TO ROAST GROUSE.
Handle the birds very lightly in plucking off the feathers; draw them, and wipe the insides with clean damp cloths; or first wash, and then dry them well; though this latter mode would not be approved generally by epicures. Truss the grouse in the same manner as the black game above, and roast them about half an hour at a clear and brisk fire, keeping them basted, almost without intermission. Serve them on a buttered toast which has been laid under them in the pan for ten minutes, or with gravy and bread sauce only.
1/2 hour to 35 minutes
Obs.—There are few occasions, we think, in which the contents of the dripping-pan can be introduced at table with advantage; but in dressing moor game, we would strongly recommend the toast to be laid in it under the birds, as it will afford a superior relish even to the birds themselves.
A SALMI OF MOOR FOWL, PHEASANTS, OR PARTRIDGES. (ENTRÉE.)
This is an excellent mode of serving the remains of roasted game, but when a superlative salmi is desired, the birds must be scarcely more then half roasted for it. In either case carve them very neatly, and strip every particle of skin and fat from the legs, wings, and breasts; bruise the bodies well, and put them with the skin and other trimmings into a very clean stewpan. If for a simple and inexpensive dinner, merely add to them two or three sliced eschalots, a bay leaf, a small blade of mace, and a few peppercorns; then pour in a pint or rather more of good veal gravy or strong broth, and boil it briskly until reduced nearly half; strain the gravy, pressing the bones well to obtain all the flavour, skim off the fat, add a little cayenne and lemon-juice, heat the game very gradually in it, but do not on any account allow it to boil; place sippets of fried bread round a dish, arrange the birds in good form in the centre, give the sauce a boil, and pour it on them. This is but a homely sort of salmi, though of excellent flavour if well made; it may require perhaps the addition of a little thickening, and two or three glasses of dry white wine poured to the bodies of the birds with the broth, would bring it nearer to the French salmi in flavour. As the spongy substance in the inside of moor fowl and black game is apt to be extremely bitter when they have been long kept, care should be taken to remove such parts as would endanger the preparation.
FRENCH SALMI, OR HASH OF GAME. (ENTRÉE.)
Prepare underdressed or half-roasted game by the directions we have already given, and after having stripped the skin from the thighs, wings, and breasts, arrange the joints evenly in a clean stewpan, and keep them covered from the air and dust till wanted. Cut down into dice four ounces of the lean of an unboiled ham, and put it, with two ounces of butter, into a thick well-tinned saucepan or stewpan; add three or four minced eschalots (more, should a high flavour of them be liked), two ounces of sliced carrot, four cloves, two bay leaves, a dozen peppercorns, one blade of mace, a small sprig or two of thyme, and part of a root of parsley, or two or three small branches of the leaves. Stew these over a gentle fire, stirring or shaking them often, until the sides of the saucepan appear of a reddish-brown, then mix well with them a dessertspoonful of flour, and let it take a little colour. Next, add by degrees, making the sauce boil as each portion is thrown in, three quarters of a pint of strong veal stock or gravy, and nearly half a pint of sherry or Madeira; put in the well-bruised bodies of the birds, and boil them from an hour to an hour and a half; strain, and clear the sauce quite from fat; pour it on the joints of game, heat them in it slowly; and when they are near the point of boiling, dish them immediately with delicately fried sippets round the dish. When mushrooms can be obtained, throw a dozen or two of small ones, with the other seasonings, into the butter. The wine is sometimes added to the vegetables, and one half reduced before the gravy is poured in; but though a sauce of fine colour is thus produced the flavour of the wine is entirely lost.
TO ROAST WOODCOCKS OR SNIPES.
[In season during the winter months, but not abundant until frost sets in.].