Chapter M: E. James: ‘How to Decorate our Ceilings, Walls, and Floors.’ (22)

Roast.--Pluck and truss them as a fowl for roasting. They should be well hung but not high. Draw the inside and well-wipe, but do not wash them. Place a round of buttered toast in the dripping-pan, and let the birds roast over it. The fire must be sharp and clear, and they must be kept well basted the whole of the time they are cooking. They should be well cooked, but not at all over-done, or they would be spoilt; they ought to look just a little pink near the bone when cut. When done remove the toast on to the hot dish, set the birds on it, and pour over each just enough melted butter to cover the breast. Fried breadcrumbs may be round them in the dish, or handed separately. No gravy is sent up with roast grouse; there is sufficient moisture in the toast. If more than 2 birds are sent up, one round of toast would not be sufficient; there should be a piece under each bird just large enough for it to rest upon.

_Guinea Pigs._--Though in England the animal is usually treated as a pet, in its native country it has been reared for ages as a food supply. They should be in good condition, and 8-18 months old, as that is the period when they are in perfection, when older they are more fit for soup or stock. Kill them by dislocating the neck, and it is desirable to bleed them in the throat afterwards to avoid discolouration. The hair should be scalded off, and they must be emptied in the usual way. They present very much the appearance of little sucking pigs, and are ready for the best offices of the cook. They are generally cut up and stewed in a savoury way until the skin is quite soft and the meat comes easily from the bones. Being small, they may be tossed up quickly in a great many delicate ways, and are very useful as a game course when game is out of season. They are excellent in stews, curry, pies, puddings, brown or white soup, and make a first rate colourless stock for velouté, &c. They may be served as entrées in a great many ways. The pure white breed is the best for table use, as the skin of the darker varieties does not look so delicate when cooked. The easiest way for anyone to proceed who wishes to try guinea pig as food is to buy one or two, and hand them over to their pork butcher to be killed and scalded. It is essentially a delicacy, and must be paid for as such. (C. Cumberland.)

_Hare_ (Lièvre).--Hares vary much in quality, according to the nature of their feeding ground. Mountain hares have their admirers, and for soup are excellent; but for a roast or jug most people justly prefer the plump natives of the Eastern Counties. When a hare is fresh the body is stiff, and if she is young the claws will be smooth and sharp, and the cleft in the lips not spread much. The ear, moreover, will tear easily. A leveret has a knob or small bone near the fore-foot; when this disappears it is a hare. In this country it is customary to dress hare either as a roast, jugged, or in soup. For a roast it is indispensable that the animal be young; in fact a ¾-grown hare makes a far more tender and succulent roast than when fully developed.

Fillets.--Take a fine fat hare, carefully clean and prepare it, then with a sharp knife take off at the joint the shoulders and legs. Make a sharp cut lengthways on each side close to the backbone, take off the slices of meat; also bone the legs; take the liver and scald it; then heat a pan on the fire, place in it 2 or 3 slices of fat bacon; when the drip or essence is boiling put in the meat cut from the back and that of the legs; it must be cut into pieces. Add 2 minced shallots and a little pepper and salt; fry of a nice brown colour. Meanwhile make some good hare stuffing, made into little balls, with a well-beaten egg; fry them also of a nice colour. Mince the liver finely, and stew it in some good gravy, flavour with 2 tablespoonfuls mushroom ketchup, a little taragon or chili vinegar, salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice; thicken with a bit of butter, into which some flour has been rubbed, when ready pour this over the hare fillets and let all boil up. Serve very hot, garnish with crisp, hot sippets of fried bread alternately with stuffing balls and a few slices of lemon.

Jugged.--(_a_) The carcase and rest of the hare cut into joints, fry with some bacon until browned; take it out, dust over the meat some pounded dry parsley, thyme, savory, and a little pounded mace and allspice. Mince 2 shallots, put all into a jug or jar, cover the meat with some brown stock, add pepper and salt. Close the jug with a bladder, and place it over the fire in a saucepan of boiling water. Let it boil well for some 3 hours, more or less according to age of hare. When tender take the meat out, strain off the fat from the gravy, thicken with a little flour, boil it up, place the hare in a deep dish, and pour the gravy over. Care should be taken to keep the saucepan full of boiling water all the time. Some add to the seasoning given the juice of a lemon and ½ gill claret instead of stock. This, however, takes away the hare flavour.

(_b_) Put 1 lb. gravy beef in an earthenware stew mug, a bunch of herbs, consisting of celery top, parsley, sweet marjoram stems, and an onion, stuck with 6 cloves. Season each joint of the hare with a little pounded mace, pepper, and salt, lay them in the stew-mug, and cover with spring water, put on the lid, and place in the oven to stew for 2½ hours or longer. When quite done, lift out each joint in a hot soup tureen, strain the gravy, and thicken it with flour and a little butter; boil it up, add ¼ pint port wine, pour over the hare and serve.

(_c_) After skinning, let it soak in water for several hours, changing it 3 or 4 times. Then cut it up and wash it again; drain it in a colander. Put it in a jar with a sheep’s milt, lemon thyme, parsley, a very little sweet marjoram, nutmeg, mace, pepper and salt to taste. Tie it down with a cloth, and put it into a saucepan of water up to the neck. Boil for 3-4 hours, according to the size of the hare. Mix a little flour with Indian soy, ketchup, or any sauce that is approved of. Put it into a jar, and boil for another ¼ hour. Add forcemeat balls if preferred. (E. P.)

(_d_) This may be made with hare only, but the flavour is much improved by cooking some beefsteak with it in the proportion of 1½ lb. to a good sized hare. In any case about 1 lb. or rather less of fat streaky bacon should be added, cut into small slices. The beef should be cut up into small pieces, and the hare into joints. Flour these well on both sides, and sprinkle with black pepper and a little salt; lay them in alternate layers in a jar that will stand in a large saucepan of cold water. To this add a small onion stuck with 6 cloves, a very little allspice, and a bunch of sweet herbs tied in muslin. The best pieces of hare should be at the bottom. Pour into the jar about a pint of cold water, set the saucepan on the fire, and let it stew for about 4 hours after the water boils. Just before taking up add a tablespoonful of ketchup and ½ glass port wine. The beef and bacon will have almost disappeared, and if preferred, may be quite removed by straining the gravy over the hare, after having nicely arranged the several joints on the dish in which it is to be served; care must be taken to keep it very hot while straining. Should any of this dish be left from dinner, it will be quite as good when warmed up if it be again put into the jar and set in a saucepan of water to boil as before; as soon as it is quite hot through it should be taken off the fire, as it of course does not require any more cooking. Forcemeat balls should be made and fried in butter to serve in the dish with the jugged hare, keeping them hot in the oven until wanted.

(_e_) In France, _civet de lièvre_ is a well-known stew of hare, varying in some important particulars from the national English jug. Having cased your hare, put by the liver, lungs, and heart, taking care to throw away the gall, and mix the juice of a lemon with the hare’s blood. Joint the hare into neat pieces, seasoning each with salt and pepper.

Take ¾ lb. lean bacon, chop it and plunge it into boiling water for 5 minutes, then throw it into a stewpan with 1½ oz. butter until it takes colour, when put the pieces of hare into the pan, and add a large onion stuck with cloves, a few peppercorns, and a little thyme, bay leaf, &c. Fry the meat for 12-15 minutes, and when its moisture is reduced add a bottle of red wine and reduce the liquid to ¾. Sprinkle the meat with a little flour, fill up with good hot stock, and stir the sauce until it boils. Cover the stewpan, and let it simmer over a moderate fire for 3-3½ hours. When the hare is done, take up the pieces and put them into another stewpan. Add to the sauce a glass of port wine or a little gravy, pass it through a sieve, and reduce it over a brisk fire. Thicken with the hare’s blood, let the sauce boil up, and pour it over the meat, adding at the same time 1-1½ doz. mushrooms (previously trimmed, blanched, and stewed in butter and lemon juice). Let simmer gently for a few minutes, and dish up garnished with small onions “glazed.”

Roast.--The trussing of a hare for roasting requires great attention. It is of the last importance that the ears and tail be carefully skinned, and that the ears be propped up with a skewer to keep them in an erect position. In casing a hare it is always well to preserve the blood, as this is an useful adjunct by no means to be thrown recklessly away. When the hare is properly trussed, prepare a stuffing as follows: Take the crumb of a penny loaf rubbed fine, ¼ lb. chopped beef suet, a little fresh butter, some parsley, sweet herbs, and a rather liberal proportion of lemon peel chopped fine. Season with pepper, salt, and a little powdered nutmeg. Remove the gall carefully from the liver, chop the liver very fine, and mix it together with the other ingredients of the stuffing, adding at the same time the yolks of 2 eggs and a glass of red wine. Fill the cavity with the stuffing, and sew or skewer it up. Then put the hare to roast before a sharp fire for about an hour--according to size--and baste it thoroughly well with butter, or, still better, put 1 qt. milk and ½ lb. butter into the dripping-pan, and baste constantly. When done the hare must be finally basted with butter, sprinkled with salt, and dredged with flour till it froths. Then serve it in a hot dish with gravy under, and gravy and red currant jelly served separately. Leverets may be roasted in the same way, but will not require more than 35-40 minutes’ cooking. Both hares and leverets may be larded previously to roasting, on the back and thighs, and when one is so unlucky as to have a full-grown hare to roast, this process of larding should never be omitted. When it is desired to get two dishes, an _entrée_ and a roast, out of a hare, the animal should be cut in two, the hindquarters larded, stuffed, and roasted as above, and the forequarters cut in pieces, stewed with a pint of water, a gill of red wine, an onion stuck with cloves, a fagot of sweet herbs, a blade of mace, and a little pepper. When the hare is done take it out, then put a large lump of butter into a stewpan, melt it, put in a spoonful of flour, stir till it is smooth, and then by degrees pour in the strained gravy. Stir it well, put in the hare and a little ketchup, season with pepper and salt, give it a shake, serve hot, and garnish with lemon.

Salmis.--When the hare is trussed, fasten slices of fat bacon over the back, and lightly roast it, basting constantly to prevent its getting dry. Let the hare get cold, then divide the meat into neat pieces, using all the bones and trimmings to make gravy. Put these on to boil, with 1 lb. gravy meat cut small and fried, 4 onions fried, a carrot, a turnip, a slice of lean ham, a lump of sugar, and a small teaspoonful of salt and of black pepper, add 2 qt. water, and boil gently for 3 hours; then strain, cool, and take off all fat. This done, put the gravy into a stewpan, and boil it without the lid until it is reduced to a pint, and is very rich and thick, then stir in the juice of a lemon, and a gill of claret. Put the hare into the gravy, and let it stand for an hour, taking care it does not boil or even simmer.

Shape.--The remains of jugged hare may be used much in the same way as the veal. Remove the meat from the bones and pound it. Warm the gravy, adding a large glass of port, a tablespoonful of red jelly, and ½ oz. Nelson’s gelatine, making about 1¼ pints. Take a quart mould, ornament with small forcemeat balls, stir the strained gravy into the pounded meat, and, when nearly cold, pour on the balls. When set, turn out and ornament with rings of lemon and parsley, putting (last thing) a few dabs of jelly on the top.

_Larks_ (Mauviettes).--The following recipes for cooking larks are mainly from the pen of A. G. F. Eliot-James:--

Broiled.--Chop some parsley very fine, mixing it with butter, pepper, and salt. Stuff the birds with this, tie them at both ends, and broil on a gridiron over a clear fire or gas. Serve on slices of fried bread on a very hot dish, and send melted butter to table with them.

Croustade.--A favourite _entrée_. The birds are prepared by being boned and stuffed (q.v.), after which they are baked in a croustade of fried bread, with a rich sauce.

In Cases.--Bone the larks skilfully, put the livers on one side, and set the bones and trimmings to boil in some good stock, broth, or even water, with carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, salt, a few cloves, a bay leaf, and a few pieces of ham or bacon. When well reduced, train this gravy, and put it by. Cut up the larks’ livers, as also some fowls’ livers, or some calf’s liver, all in small dice; do the same with half their quantity of bacon. Fry a few shallots a light yellow in plenty of butter, then put in the liver and bacon, with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, and a little powdered spices. Toss the whole on the fire for a few minutes, then turn out on a sieve, and pass them through while hot. Have some paper cases ready oiled, put a layer of this _farce_ in each, then a moderate-sized piece in each lark, roll up the birds neatly, and place one in each case, with a thin slice of fat bacon over it. Bake them in the oven not longer than 10-15 minutes. At the time of serving, thicken the gravy by mixing a little flour with some butter, and then adding the gravy to it. Fill the cases with gravy, and stew a little finely-minced parsley over each. The pieces of bacon may be removed or not before serving.

Pie.--Pluck, singe, draw, and truss 1 doz. larks, save the trails, chop them fine, mixing with them some scraped bacon, 6 mushrooms, some sage, parsley, and sweet herbs, all finely chopped, with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and mace. Mix all thoroughly well together, divide into 12 portions, and stuff the birds with it. Spread over the bottom of a pie dish fat bacon pounded to a paste, with a seasoning of pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, with a little mace and nutmeg. Put in the larks, sprinkling some more seasoning over them. Fill up any hollows with scraped or pounded bacon; lay some thin slices of fresh butter, and then over them some very thin slices of fat bacon. Have ready some rich pastry, of which form the top crust; egg it over and bake. When ready, lift the crust, remove the bacon, and pour in some rich gravy; replace the crust, heat up again, and serve.

Potted.--An excellent breakfast dish. The birds must be very carefully picked, singed, and drawn, dried well, and seasoned inside and out with pepper, salt, and mace, then put into a stone jar with plenty of butter, tied down, and baked in a moderate oven. When quite cooked, the gravy should all be drained off, and the larks put into potting jars. Have clarified butter poured over them, be closely tied down, and kept in a dry place.

Roast.--The most usual method of dressing larks is, of course, by roasting. For plain roasting, they are simply plucked, singed, drawn, and trussed, have thin slices of bacon pinned over their breasts, and are set down before a brisk fire, being basted the whole time. The last 5 minutes or so the bacon is removed, and bread crumbs sprinkled over them until they are well covered. They are, of course, tied to the spit or else strung on a wooden skewer. The best way is to put each bird on a separate skewer, as they then get more thoroughly basted than when several are close together on one stick. They should be served on a layer of well-fried breadcrumbs, and the dish prettily garnished. Some people omit the breadcrumbs while roasting. The bacon should in that case be left on until quite the last thing, and the breast just frothed up with a little flour before serving. Either butter or bacon fat can be used for basting; if the latter, substitute butter for it for the last five minutes.

Stew.--(_a_) Pluck, singe, and truss 1 doz. fine larks; peel a large onion, stick 6 cloves into it, and put it into a stewpan with some melted fat bacon, toss it about a little, remove the onion, add some fresh mushrooms finely chopped, and some truffles; put in the larks, and toss all the ingredients together over the fire for a short time. Pour in some well made veal gravy and stew over the fire until the larks are quite tender. Chop a spoonful of parsley very fine, beat up the yoke of an egg in ¼ pint cream, and add to it by degrees the parsley; put this into the stewpan with the larks, stir it together, and then allow to stand; remove all fat, and squeeze in some lemon juice just before serving.

(_b_) (À la Florence).--Pluck, singe, and trim 8 larks; prepare a forcemeat of chopped mushrooms and parsley, grated ham and breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste--the mushrooms should predominate over the other ingredients; mix with butter. Place the larks in a stewpan, cover with rich veal stock, adding salt and pepper to taste, and a little colouring. Stew very gently for about ¾ hour. Have ready in a basin the following sauce: The yoke of an egg beaten up in a small glass of sherry, with the juice of half a lemon and a little cayenne, thicken with arrowroot or flour; rub some mashed potatoes through a sieve, make a wall of them round a rather deep dish, hold a salamander over for a few moments just to colour them, set the larks in the centre, place the dish in the oven to keep hot while you strain the stock, to which add the sauce, and stir over the fire in a lined saucepan until nearly boiling; then pour over the larks, garnish the dish with slices of lemon, and serve as hot as possible.

Stuffed. Baked.--Take 8-10 fine larks, pluck, singe, and draw them. Prepare the following stuffing: Mince very fine the white meat of a chicken, also a slice of boiled ham and a slice of raw bacon, chop some sage leaves, and mix all these ingredients together, with a little pepper and salt and some finely pounded mace. Divide this forcemeat into two parts, stuff the birds with one, and reserve the other to use in the following manner: Cut as many slices of bacon as there are birds, spreading over each slice some of the forcemeat; then place a lark on each slice of bacon and wrap it up in it. Lay them side by side in a baking-pan, put a cover over it, and bake in a moderate oven. When the larks are done, dish them on a very hot dish, pouring over them some rich veal gravy with a little lemon juice squeezed into it. Garnish with slices of lemon and serve.

Vol-au-vent.--For this dish the birds are boned and stuffed as if for serving in paper cases. They are then sent to table in a vol-au-vent case, with a rich white game sauce and mushrooms or truffles.

_Ortolans._ Fried.--Truss as for roasting; dip each bird in the yolk of eggs well beaten, and then sprinkle over thickly with breadcrumbs, fry in boiling lard, or butter, or oil. Serve on fried breadcrumbs mixed with a savoury powder made of mushrooms or truffles. The bread for the crumbs should have been soaked in lemon-juice and port wine.

In cases.--The birds for this dish are baked in paper cases. First pick, singe, and bone them, cut ¼ lb. bacon into small pieces, and put it in a sautépan with 2 shallots, 2 bay leaves, some parsley, thyme, and marjoram, 1 doz. whole peppercorns, and salt, fry until brown; then add ½ lb. calf’s liver, cut in pieces, cook this till brown; then turn the contents of the pan into a mortar and pound them, rub through a sieve, place back in the mortar and repound, adding the yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs, when thoroughly mixed add 6 truffles chopped fine. Stuff the ortolans with this mixture, and place each bird in a well-oiled paper case, brush over with oil, and put into a quick oven. Make a rich sauce of the bones of the birds, half a pint of good gravy stock, and a glass of port wine, reduce to about a gill, and when the birds are ready to serve, pour a spoonful of this sauce over each, sending to table as hot as possible.

Roast.--Let the birds hang till quite tender, then pluck and singe, but do not draw, truss as you would quail, wiping them carefully all over first of all. Wrap each bird in a young, freshly-gathered vine leaf, and tie them on a bird spit, put down at a moderate distance from a brisk fire, and roast, according to size, 20-25 minutes. Place under the birds, in the dripping-pan, slices of toast to catch the trail, baste incessantly with butter during the time they are roasting, dish up on the toast, and serve on a very hot dish. Some people sprinkle the birds over with fine breadcrumbs just before serving, and serve on breadcrumbs, made from bread soaked in lemon-juice and port wine, instead of toast. Send to table with them a well-made orange or lemon gravy, prepared thus: Simmer in some good stock, about ½ pint, 4 or 5 strips orange or lemon peel (whichever flavour is preferred), a few basil leaves, the juice of the lemon or orange, salt and pepper to taste, and a glass of port wine; allow all these ingredients to simmer 15 minutes, strain, heat again, and serve as hot as possible in a sauce tureen with a cover. Bacon should never be wrapped round ortolans; it destroys their delicate flavour.

Stewed à la Provençale.--Cut off the feet and heads of the birds, provide the same number of large truffles as there are ortolans; cut a hole in each truffle and fill it with French forcemeat. Season the birds well, and lay them on their backs on the truffles. Set them in a deep stewpan, and cover with slices of bacon--in this method of cooking, bacon is admissible--and about ½ pint stock (veal) and ½ pint port wine. Stew for 20 minutes, or a trifle longer, closely covered. Take out the truffles and ortolans, strain the sauce through a hair sieve, and when cool remove every particle of fat; reduce it by gentle reboiling to about one half the quantity, then add ½ pint brown Spanish sauce; reduce again, and resoak toast in this sauce and arrange the truffles and ortolans on it, piling them up in the dish. Ortolans can be dressed in any of the ways suitable for other small birds, such as quails, larks, and wheat-ears, but, being so expensive, few people are disposed to other than cook them plainly without trying any experiments which may or may not answer. (E. J.)

_Partridges_ (Perdrix, perdreaux).--Partridges are excellent in pies and puddings, or _en salmis_, made as directed for grouse, and any fragments left over are well disposed of in _croustades_ and in little paper cases, while the carcases are invaluable for making stock.

Boiled.--(_a_) Take 2 partridges (not at all high), truss them as fowls are trussed for boiling, and put them into a panful of boiling water, salted to taste; let them boil slowly 15-20 minutes. Then serve on a bed of either celery, mushroom, onion, or tomato sauce.

(_b_) Put them in plenty of boiling water, boil them for 15 minutes, and serve with celery sauce made thus: Take the white part of 6 heads of celery, wash, pare, and cut it into pieces about 1 in. long; boil these in plenty of water until tender, and strain. Meanwhile, take 1 gill white gravy, ½ pint cream, and a little butter rolled in flour. Boil it up till it is thick and smooth, add a little grated nutmeg, put in the celery with a little salt, and give the whole a boil up. Stir in (off the fire) the yolks of 2 eggs beaten up with the juice of a lemon, pour some of the sauce over the birds, and serve the remainder in boats. It is perhaps an improvement to boil the celery in stock instead of water.

Braised.--(_a_) Truss 2 birds as for boiling, and lard their breasts very finely with fat bacon, put them into a small braising pan over 2 slices bacon, add 2 small onions stuck with 6 cloves, 2 carrots cut in pieces, a bundle of sweet herbs, pepper and salt to taste, a cupful of stock, and one of white wine; place a buttered paper over all, and braise them gently for 2 hours, keeping a few hot embers on the lid of the pan. Serve with their own liquor, strained, and well freed from fat.

(_b_) Aux choux.--To make this, truss a brace of partridges as fowls are trussed for boiling, mince about a ¼ lb. fat bacon, put it into a saucepan on the fire, and when it is quite hot put in the birds, and toss them in this till well coloured all over; meanwhile blanch a small cabbage or a savoy in salted water, drain it, squeeze all the water from it, chop it up, and put it into the saucepan with the birds; add pepper and salt to taste, a bundle of sweet herbs, and 2 or 3 pork sausages, moisten with a little stock, and let the whole simmer for 2 hours. Remove the bundle of herbs, and serve with the cabbage and the sausages each cut in two, round the birds.

Broiled.--Take a young partridge, by no means high, split it down the back, flatten it with the cutlet bat, brush it over with liquefied butter or olive oil, sprinkle it with pepper and salt, and put it into a double gridiron; broil over a brisk fire, first on one side and then on the other, just long enough to set the flesh; serve over a lump of _maître d’hôtel_ butter.

Pie.--Cut the breasts or fillets and the legs off 2 or 3 birds, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cook them in the oven, smothered in butter and covered with a buttered paper. Pound the carcases and make of them some good gravy, but do not thicken it. Take the livers of the birds with an equal quantity of calf’s liver, mince both, and toss them in butter over the fire for a minute or two; then pound them in a mortar with an equal quantity of bacon, 2 shallots parboiled, with pepper, salt, powdered spice, and sweet herbs to taste. When this mixture is well pounded, pass it through a sieve. Put a layer of this forcemeat into a pie dish, arrange the pieces of partridge on it, filling up the interstices with the forcemeat. Then pour in as much gravy as is required, put on the cover of either puff or short paste, and bake for about an hour. When done, a little more gravy, boiling hot, may be introduced through a hole in the centre of the crust. If liked, the breasts of the birds may be larded with fat bacon, and truffles and mushrooms added, especially if to be eaten cold; also a little melted aspic or calves’-foot jelly may be added with the gravy. (The G. C.)

Pudding.--Skin a brace of birds, cut them up into comely pieces, and put them, with a few mushrooms, into a basin lined with suet paste, add 2 shallots and some minced parsley, season with pepper and salt, put in a very little stock or water, cover up the pudding, tie it up in a cloth, and boil it for about 3 hours.

Roast.--(_a_) Pick, draw, singe, and truss, placing a slice of bacon over the breast of each bird. Roast at a moderately brisk fire, removing the bacon a few minutes before the birds are done. Serve with plain gravy and bread sauce in boats. (_b_) Carefully drawn, singed, and trussed, the partridges should, with a piece of butter in the inside, be put down to a brisk fire, well basted with butter and dredged with flour to froth up well. Like grouse, they should be roasted quickly, and if in proper condition--that is to say, tender--not “high,” must not be overdone, or they will be frightfully dry. About 20 minutes, or a little less, if the birds are young, will suffice. Partridges should be served on a toast with gravy, fried crumbs and bread sauce, and may be garnished with watercress or lemon.

Salad.--Trim all pieces carefully, and remove the skin from them; beat up in a basin 3 parts olive oil and 1 of tarragon vinegar, with pepper and salt to taste, and some finely minced tarragon, chervil, or garden cress; dip the pieces of partridge in this, arrange them on a dish with some lettuce or endive dressed in the same sauce, and ornament the dish with hard-boiled eggs, pickled gherkins, anchovies (thoroughly washed), capers, &c. Mayonnaise sauce may be used instead of this plain dressing; and, if there is enough of the pieces of breast, they may be inclosed in a border of aspic jelly, and the salad put in the centre with the other pieces.

_Pheasant_ (Faisan).--The hen pheasant is esteemed the better bird. Great caution must be exercised in “hanging” the pheasant just long enough to become tender and develop its fine aroma without getting too high. Pheasants are trussed in the same manner as partridges, and it is no longer customary to serve them with the tail feathers. A slice of fat bacon is fastened over the breast, and is removed towards the close of roasting to allow the bird to take colour. Pheasants are also often larded, and roasted with a piece of paper over the breast. The fire should be clear, but not too fierce, as the white flesh of the pheasant requires somewhat slower cooking than the brown meat of the grouse and partridge. About 40 minutes will generally be found sufficient to roast a pheasant, which should be thoroughly done, as nothing is more detestable than white meat in the slightest degree undercooked.

Roast.--Pick, draw, singe, and truss, placing 2 shallots and 1 oz. butter inside the bird. Lard the breast very finely, tie a thin slice of bacon over the larding, and roast the bird at a moderate fire, basting it frequently with butter. A few minutes before the bird is done remove the slice of bacon so as to let the larding take colour. Serve with plain gravy, fried breadcrumbs, and bread sauce. Time, about 30 minutes.

With Truffles.--Bone a pheasant, stuff it with some sliced truffles, place some thin slices of fat bacon in a casserole, skin the bird, and place over it some more bacon, covering it thoroughly; add a little veal gravy, seasoned with pepper and salt. Cover close and simmer until done, taking care it does not burn. This is served cold, garnished with clear jelly, 2 or 3 hard-boiled eggs cut into shapes, and sliced gherkins.

_Pigeon_ and Beefsteak Pie.--Take 2 pigeons and ¾ lb. rump steak, quarter the pigeons and slice the steak very thin, put on each slice of steak a small piece of fat bacon, season it with pepper, and roll it up. Season the pigeon with pepper, salt, and powdered spices, and put a piece of butter on to each piece, then arrange the pigeons, and the rolls of steak in a pie dish with a few hard boiled yolks of eggs; pour in a small quantity of meat or calves’-foot jelly, just made liquid, cover over the pie, and bake for about 1 hour in a well heated oven.

_Plover_ (Pluvier, Vanneau). Fillets.--Take 3 plovers, and out of the breast of each skilfully cut 2 fillets, lay them in a buttered tin, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cover them with a buttered paper. Cut up the carcases, and put them in a saucepan with a piece of bacon and a little butter, an onion, and a carrot, sliced; toss them on the fire for 5 minutes, moisten with stock, add any mushroom trimmings, and let the sauce simmer for 2 hours; strain off the liquor, and, having carefully removed all fat, thicken it with a little butter rolled in flour, adding at the time of serving a few drops of lemon juice. Put the tin containing the fillets in the oven for a short time just to set them; then turn them into the sauce, and keep them quite hot until the time of serving; arrange a neat border of sippets, fried in butter, round a dish, dispose the fillets in the centre, and pour the sauce over.

Roast.--Pluck, singe, and remove the gizzard, but nothing else. Tie a thin slice of bacon over each bird; put them to roast at a brisk fire over slices of toasted or fried bread laid in the dripping-pan, one for each bird; baste well with butter; remove the bacon just before serving, and sprinkle the birds with salt. When done lay them on the toast, serve with plain white sauce in a boat, and garnish with cut lemon.

Toast.--See Snipe.

_Quail_ (Caille).--Quail as seen in England, has generally been subjected to a process of artificial fattening, but the wild birds of the south--at least those taken in autumn--have some advantage in flavour over their semi-civilised compeers. The modes of dressing them are almost endless, but when simply roasted they are delicious. To roast quails, pluck, draw, singe, and truss them; then cover the breast of each bird with a vine leaf, and over that place a thin sheet of fat bacon; tie this on with thread, and put the quails on a long skewer, attach it to the spit, roast for 10-15 minutes before a clear fire, and serve (if preferred) on toast. The excessively delicate and ethereal aroma of the quail renders the addition of sauce not only unnecessary but injudicious.

In Cases.--Bone some quails, and divide each one in two; put the livers on one side, and set the bones and trimmings to boil in some good stock, broth, or even water, with carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, salt, a few cloves, a bay leaf, and a few pieces of ham or bacon. When well reduced, strain this gravy and put it by. Cut up the quails’ livers, as also some fowls’ livers, or some calves’ liver, all in small dice; do the same with half their quantity of bacon. Fry a few shallots a bright yellow in plenty of butter, then put in the liver and bacon with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, and a little powdered spices. Toss the whole on the fire for a few minutes, then turn out on a sieve and pass the mixture through while hot. Have some paper cases ready oiled, put a layer of this “farce” into each, then a moderate-sized piece into each half quail; roll it up neatly, and place in its case with a thin slice of fat bacon over it. Bake them in the oven not longer than 10-15 minutes. At the time of serving thicken the gravy mentioned above by mixing a little flour with some butter, and then adding the gravy to it. Fill with gravy, and strew a little finely-minced parsley over each case. The pieces of bacon may be removed or not at pleasure before serving.

Roast.--Pluck, draw, singe, and truss them; then cover the breast with a vine leaf (if obtainable), and over that place a thin sheet of fat bacon; tie this on with thread, and put the quails on a long skewer, attach it to the spit; roast for about 10 minutes before a clear fire, and serve (if preferred) on toast.

_Rabbits_ (Lapereaux).--In selecting rabbits for the table, the housekeeper should know that small claws and teeth denote youth, and that when the claws are long, thick, and curved, protruding far beyond the fur, the animal is generally more than 4 years old, and, of course, on this account less desirable than his offspring. The Belgian hare-rabbits are considered the best of all as food; and, whatever the preference of the consumer may be, it should never be forgotten that wild rabbits, if not usually so plump, are as a rule more gamey in their flavour, and are said to be far less subject to diseases of all kinds than the tame, bred and pampered as these are upon a more or less artificial diet. A wild rabbit, carefully roasted and served with all the accessories which are given to a roasted hare, becomes a very fair imitation of this latter dainty; and if it will not actually “jug,” it makes a most excellent curry, whilst the liver, properly fried, is a very toothsome little mouthful indeed.

Baked.--Open a 2 lb. tin of rabbit round the side (all tins should be opened in this way if the meat is required to be turned out without breaking); place the tin in boiling water to melt the jelly; pour the liquid into a saucepan, and add half a teacupful of gravy, which should be seasoned, but not thickened. Grate 3 oz. breadcrumbs; add a dessert spoonful of marjoram, a teaspoonful of thyme, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and ½ lb. minced ham or bacon. Mix together, and season with pepper and salt; put a thin layer of this mixture at the bottom of a pie dish well buttered, then a layer of rabbit and a layer of seasoning alternately until the dish is full. Pour the gravy over all and cover with a dish, and bake 15 minutes.

Boiled.--Truss the rabbits, and put them in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water 2 or 3 times. Put them into boiling water with a lump of stale crumb of bread, and boil them for 40-45 minutes. Have ready abundance of onion sauce made thus: take 2 doz. large, or 3 doz. small silver onions, peel them, take off the first coat, split them and throw them into cold water, and boil them till they are tender, changing the water twice, then squeeze and rub them through a colander. Put into a stewpan ½ lb. butter, or ¼ lb. butter and 1 gill cream, dredge in carefully a little flour and a little salt, throw in the onions, and shake them up gently till the mixture is smooth; keep stirring all the time.

Having the rabbits piping hot, smother them in the onion sauce, and garnish with lemon and sippets. An excellent sauce for boiled rabbit may also be made by boiling and pounding the liver. Add to this some good veal stock, or broth from the rabbit, season with mace and allspice, boil up and strain; then roll a piece of butter in flour, throw it into a stewpan, and before it colours pour in the previous mixture and add a little minced and blanched parsley.

Curried.--Place ¼ lb. butter into a stewpan on the fire, slice into it a good-sized onion or 2 small ones, and fry till they become a golden brown (being very careful not to let them burn); add one tablespoonful of curry powder, mix and fry lightly; then put the rabbit (which ought to be previously cooked and cut in pieces) in the pan; keep stirring a few minutes; throw in gently a little salt, and add slowly a teacupful of milk; stir it all well together on the fire, keeping it covered for ¼ hour, and, when it looks thick, squeeze the juice of a lemon into it. If it appears too rich, skim the butter off, and add a little more milk.

Cutlets.--Soak the rabbits all night, and pour boiling water over them before cooking. Cut cutlets out of the back and hindlegs. Roll these in egg and breadcrumbs, and serve with potatoes cut thin and fried in butter.

Fricassée.--Fry 2 onions cut in slices to a nice brown, and lay them at the bottom of a stewpan. Open a 2 lb. tin of rabbit, and set it in a saucepan of boiling water. Keep the tin in the water long enough to melt the jelly from the pieces of rabbit; pour the melted jelly among the fried onion, add ½ teacupful gravy, and simmer while the rabbit is being fried; thicken the gravy slightly, and slide the rabbit out gently on a plate. Egg, breadcrumb, and quickly fry each piece brown, or roll each piece well in flour and fry. Put the pieces carefully into the gravy and onion, leave them 5 minutes near the fire to imbibe the gravy and get thoroughly hot; toast some thin slices of bacon in a Dutch oven, put them round a hot dish, and place the rabbit in the centre. The stew must not simmer after the pieces of the rabbit are put in, else they will break from the bone. The difficulty lies in keeping the pieces of rabbit whole, as they are too much cooked in the tins, and when heated again they often present a jumbled appearance of strips of flesh and bleached-looking bones.

Pie.--Skin 2 rabbits, wash them thoroughly, and cut them into small joints. Have ready some lean bacon and 1 lb. rump or beef steak. Cut both in small pieces, and place them all on a large dish or a chopping board, sprinkle them well with salt, pepper, chopped parsley, and thyme. Mix all well together, put them in a pie dish, adding forcemeat balls or the yolks of hard-boiled eggs. Fill the dish with water, cover the whole with a light paste. Beat up an egg with a pinch of salt, glaze the pie with it, and bake in the oven for 2 hours.

Stewed.--Cut a rabbit in pieces, wash it in cold water, a little salted. Prepare in a stewpan some flour, and clarified dripping or butter; stir it up until it browns. Then put in the pieces of rabbit, and keep stirring and turning, until they are tinged with a little colour; then add 6 onions, peeled, but not cut up. Serve all together in a deep dish.

With Onion Sauce.--Place a tin of rabbit, when opened, in boiling water until the rabbit is thoroughly heated; pour off the liquid, and put a few pieces of butter on the top of the rabbit while in the tin. When the liquid butter has permeated all the rabbit, slide it out on a hot dish carefully, so as not to break the pieces, and cover it with good onion sauce. Serve with a piece of boiled bacon or streaky pork.

_Rook_ Pie.--(_a_) Soak the rooks in salt and water (having previously removed the backs and giblets) to draw out the bitterness, and then proceed as if making a pigeon pie. (A. O. H.)

(_b_) Skin and draw the rooks (6 will make a large pie), cut out the backbones, taking great care not to break the gall. Put these aside, as they are not used. Season the other parts well with pepper and salt, lay them in a deep pie dish, and pour over them ½ pint water, and a piece of butter the size of a walnut. Cover with a good light crust, and lay over that again a sheet of buttered paper, as the pie will take 2½-3 hours baking. (Bessie Tremaine.)

_Snipe_ (Bécassine).--Bisque. Take 6 nice plump snipes, cut the meat from the breasts, simmer half of them lightly in fresh butter, with a little salt, to be afterwards cut into scallops; make the rest into a forcemeat for quenelles to be served in the soup. Take out the larger bones from the carcases, roughly chopping the latter; put them all into a stewpan with a little butter, a sprig of thyme, a bayleaf, a little nutmeg, 3 shallots, and a pinch of pepper; fry them brown on a brisk fire, and add ½ a pottle mushrooms, chopped, and about a bottle of Sauterne wine; to this add ½ lb. rice which has been boiled in broth, 1 qt. white stock, letting it boil gently for 1 hour. Then drain this through a sieve into a basin, in which allow the liquor to remain, pounding the rest thoroughly in a mortar; replace this in the stewpan with the broth they were boiled in, stir it over the fire for a short time, and rub it through a tammy to remain till wanted. Let it remain in a cool place. Just before it is wanted for table, cut the fillets reserved from the breasts into small scallops, and make the forcemeat up into small quenelles or balls; put these into the soup tureen, and pour the bisque over them quite hot, but not boiling. Sippets of fried bread should be handed round with this soup; they should be cut round, and a small incision cut on one side of each before frying, so as to be easily able to take out a small piece from the centre, on which to place a little of the trail. This must be prepared by putting it into a stewpan with a small piece of butter, a little pepper and salt, and a spoonful or two of good brown sauce. They must be fried lightly, and then rubbed through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon. Fill the croutons with this, warm them for a minute or two in the oven, and serve them in a plate.

Fried.--Split them down the back, trussing like a spatchcock; put the trails and livers carefully aside. Heat a frying pan, put in sufficient lard to half fill it. When boiling, add a little salt; then fry the birds 10 minutes; place on a napkin in front of fire to drain and keep hot; pour off all the clear lard; throw a cupful of sifted breadcrumbs, with the trails and livers, into the gravy that remains in the pan; fry of a golden colour; serve up round the snipe: a dash of cayenne added to the crumbs is sometimes liked. All wildfowl cooked in this way are excellent, the larger birds being cut into joints.

Pie.--Take 6 couple of snipe, cut the birds into quarters, make a rich forcemeat of some cold ham, tongue, veal, or chicken, seasoning with a little sweet herbs, pepper, salt, cayenne, some breadcrumbs, mushrooms minced fine, mix all together with the yolks of 2 beaten eggs; place a layer of snipe breast downwards, either in the dish, or a raised crust--the latter is preferable--then forcemeat, then birds, then forcemeat, and so on; fill in with some rich gravy, and bake. When done raise the cover and fill up with gravy; next day place in ice, and serve cold. Drink Chablis or White Hermitage with this dish.

Roast.--Trim, but do not draw the birds, wrap each in a thin slice of fat bacon, and roast about 10-15 minutes at a brisk fire. Baste frequently with butter, keeping a piece of toast in the dripping pan. Serve on the toast.

Toast.--Half roast some snipe, plover, or woodcock, first removing the trails. When cold pound the meat, season with pepper, salt, and a little finely grated lemon peel, make into a mass with the beaten yolk of an egg; meanwhile place the bones and trimmings in a stewpan with a little brown stock, a glass of port wine, a little minced shallot, pepper and salt, let it simmer until the gravy is drawn; bruise the trails, add them with a little butter and flour to the gravy, bring to the boil, and strain, adding when ready a squeeze of lemon. Toast nicely on each side some thin slices bread, butter the toast and cut into shapes, spread the pounded snipe on these, place in a Dutch oven to warm, and when lightly brown serve in a hot dish, pouring the gravy over all.

_Turkey_ (Dinde). Blanched.--Cut the meat into small pieces free from the bone; season with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg; put this into a saucepan with sufficient white sauce to moisten it; let it simmer very gently for 5 minutes; turn it out on a hot dish, and serve with tiny fried pieces of bacon all round it. To make the white sauce, put ¼ pint milk into a saucepan, and simmer, with a strip of lemon rind in it for 5 minutes; mix a dessertspoonful of cornflour in a little cold milk, and thicken the sauce with it; stir the sauce gently over the fire for one minute; take out the lemon rind, and stir in ½ oz. butter after the sauce has cooled for a minute; then heat the turkey in it.

Boiled.--Wash the turkey in tepid water, and rub it all over with lemon juice; then put it into a saucepan full of boiling water, with a large piece of butter, 2 onions, a head of celery, some sliced carrots, a bunch of parsley and sweet herbs, whole pepper, mace, cloves, and salt to taste. Let it boil slowly, and remove carefully any scum that may rise. Serve with celery sauce, or oyster sauce.