Baked Ravioli.—Four ounces of veal, six ounces of butter, three ounces of lean sausage-meat, a teaspoonful of mixed sweet herbs, a little salt and pepper. Pound all in a mortar; when smooth, pound separately a gill of spinach that has been boiled till just tender without losing color, and a quarter of a pound of cream cheese or rich cottage cheese, which must be squeezed in a cloth to remove all the milk. When smooth, pound all together, and stir in the yolks of two eggs. Make some pastry with half a pound of butter, three quarters of a pound of flour, and the yolks of two eggs; mix stiff, and roll till about as thick as a fifty-cent piece. Cut the paste in two parts. Take a medium-sized biscuit-cutter, mark half as many circles on one half the paste as you wish ravioli. Lay in the centre of each circle a mound of the force-meat—perhaps a large teaspoonful, only be careful to leave a quarter-inch margin all round. Moisten this margin with a camel’s-hair brush dipped in white of egg; lay the second half of the pastry over these mounds; press the cutter on each to trim them, and you have a number of little round patties; press the edges together very well by curving the little finger round them. Have some rich stock boiling in a stewpan; poach the ravioli five minutes. Take them up, drain them well, arrange them in a fire-proof gratin dish, sprinkle them over with grated Parmesan cheese, pour in a very little stock, and bake brown in the oven.
Veal Cutlets à la Primrose.—Take a pound of veal cutlet; cut it up into small cutlets the size of a dollar, and perfectly round. Put two ounces of butter (which has been first melted to let the curd separate) into a saucepan, with three onions, two ounces of bacon cut into small dice, a bouquet of herbs (including bay-leaf). Fry, stirring frequently, for a quarter of an hour, then add a tablespoonful of corn-starch, a dessertspoonful of Tarragon vinegar, and a pint of strong stock. Let all simmer very gently for about one hour. Take up the cutlets, strain the gravy and pour it over them, then sprinkle with a tablespoonful of grated tongue, and the same quantity of parsley dried and crumbled small. Chicken may also be cooked in this way.
Quails à la Lucullus.—This, as its name implies, is a most expensive and luxurious way of serving these dainty birds, yet by management the livers of chickens may be saved a day or two by scalding them, and the opportunity taken when several are required for general use during a week. Bone very carefully six or eight quails. Cut up three ounces of unsmoked bacon, put it in a sauté pan, let it cook five minutes, then add the livers, a shallot sliced, a small bouquet, twelve white peppercorns, six cloves, a saltspoonful of salt. Let all cook carefully ten minutes: nothing must burn or get very brown. When cooked, pound well in a mortar, pass through a sieve, then add three truffles chopped; stuff each quail into shape, butter some paper cases known as “quail cases,” put a quail into each case, a few drops of olive oil on each breast. Then put them in a quick oven for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. For the gravy, put the bones of the quails in a stewpan, add a tablespoonful of glaze and a gill of brown sauce, with one tablespoonful of water. Simmer till the gravy is well flavored from the bones, then strain, and add two tablespoonfuls of chopped truffles and half a gill of sherry. Put one tablespoonful of this sauce over each quail before sending it to the table, after very carefully draining all grease from the quails. These are served in the papers, but rough paper cases may be made to bake them in, and the regular crimped ones set in the oven to get hot just before dishing up. Slip the quails into them after draining.
Quails à la Jubilee.—Bone as many birds as required. Lard them with pork and thin strips of truffles. Stuff them in shape with equal parts of sweetbreads and oysters, sew them up; roll them in buttered paper, and cook in the oven in enough Chablis to cover them. Pound some boiled potatoes and water-cresses together until thoroughly blended; put a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan with one of milk; put in the potato, stir round till quite hot; use this to make a border on which to serve the quails. When they have cooked fifteen to twenty minutes, take them up, glaze them (melt glaze in a cup standing in hot water, and brush them over). Lay them on the potato border, and pour into the centre some Spanish sauce with mushrooms in which has been boiled a slice of lemon.
XVI.
ENTRÉES.—Continued.
Pigeon Cutlets.—Take half a dozen young pigeons, split them down the back, and bone them, all but the leg, cutting off the wings at the second joint. Cut each bird in two down the breast; trim off all ragged edges, so that each half-bird has as much as possible the appearance of a cutlet, the leg serving for the bone. Sauté these cutlets, having seasoned them with pepper and salt, for three minutes in hot butter, then put them in the oven for five minutes. When done, press between two plates till cold. Then mask each cutlet with a thick purée of tomatoes and mushrooms in which aspic jelly has been mixed, equal parts of each. Let them be put on ice to stiffen the masking. Roll in fine cracker meal, then dip into well-beaten egg, again into the meal, and then place them in a sauté pan with very hot clarified butter, and cook them a fine golden brown. Dish up on a border of mashed potatoes browned with grated Parmesan; serve mushrooms in the centre and Spanish sauce all round.
Pigeons à la Tartare.—The pigeons should be trussed for broiling; flatten well with a rolling-pin without breaking the skin, season them with pepper and salt, dip into clarified butter and cover with very fine crumbs or cracker meal. Broil them carefully, turning often. Make a sauce of a scant tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley, a shallot, two spoonfuls of pickled gherkins, and a boned anchovy. Mince all finely and separately. Squeeze over them the juice of a lemon; add half a tablespoonful of water and six of oil, and a little pepper. Mix all very well, and just before serving rub in a teaspoonful of dry mustard. Put the sauce into the dish, lay the pigeons over, and serve.
Compote of Pigeons.—For any dish of pigeons except roast or broiled, wild birds may be used in place of tame. Their flavor is far finer, and if not perfectly young, which is the main objection to the use of wild birds, the preparation remedies the defect. Cut four ounces of lean unsmoked bacon into pieces, and fry five minutes. Split the pigeons in half, skewer each half as neatly as possible with tiny skewers, so that they will not sprawl when dished; flour and season them lightly, and fry a nice brown on both sides; add one small carrot, one small turnip, two sticks of celery, one shallot, six mushrooms—all cut small; add a bouquet garni and three gills of rich stock; let them all simmer very slowly in a stewpan for one hour, or longer if the birds are not young. Simmer together a tablespoonful of flour and one of butter; pepper and salt (quantities depend on whether the stock be seasoned); stir constantly, and when they begin to change color pour a gill of brown stock to it, stirring well; remove from the fire. Take up the pigeons, strain the gravy, then stir in the brown thickening you have made; boil up, skim off all fat, then return the birds; let them get thoroughly hot, but not boil. Serve on a border of mashed potatoes, pour the gravy round and over them, and fill the centre with peas or spinach.