GAME.
1482. Woodcocks en Croustades à la Harper Bros.
—Have six fine, fresh, fat woodcocks; pick well, remove the entrails, place the hearts and livers on a plate, then remove the skin from the neck and head of each, and with a keen knife pick out the eyes. Cut the heads and necks right close to the body, lay them on a plate. Cut out two very thin slices of truffle, then with a tube, the same size of the eyes, cut out twelve pieces; insert one piece in each eye of the heads, and lay them on a dish for further action. Now with a small, sharp knife make an incision right along the back. Begin boning from the neck right down toward the breast on both sides of each bird, carefully avoid making any holes in the skin, and when down to the second joint cut it, so as to easily remove the carcass of each, leaving the legs intact; cut away the claws of each bird. Season the inside with a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper, equally divided among the six birds, and then leave on a dish. Have in a sautoire on the fire one tablespoonful of butter, with half a finely chopped shallot; let cook for one minute without browning, then add four finely chopped mushrooms, one truffle, and hearts and livers all cut in the same way; let all cook together for three minutes, sharply stirring meanwhile; season with a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper, add to it a tablespoonful of Madeira wine, cook for one minute; add a teaspoonful of finely chopped parsley and two tablespoonfuls of fresh bread-crumbs; thoroughly mix together, then place it on the corner of the range. Lay the birds one alongside another with the skin side down; place a tablespoonful of the garnishing right in the centre of each bird. Arrange a head over the force of each bird, so that nothing but the head remains out. Fold up both sides of the bird so as to have them represent their natural forms. Have a lightly buttered sautoire, place each bird on its back in the sautoire, one alongside another, gently turning the birds upward, sprinkle over a very little clarified butter, then place in a very hot oven for five minutes. Prepare six croustades as for [No. 264]; equally divide the remainder of the force among the six croustades. Remove the birds from out the oven, neatly arrange a bird in each croustade. Dress them on a hot dish, leave at the oven door to keep warm. Add to the pan in which they were cooked half a wineglassful of Madeira wine; reduce it to one-half, then add half a gill of Espagnole sauce ([No. 151]) and half a gill of tomato sauce ([No. 205]); let boil for two minutes; skim off the fat, strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, equally divide it over the six birds, and send to the table.
N. B.—The croustades should always be prepared before the woodcocks are cooked.
1483. Saddle of Venison à la Joel B. Erhardt.
—Prepare a saddle of venison exactly the same as in [No. 878], but substituting the following garnishing for the two other sauces. Soak eighteen fine, sound, large, Italian raw marrons in fresh water for a night. Have on the fire a pan with plenty of hot water, and as soon as it comes to a boil, immediately plunge in the chestnuts, cover the pan, and let boil for one minute only. Remove the pan from off the fire, drain the chestnuts, then with a pointed knife gently peel them. Place in a saucepan on the hot range one quart of water with four ounces of sugar; let come to a boil, then add half a vanilla bean, as also the chestnuts, and slowly boil for twenty minutes. Remove them from the range, place the marrons in a bowl with half of their own liquor, then allow to cool off. Place the balance of the liquor on the fire, add to it two tablespoonfuls of currant jelly, and continually stir until the jelly is thoroughly dissolved; then thicken with half a gill of Espagnole sauce ([No. 151]), and let slowly cook on the corner of the range. Prepare a pâté-à-chou, exactly the same as in [No. 1240]. Slide a tube down in the pastry bag ([No. 1079]) one inch in diameter, and put the paste in the bag. Have a lightly buttered pan ready, then carefully press the paste down into it, making twelve equal button-shape forms one inch and a half in diameter. Place them in a moderate oven to bake for eight minutes. Remove from out the oven, let slightly cool off. Cut a piece off from the top of each, one inch in diameter, then fill the inside of each with chutney. Place on top of each a marron. Dress the saddle on a hot serving-dish, decorate the dish all around with the twelve choux. Strain the sauce into a sauce-bowl, and serve separate. The remaining pâté-à-chou can be used for any other purpose desired, as also the six marrons.
1484. Venison Chops à la Tyrolienne.
—Prepare six fine venison chops as in [No. 885]; season them with a heaped teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper only, and lay them aside until further action.
Tyrolienne Garnishing.—Have in a saucepan on the hot range one tablespoonful of good butter, adding five medium-sized, sound, peeled, and cored apples, cut into thin slices, and four tablespoonfuls of sugar; cover the pan, and let cook for twenty-five minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon at the bottom once in a while to prevent burning. Have on the range in another pan four tablespoonfuls of currant jelly, with two wineglassfuls of port wine; mix all well together until the jelly is thoroughly dissolved; then let slowly boil on the corner of the range for three minutes. Remove the apples from the range, press them through a fine sieve into a bowl. Now broil the chops for four minutes on each side. Place the apple-sauce right in the centre of a hot serving-dish, giving a pyramid shape, then dress the chops around it, one overlapping another. Pour the currant-jelly sauce around the chops, but not over them; adjust a paper ruffle on each chop and send to the table.
1485. Saddle of Venison à la Talleyrand.
—Procure and prepare a fine saddle of venison, exactly the same as in [No. 878]; suppress the currant-jelly sauce, and serve with the following garnishing:
Talleyrand Garnishing.—Cut three fine, sound apples into halves, peel each half, giving them all a nice dome shape; remove the cores, place them on a buttered pan, sprinkle a little clarified butter over, then place in the oven to bake for ten minutes; remove them, dredge a little pulverized sugar over, place them back in the oven to glaze for one minute; remove, and lay in a warm place. Have in a saucepan on the range two glassfuls of port wine with a tablespoonful of currant jelly; lightly stir until it is thoroughly dissolved; add one clove, the zest of half a sound lemon, and the third of a saltspoonful of cayenne pepper; let boil for four minutes, add to it now a gill of Espagnole sauce ([No. 151]), let boil for three minutes longer; strain it through a sieve into a sauce-bowl; dress the saddle on a serving-dish, arrange the six pieces of apple around the saddle, and send to the table with the sauce separate.
1486. Reed-birds à la Joseph Pulitzer.
—Have twelve fine, fat, fresh reed-birds, remove the entrails, and the eyes from the head, neatly wipe them, stick the bill of each bird into the breast, cut off the legs, then place them in a roasting-pan; season with a tablespoonful of salt, sprinkle over a very little clarified butter, place them in a very hot oven to roast for two minutes only; remove from the oven and slightly cool off. Peel and boil five medium-sized sound potatoes in salted water; when cooked drain the water completely, leaving the potatoes in the same pan; thoroughly mash them with a potato-masher, add two ounces of good butter, half a teaspoonful of white pepper; pour in half a cupful of hot milk, and with a wooden spoon thoroughly mix together; add now the yolks of two eggs, sharply mixing again; place it on the hot range, thoroughly mix while heating for three minutes; then press it through a fine sieve into a flat pan and let cool for five minutes. Take the twelve reed-birds, completely mask each bird with the above preparation, roll them nicely, giving each bird a barrel shape, three inches long by one and a half in diameter; dip them in beaten egg, roll in fresh bread-crumbs, taking care not to spoil their shape; then fry them in very hot fat for five minutes; remove from the fat, thoroughly drain on a towel; dress them on a hot serving-dish with a folded napkin, and send to the table with a gill of hot Madeira sauce ([No. 185]) separate.
1487. Reed-birds à la Barsotti.
—Have twelve reed-birds, prepare them exactly the same as above. But instead of masking them with potato preparation, select twelve medium-sized, sound, even, raw potatoes; wash well and dry; cut off a cover, oval-shape, lengthwise, in the centre of each potato, then with a vegetable-scoop scoop out the interior of each sufficiently large for a reed-bird; season the inside of each potato with a teaspoonful of salt equally divided; let stand for one minute, then turn them upside down to let the water run out which the salt has drawn. Put one reed-bird in each potato with its breast upward; cut two slices of bacon, then cut each slice into six equal, square pieces; place one piece over the breast of each bird, put the cover on top, lay them in a roasting-pan, place in a moderate oven to roast for twenty-five minutes; remove them from the oven, dress on a hot serving-dish with a folded napkin, and send to the table with half a gill of maître d’hôtel ([No. 145]) separate.
1488. Hot Game Pie à la Henry Watson.
—Have twelve fine, fat, fresh reed-birds. Have a saucepan on the fire with one ounce of lean salt pork, cut in dice-shaped pieces; add the twelve birds. Season with one tablespoonful of salt and a heaped teaspoonful of pepper, then let them cook for five minutes; now add two tablespoonfuls of flour; mix well together, and let cook slowly until the flour has obtained a brown color, then add half a glassful of good Madeira wine and half a pint of white broth ([No. 99]). Mix well together again, and let cook for five minutes longer.
Have a dough prepared as in [No. 1078]. Butter well a tureen pie-plate, line the inside with half of the dough, a quarter of an inch thick, then transfer the reed-birds and all the rest into the lined plate, nicely arranging the birds; add twelve whole, fine, sound mushrooms, and then with the balance of the dough make a cover, and with it cover the birds and all. Beat up the yolk of one egg with a tablespoonful of water, and then with a hair brush gently glaze the surface of the cover with it. Place in the hot oven, and let cook for twenty minutes. Remove from out the oven; place the tureen on another dish, and immediately send to the table.
Robins, snipe, wild pigeons, or any other birds may be substituted for the reed-birds.