Put a piece of butter, rolled in flour, a little chopped parsley, and the liver, into each pigeon, truss, then place them on slices of bacon, in a stew-pan; cover with more slices of bacon, and stew them three quarters of an hour. Serve good brown gravy. Stewed mushrooms, if liked. Garnish with sprigs of boiled cauliflower, or small heads of brocoli. Or: add bread-crumbs to the stuffing, truss them for roasting, and brown them in the frying-pan; then put them into the stew-pan, with good stock of beef, flavoured with herbs, mace, anchovies, mushroom powder, onions, and pepper; stew till tender, then add oyster, mushroom and walnut catsup, Port and white wine, soy, Gloucester and camp sauces. Garnish with egg balls and pickled mushrooms.—Or: first stuff them with bread-crumbs, spices, parsley, and a little fresh butter; half roast them in a Dutch oven, and finish in the stew-pan, in good gravy; to which wine, lemon peel, and mushrooms may be added. Pour it over the pigeons. Asparagus may be laid round and between them.—Pigeons in Jelly—Pick, wash, and singe two plump pigeons; leave the heads and feet on, clean them well, clip the nails close to the claws, and truss them, propping the heads up with skewers; season inside with pepper and salt, and a bit of butter in each. Put a quart of the liquor of boiled knuckle of veal, or calf's head or feet, into a baking-dish, with a slice of lean ham, a blade of mace, a faggot of sweet herbs, white pepper, lemon peel, and the pigeons. Bake them in a moderate oven; when done, take them out of the jelly, and set by to get cold, but cover them to preserve their colour. Skim the fat off the jelly when cold, then boil it up with the whites of 2 eggs beaten, to clear it, and strain through a bag. Place the pigeons in a dish, the clear jelly round, and over them, in rough heaps. Instead of baking, you may roast the pigeons, and when cold, put a sprig of anything you like into their bills, place them on some of the jelly, and heap more of it round.—Pigeons in Forcemeat—Spread a savoury forcemeat in a dish, then in layers, very thin slices of fat bacon, young pigeons cut up, sliced sweetbreads blanched, 2 palates boiled tender and cut up, mushrooms, asparagus tops, cockscombs and the yolks of 4 eggs boiled hard; spread more forcemeat on the top, bake it, and turn it out in a dish, with rich gravy poured round. Pigeons en Compote.—Parboil 2 large pigeons; take them out of the water, and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the breast of each. Have prepared in a stew-pan ¼ lb. of butter, a table-spoonful of flour, and 2 tea-cupsful of weak broth, a faggot of herbs, pepper, salt, a piece of ham and 8 mushrooms in quarters: place the pigeons in this, and stew them slowly till tender. Blanch 12 button onions, and a ¼ of an hour before they are done, put them in the stew-pan. When done, take out the herbs and ham, skim the gravy, pour it over the pigeons, in a dish, and the onions round.
Ducks with Peas.
Season them with salt, pepper, cayenne and mixed spices. Lay some very thin slices of bacon in a stew-pan, the ducks on them, more slices over them, moisten with broth, or water, and stew them from half to a whole hour, according to their age, and size. While they are stewing, parboil, and fry in butter, or with bits of bacon, 2 or 3 pints of young green peas, pour off the fat, put them in a stew-pan with a very little water or broth, salt, pepper, sugar, a bunch of parsley, and some young onions. Take the onions and parsley out from the peas, skim off the fat, and pour the gravy over the ducks.—Or: half roast the ducks, and stew them in a pint of good gravy, a little mint, and 3 sage leaves chopped small, cover close and let it stew half an hour. Boil a pint of green peas as for eating, and put them in, after you have thickened the gravy: put the ducks into a dish, and pour the gravy and peas over.
Ducks to Ragout.
Prepare them the same as pigeons to stew, brown them all round, in the frying-pan, then stew them in good broth, till tender. Season well with pepper, salt, onions, sage, and what other herbs you like. Thicken the sauce with browned flour and butter. Add a glass of Port, if you like, and pour it over them.
Ducks to Hash.
Cut them up, as at table, and if you have not any gravy suitable, prepare some of the trimmings, 3 onions, a bunch of herbs, pepper, salt, sugar, and spices. Strain, thicken it, and put in the pieces of duck; do not let the gravy even simmer, but keep hot by the side of the fire until the meat is heated through. Port wine or catsup, and cayenne may be added.—Goose may be hashed in this way, the legs scored, seasoned and broiled, laid on the hash, or served by themselves.
Wild Fowl to Ragout.
Half roast the bird, score the breast in 3 at each side, lightly strew mixed spices and cayenne into each cut, squeeze lemon juice over the spices. Stew it till tender, in good brown gravy, take it out and keep hot; add 1 or 2 finely shred eschalots to the gravy, also a glass of Port wine, and pour it over the wild fowl; any game may be re-warmed cut up, in good gravy, boiling hot, thickened with bread-crumbs, and seasoned with salt, spices to taste, wine, and lemon juice, or pickle.
Snipes, Landrails or Woodcocks to Ragout.