recipes given for pheasants may be applied to partridge, and below, I shall only give those which are proper to the latter.

1864—PERDREAU A LA BOURGUIGNONNE

Truss the partridge as for an entrée; three-parts _poële_ it, and place it in a _terrine_ with six small glazed onions and as many small, cooked mushroom heads. Swill the saucepan with a glassful of red wine; reduce it two-thirds, and add a tablespoonful of game half-glaze. Strain; clear of grease; pour this sauce over the partridge, and complete the latter’s cooking for seven or eight minutes.

1865—PERDREAU EN DEMI-DEUIL

Bone the breast and fill the partridge with truffled partridge forcemeat, prepared with panada or butter. Between the skin and the fillets, slip a few slices of very black truffle; truss as for an entrée; wrap the piece in muslin, and poach it for thirty minutes in a game _fumet_.

When about to serve, remove the muslin; take the string off, and dish the partridge. Reduce the _fumet_ in which the partridge has poached; strain it; add thereto a liqueur-glassful of burnt liqueur-brandy, and send this reduced _fumet_ separately.

1866—PERDREAU EN ESTOUFFADE

Brown the partridge in the oven and set in a _terrine_ just large enough to hold it, with a tablespoonful of Matignon (No. 227) and one crushed juniper berry, on top and beneath.

Add one-half oz. of butter, a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy, and twice that amount of game _fumet_. Close the _terrine_; seal down the lid with a strip of paste; bake in a hot oven for twenty-five minutes and serve the dish as it stands.

1867—PERDREAU A LA LAUTREC

Select a young partridge; open its back; slightly flatten it with a butcher’s beater; pierce it through with a skewer; season it with salt, pepper and melted butter, and gently grill.

At the same time grill six small mushroom-heads.

Dish the partridge; on either side of it set the mushrooms, each of which should be garnished with a coffeespoonful of Maître-d’hôtel butter; surround the mushrooms with a thread of melted meat glaze and sprinkle the partridge with a few drops of lemon juice.

1868—PERDREAU LADY CLIFFORD

Cook the partridge in butter in a saucepan. When it is three-parts done, surround it with two oz. of fine slices of raw truffle; add a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy and one tablespoonful of clear melted meat glaze.

Serve a Soubise sauce at the same time and separately.

1869—PERDREAU AUX CHOUX

Prepare a garnish of braised cabbages as explained under No. 2100, and add thereto an old partridge, browned in the oven or on the spit. Meanwhile, roast or _poële_ a very tender young partridge and keep it underdone.

Dish the cabbages, which should be well drained; set the young partridge upon them, and surround with small rectangles of very lean bacon, cooked with the cabbages, and a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_.

N.B.—This dish may be given a more decorative appearance by means of a sort of _Chartreuse_, which is prepared as follows:—Line a large bowl or a buttered, round-bottomed timbale with roundels of sausages; roundels of carrots arranged in superposed rows, separated by a line of French beans or peas; and small rectangles of bacon, laid side by side.

Line the inside of the timbale with a thick layer of cabbages, and put the young partridge, breast undermost, in the middle (the partridge may also be carved up). Cover the cabbages and press the latter with a fork; turn the timbale out on a dish and tilt the latter that all the grease may fall before withdrawing the timbale, which answers the purpose of a mould.

Surround with a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_.

1870—CRÉPINETTES DE PERDREAUX

After substituting the meat of a young partridge, cleared of all tendons, for the veal sweetbreads, and fresh bacon for calf’s udder, proceed exactly as directed (as regards quantities and other particulars) under “Crépinettes de ris de Veau” (No. 1222), taking care to add three oz. of chopped truffles per lb. of the forcemeat.

Divide up the forcemeat into portions one and one-half oz. to two oz. in weight; wrap them in pig’s caul; roll them first in melted butter and then in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently.

The usual accompaniment to these crépinettes is a light chestnut or lentil purée.

1871—EPIGRAMMES DE PERDREAU

Raise the young partridge’s fillets, leaving the wing-bone attached to the carcass, and put them aside. From the minion fillets and the meat of the legs, prepare a _mousseline_ forcemeat; mould the latter in very small buttered cutlet moulds, and set to poach.

Roll the fillets in melted butter and bread-crumbs, and grill them gently. Dip the cutlets in beaten egg; roll them in finely-chopped truffles; press upon the latter with the flat of a knife, that they may combine with the egg; adjust the shape of the cutlets, and toss them in butter.

Dish in the form of a circle, alternating the fillets and the cutlets; pour in their midst a cullis prepared from the partridge’s carcasses, and serve a chestnut purée separately.

1872—TIMBALE DE PERDREAU DIANE

Line a liberally-buttered, shallow mould with crescents of truffle arranged in superposed rows, and then completely cover the bottom and sides of the mould with a layer, two-thirds in. thick, of raw partridge forcemeat.

Place the mould in the front of the oven that the forcemeat may be poached; and then spread another layer of _gratin_ forcemeat of game.

Fill the utensil with a garnish of small quenelles consisting of truffled partridge forcemeat, mushrooms and slices of truffles, cohered with a reduced Madeira sauce. Cover the garnish with a small coat of forcemeat, and poach in the _bain-marie_ for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.

When about to serve, turn out on a dish, and deck the timbale with a crown of partridges’ _suprêmes_, raised from birds fresh from the spit or the oven. Surround the base of the timbale with a thread of Diane sauce, and send a sauceboat of the latter separately.

1873—PERDREAUX FROIDS

The various recipes given for cold pheasant also suit cold partridge; it is only necessary therefore to replace the word “pheasant” by “partridge” in the formulæ referred to.

1874—WOODCOCK AND SNIPE (BÉCASSE ET BÉCASSINES)

If grouse, which can only be thoroughly appreciated in its native country, were extinct, woodcock would be the leading feathered game. But the latter have this advantage over the former, namely: that their _fumet_ is not so fugitive, and that they may be kept much longer. Woodcock does not yield its full quality unless it be moderately high.

1875—BÉCASSE DE CARÊME

Sprinkle the woodcock with a few drops of oil, and roast it, keeping it underdone. As soon as it is cooked, divide it into two lengthwise, and cut each half of the breast into two collops. Mix half a coffeespoonful of French mustard in a small vegetable-pan, with a few drops of lemon juice. Roll the pieces of woodcock in this mustard, and keep them hot.

Chop up the carcass and the intestines; sprinkle with a glassful of burnt liqueur brandy; reduce; add a tablespoonful of game _fumet_, and cook for five minutes.

Strain through a strainer, pressing on the pieces of woodcock in so doing, and rock the saucepan, that the pieces may be coated with the cullis. Dish in a hot timbale, and, upon the pieces, set the woodcock’s head.

N.B.—_Bécasse à la fine Champagne_ is prepared in the same way, but without mustard. Cut it into six pieces: wings, legs and two halves of the breast, and put these pieces into a round _cocotte_. Swill the saucepan with burnt liqueur brandy; add the chopped intestines, mixed with the juices of the pressed carcass; add a tablespoonful of _fumet_, a little lemon juice, and a little cayenne, and pour this cullis (heated but not boiled) over the pieces.

_Bécasse à la Riche_ is prepared in the same way, but:—(1) the pieces are dished on a _croûton_ of fried bread, coated with _gratin_ forcemeat of game; (2) the sauce is thickened with a little foie-gras purée and one oz. of butter, and then strained over the pieces through a coarse strainer, during which process the operator should press with a spoon or a whisk.

1876—BÉCASSE A LA FAVART

Proceed as for “Caneton Rouennais Soufflé” (No. 1764), and remember to add the woodcock’s intestines to the forcemeat.

When the carcass is garnished, set the sliced _suprêmes_ on the forcemeat, with a row of sliced truffles in the middle. The forcemeat should poach for about twenty minutes.

Serve at the same time a half-glaze sauce, flavoured with woodcock _fumet_.

1877—SALMIS DE BÉCASSE

Under the article “Pheasant,” I gave the generic recipe for Salmis, which may be applied to all feathered game. In regard to the Woodcock Salmis, the operator should remember to add the bird’s intestines to the sauce, and to keep the meat rather under- than overdone.

1878—BÉCASSE SOUVAROFF

Proceed exactly as for “Faisan à la Souvaroff” (No. 1845), after making due allowance for the size of the bird in regard to the quantity of truffles and foie gras.

1879—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE BÉCASSE

Proceed as indicated in No. 1850.

1880—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE METTERNICH

Prepare a somewhat shallow, decorated timbale crust.

Roast the woodcocks and keep them underdone.

Raise the _suprêmes_ and put them in the timbale, separating them by collops of fresh foie gras, _sautéd_ at the last moment.

Pound the remains of the woodcocks, including their carcasses; thin the purée with truffle essence; rub it through a sieve, pressing heavily the while, and then rub it through tammy.

Heat the cullis thus obtained, without letting it boil; finish it with a little lemon juice, liqueur-brandy and butter, and pour it into the timbale over the pieces of woodcock and the foie gras collops.

Dish the timbale on a folded napkin, lying on a round dish.

1881—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE NESSELRODE

_Poële_ the woodcocks and keep them underdone.

As soon as they are cooked, raise their fillets and put these aside.

Bone the remains, and pound the meat thus obtained, together with a quarter of its weight of raw foie gras.

Rub through a sieve, and add an equal weight of game forcemeat, prepared with panada and butter. Add the chopped carcasses and a glassful of liqueur brandy to the _poëling_-liquor; cook for a few minutes; strain, and in this stock poach five oz. of olive-shaped truffles (for an ordinary timbale).

Line a buttered Charlotte-mould with short paste; cover its bottom and sides with the prepared forcemeat, and against this forcemeat set the woodcock’s _suprêmes_, cut into collops. Garnish the centre with the truffles, and cover these with a few tablespoonfuls of Espagnole, reduced with some of the _fumet_. Close the timbale with a layer of paste, as explained in the various preceding timbale recipes, and bake in a good, moderate oven for about forty-five minutes.

When about to serve, turn out the timbale on a dish; pour into the former some half-glaze sauce combined with what remains of the _fumet_, and send a sauceboat of the same sauce separately.

N.B.—This “Timbale Nesselrode” may be prepared after the same recipe, from Pheasant, Partridge, Woodcock or Hazel-Hen, but the name of the selected bird should, of course, appear on the menu.

1882—BÉCASSES ET BÉCASSINES FROIDES

All the recipes given for cold pheasant and partridge may be applied to woodcocks and snipes.

1883—QUAILS

Quails should always be chosen plump, and their fat should be white and very firm. Besides the spit, which should always be used in preference to the oven for roasting, they allow of two other methods of cooking: they may be cooked in butter, in a saucepan; or they may be poached in excellent strong and gelatinous veal stock.

This last mode of procedure greatly enhances the quail’s quality and is frequently used.

1884—CAILLES EN CASSEROLE

Cook them in butter, in the saucepan in which they will be served.

Swill with a few drops of brandy; add a little game _fumet_; cover, and serve very hot.

1885—CAILLES AUX CERISES

For four quails:—Truss them as for an entrée and cook them with butter in a saucepan. Swill with a little brandy and a glass of port, in which a piece of orange rind should have soaked.