Put in a saucepan two ounces of butter, and set it on the fire; when melted, brown the pigeons in it, and then take them from the pan.
The pigeons being taken off, put into the pan, which is kept on the fire, half a carrot and two onions sliced, half a turnip, sliced also; four or five stalks of parsley, one of thyme, one of celery, a bay-leaf, two cloves; the latter five tied together. Cover the whole with broth or water; boil gently till about half done, then add the pieces of pigeons, and salt and pepper; continue boiling till the whole is done.
Dish the pigeons, throw away the seasonings, mash the carrot, onions, and turnips through a colander, which you mix with the sauce. Place the mixture around the pieces of pigeons, and serve warm.
Stuffed.—It is stuffed, cooked, and served like a stuffed chicken.
The same, stewed.—Put a piece of butter the size of a walnut in a stewpan, and set it on a good fire; when hot, add two ounces of bacon cut in dice, then place in four pigeons, leave thus till of a fine golden color, and then take pigeons and bacon off the pan. Put again in the stewpan the same quantity of butter as before; when melted, sprinkle in, little by little, a teaspoonful of flour, stirring with a wooden spoon, and when of a proper thickness, and of a brownish color, put the pigeons and bacon back in, add four small onions, two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, a pinch of allspice, salt, pepper, half a glass of broth, same of claret wine; simmer about an hour, take off parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf, and send to the table.
The same, roasted.—Envelop each pigeon in thin slices of bacon tied with twine, place them on a spit before a moderate fire, baste often with the drippings, and, when cooked, serve them with the gravy, at the same time sprinkling a few drops of lemon-juice on them. It takes from thirty to thirty-five minutes to roast them.
To roast or bake they are trussed like a chicken, as seen in the cut below. To carve pigeons is easy, they are merely split in two, lengthwise.
Baked.—Place a thin slice of fat salt pork or bacon on the breast of each pigeon, after being cleaned, prepared, and salted; place them in a bakepan, on their back; cover the bottom of the pan with cold water and put in a hot oven, baste often, and when done serve them with water-cress and lemon-juice.
The pigeons are placed on the dish the same as they were in the bakepan; place water-cress between each, also all around and in the middle of them; sprinkle lemon-juice all over, and serve warm.