Split a couple of pigeons in halves, remove the breast bones and beat them flat, sauté them with two ounces of butter, pepper and salt. Press them flat between two plates with a weight on them, and when the pigeons are cold spread the quenelle meat over the cut side of the birds; then egg and breadcrumb them and fry in fat. Dish in a circle with brown sauce round and a macédoine of vegetables in the centre.
Pigeons à la Financière.
Take four pigeons, truss and braise them in stock, then glaze them, dish them up against a block of fried bread. Pour round half a pint of Financière sauce, and garnish with small quenelles of forcemeat, truffles, mushrooms, and cockscombs in the centre.
Pigeons à la Merveilleuse.
Blanch a brace of pigeons, and beat the backs so as to spread out the breasts, boil them in equal quantities of stock and Chablis, season with salt and pepper, a sprig of parsley, two shalots, and two cloves; when cooked, take them out of the stewpan, and cook some mushrooms, twelve shelled crayfish, and a little flour in the sauce of the pigeons, boil for half an hour, reduce and thicken the sauce with yolks of egg and cream, season with finely chopped parsley and pour over the pigeons, and serve garnished with the heads of the crayfish.
Ballotines of Pigeon à la Moderne.
Take four boned pigeons, cut them lengthways in two, and make a farce of half a pound of pork sausage meat, half a spoonful of chopped truffles, the same of mushrooms, a few pieces of tongue cut into dice shapes, a bouquet garni, pepper and salt, and one yolk of an egg, all well mixed together. Then divide it into eight equal parts, and fill the halves of the pigeons with it; make them into round balls, cutting off the feet. Tie each piece of pigeon in a little bit of calico, and braise them till nicely tender. Then let them cool, tie them up tightly, and let them get quite cold; place one of the feet in each ballotine, and arrange them on a sauté-pan. Take off the calico, make them hot and glaze them, and serve with mushrooms and peas, and with a rich brown sauce over them.
Pigeons en Poqueton.
Put some pâté de foie gras forcemeat, or any other forcemeat, into a small stewpan, and spread it all over at the bottom and sides, rubbing the stewpan first with butter. Put in a couple of pigeons trussed for roasting, some sweetbreads and tongue cut into neat pieces, and some button mushrooms; arrange all these tastily in the pan, place some more forcemeat on the top, cover it over with slices of bacon, and bake it in a gentle oven. Before closing it, pour some good gravy inside. The pigeons should be seasoned with pepper and salt, and just rubbed with garlic. When it is cooked, take it from the oven, and turn it carefully out into its dish, and pour a very rich sauce over it.