Have the birds trussed with their legs in their bodies, but stuffed with forcemeat; parboil and lard them with fat bacon; season with pepper, spices, parsley, and minced chives; stew them very gently. While they are stewing, make a ragout of fowls’ livers, cocks’-combs, truffles, morels, and mushrooms, and put a little bacon in the frying-pan to melt; put them in, and shake the pan three or four times round; then add some rich gravy, and let it simmer a little, and put in some veal cullis and ham to thicken it. Drain the pigeons, and put them into this ragout; let them just simmer; take them up, put them into your dish, and pour the ragout over.
Pigeons, en compote. No. 3.
Lard, truss, and force them; season and stew them in strong broth. Have a ragout garnished with sippets, sweetbreads, and sprigs of parsley; then fry the pigeons in a batter of eggs and sliced bacon. You may garnish most dishes in the same way.
Pigeons, à la Crapaudine.
Cut the birds open down the back, and draw the legs through the skin inside, as you would do a boiled fowl, then put into a roomy saucepan some butter, a little parsley, thyme, shalots, and, if you can have them, mushrooms, all chopped together very fine. Put the pigeons in this, and let them sweat in the butter and herbs for about five minutes. While they are warm and moist with the herbs and butter, cover them all over with fine bread crumbs; sprinkle a little salt upon them, and boil them on a slow fire. The sauce may be either of mushrooms or cucumbers, made by sweating whichever you choose in butter till quite tender, then adding a little gravy, cream, and flour.
Pigeons in disguise.
Draw, truss, and season the pigeons with salt and pepper, and make a nice puff; roll each pigeon in a piece of it; tie them in a cloth, but be careful not to let the paste break. Boil them in plenty of water for an hour and a half; and when you untie them take great care they do not break; put them into a dish, and pour a little good gravy to them.
Pigeons in fricandeau.
Draw and truss the pigeons with the legs in the bellies, larding them with bacon, and slit them. Fry them of a fine brown in butter: put into the stewpan a quart of good gravy, a little lemon-pickle, a tea-spoonful of walnut ketchup, cayenne, a little salt, a few truffles, morels, and some yolks of hard eggs. Pour your sauce with its ingredients over the pigeons, when laid in the dish.