Prepare a couple of pigeons, cut them in half, and put them in a stewpan with a glass of Sauterne, half a pint of stock, a sprig of parsley, two cloves, pepper, salt, and a shalot; simmer till cooked, strain the gravy. Now put an ounce of butter with a dozen button mushrooms and two or three dozen skinned prawns into a saucepan with a tablespoonful of flour and the gravy the pigeons were stewed in; simmer this for half an hour, then thicken it with a gill of cream and two yolks of eggs, add some finely chopped parsley and a grate of nutmeg. Dish up the pigeons with the mushrooms and prawns in the centre.
Pigeons au Soleil.
Take a couple of roasted pigeons and put them into a marinade of an ounce of butter, four shalots, an onion, and a carrot cut up into dice, a little parsley, a bayleaf, a little thyme, and a clove; put them into a stewpan and fry till they are of a light brown, then moisten with a little vinegar and water. When they have simmered for half an hour in the marinade let them cool, drain, and put them into a batter made of four spoonfuls of flour, a little salt, a little olive oil, and moisten with a sufficient quantity of water and two beaten whites of eggs; then fry them a good colour, and serve up with fried parsley in the middle, with a poivrade or piquant sauce around.
Pigeons à la Soussell.
Bone four pigeons, and make a forcemeat of some fillet of veal, some ham fat, some grated breadcrumbs, mushrooms, truffles, a shalot, a bouquet garni, a little cayenne, pepper and salt, mixed with butter cooked over the fire and then pounded in a mortar; put some of this forcemeat into the pigeons and stew them gently for half an hour. Take the pigeons out and mask them well with more of the forcemeat, brush some beaten egg over each, and put them in the fryingpan and fry them in good dripping. Take the gravy they were stewed in, skim off all fat, thicken well with a liaison of cream and eggs, season with a little pepper and salt, and mix all together. Make a mound of spinach purée in the centre of the dish, and place the pigeons around, standing up against the purée. Take some very small boiled tomatoes, of a good shape, make a wreath round the base, place a few button mushrooms on the top of the spinach, and pour the sauce all round.
Grey Plovers Cooked in Brandy.
After trussing the plovers, flatten them and warm them in a stewpan with a little melted bacon fat, a bouquet garni, two onions, three mushrooms, and two or three truffles (the latter may be left out). As soon as they begin to colour, add half a pint of brandy and toss over a quick fire till the brandy is in flames; as soon as the flames go out, moisten with gravy and simmer over a slow fire. When the birds are done, skim off all grease, add the juice of a lemon, and serve hot.