No. 871. Filets de Faisans à la Maintenon.
Prepare eight small or four large fillets divided into two separate slices, put them in a sauté-pan with two tablespoonfuls of oil, place them over a sharp fire, sauté them very underdone, and lay them on a cloth, put two tablespoonfuls of chopped onions in the sauté-pan, fry them till turning yellow, then add a pint of white sauce (No. 7), two spoonfuls of chopped mushrooms, two of chopped parsley, a little grated nutmeg, pepper, salt, and sugar, reduce till rather thick, keeping it stirred, lay in the fillets to warm, and leave them to get cold in the sauce, have eight pieces of paper each cut in the shape of a heart, and large enough to fold a fillet in, place a fillet in each with the sauce equally divided amongst them, fold the papers over, twisting them up at the edges, and place them on the gridiron to broil over a slow fire; when done dress in crown on your dish leaving them in the papers, and serve with a little plain gravy.
After having used the fillets of pheasants one day the legs may be used the next, by roasting in vegetables and trimming them nicely; serve either à la Brabant (No. 867), or en salmi (No. 869); but the legs of large pheasants being so stringy will not make a very delicate entrée, and it is much better to convert them into a sauce à la purée de gibier (No. 59), soup, (No. 175), or forcemeat (No. 123).
No. 872. Turban de Quenelles de Faisans.
Proceed exactly as for the quenelles de volaille, only using a forcemeat made from the flesh of pheasants instead of fowl, dress them in crown, and serve with a sauce velouté de gibier (No. 58), purée de gibier (No. 59), or sauce fumée de gibier, either of which may be garnished with cockscombs, truffles, or mushrooms, as directed for the entrées of pheasants.
Boudins de faisans are served the same way only shaping them as directed for boudins de volaille à la Richelieu (No. 838), with which sauce they may also be served.
No. 873. Grouse à la Commodore.
Prepare two young but full-grown grouse, roast one of them underdone, and make forcemeat (No. 123) of the other; when the roasted one is cold cut it into eight pieces, that is, two wings, two legs, two pieces of the back, and two pieces of the breast; cover each piece all over with the forcemeat the sixth of an inch in thickness, egg each piece over and place them in a buttered sauté-pan, just cover them with a little white stock and boil gently ten minutes, lay them on a cloth to drain, put a little mashed potatoes on the bottom of your dish, build the pieces in pyramid, and have ready the following sauce: chop the bone of the grouse very small and put them into a stewpan, with three pints of consommé free from salt, an onion, and a little celery, with a bunch of parsley and two cloves, boil gently half an hour, pass the stock through a cloth into a stewpan, reduce to a very thin glaze, then mix a tablespoonful of the best arrow-root with half a glassful of wine and a little cold broth; pour it into the gravy, keeping it stirred, season a little more if required, and when boiling sauce over and serve.
No. 874. Filets de Grouse à la Paoli.
Roast four young grouse in vegetables as described for the Removes, take out the breasts or fillets carefully, have ready a pound of forcemeat (No. 123), with which cover each fillet nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness all over, put them in a buttered sauté-pan, just covered with a little white stock, boil gently ten minutes and lay them on a cloth; have ready eight croutons or pieces of bread, the shape of the fillets and the thickness of a crown-piece, fried in oil a light brown and very crisp, dress the fillets and croutons alternately in crown upon a border of mashed potatoes, glaze the croutons, sauce over with a demi-glace de gibier (No. 61), sprinkle a few chopped olives over, and serve very hot.