Squab.—In cleaning a squab, take care not to break the little sack that holds the entrails. Split the birds down the back, rub with salt, pepper and butter or oil. Sprinkle with cracker dust and put into well-buttered bag. Bake fifteen minutes and serve on slices of crisp, hot, buttered toast with or without a thin, crispy slice of bacon. Garnish with cress or parsley.
Barbecued Squirrel, (Southern Style.)—Get two fat squirrels, skin and draw. Cut the thin skin on each side of the stomach close to the ribs, then wipe with damp cloth. Sprinkle with black pepper but use no salt. Put a layer of fat bacon in a wooden dish, set in a well-greased bag and lay the squirrels on this bed. Cover with more thin slices of bacon pour in the bag a half cupful good broth, seal, and bake an hour in a moderate oven. Serve with grape jelly or spiced grapes.
Turkey à la Bonham.—Pick out a young hen turkey, plump and delicate with small bones. Carefully remove all pin feathers and complete the drawing which may have been imperfectly done by the butcher. Cut off the neck close to the body which will make the turkey fit in the bag better, and make a proper appearance when placed on the table. Wash thoroughly inside and out and wipe dry. For the stuffing make two kinds—one for the body and one for the breast. It is a good plan to make these different so as to suit all tastes. For the body, make a chestnut stuffing. Boil and peel one quart of large chestnuts and mash with a fork. Season with pepper, salt and a little butter. For the breast, take a pint of bread crumbs free from crusts. Fry a half onion cut fine in a very little butter or vegetable oil until tender but not brown. Season nicely with chopped parsley and thyme, not too much. Salt and pepper and moisten with one beaten egg. Fill the breast and sew body and breast neatly, pulling the skin of the breast over the stuffing, and fastening in place with the wings which should be turned back to hold the skin in place. Rub the outside of the bird with flour mixed with salt and pepper, cover the breast with slices of fat salt pork tied on. Now slip breast down into a thoroughly greased bag or preferably two bags, one outside the other, the outside one also well-greased. Lay some of the fat from the turkey or a few strips of bacon over the bag, and put on the grate, seam up. Slip under the grid on the bottom of the oven a dripping pan half full of water to keep the bird moist, and prevent any fat leaking through in case the bag should burst. Be careful not to let the bag touch the side of the oven. Light both burners of the gas stove for five minutes to get the oven hot for the start. Turn out one and roast about an hour and three-quarters for a twelve pound bird. Lift out carefully, sliding the pancake turner under it to get it out easily and put it on hot platter.
For the gravy, clean the giblets thoroughly and put to cook with the neck in water to cover well. Add one onion cut up and cook until tender. Chop fine and thicken slightly with browned flour or caramel which is simply sugar browned in a pan with a little boiling water.
Venison.—For roasting, the saddle is best. As the meat is naturally dry, it must be well larded with strips of firm fat pork. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and rub over with pork drippings. Put in large well-greased bag, add two glasses of port or claret, seal and bake in moderate oven. For a roast of three pounds, allow an hour and ten minutes. For an eight pound roast, two hours and a half. Serve very hot with red or black currant jelly.
Venison Steak.—Prepare in the regular way, place in wooden cookery dish and season with salt and pepper. Put in bag. Seal and cook an hour and twenty minutes. The wooden dishes add to the flavor of all game.
CHAPTER X.
BEEF.