Pigeon and Beefsteak Pie.—Take 2 pigeons and ¾ lb. rump steak, quarter the pigeons and slice the steak very thin, put on each slice of steak a small piece of fat bacon, season it with pepper, and roll it up. Season the pigeon with pepper, salt, and powdered spices, and put a piece of butter on to each piece, then arrange the pigeons, and the rolls of steak in a pie dish with a few hard boiled yolks of eggs; pour in a small quantity of meat or calves’-foot jelly, just made liquid, cover over the pie, and bake for about 1 hour in a well heated oven.
Plover (Pluvier, Vanneau). Fillets.—Take 3 plovers, and out of the breast of each skilfully cut 2 fillets, lay them in a buttered tin, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cover them with a buttered paper. Cut up the carcases, and put them in a saucepan with a piece of bacon and a little butter, an onion, and a carrot, sliced; toss them on the fire for 5 minutes, moisten with stock, add any mushroom trimmings, and let the sauce simmer for 2 hours; strain off the liquor, and, having carefully removed all fat, thicken it with a little butter rolled in flour, adding at the time of serving a few drops of lemon juice. Put the tin containing the fillets in the oven for a short time just to set them; then turn them into the sauce, and keep them quite hot until the time of serving; arrange a neat border of sippets, fried in butter, round a dish, dispose the fillets in the centre, and pour the sauce over.
Roast.—Pluck, singe, and remove the gizzard, but nothing else. Tie a thin slice of bacon over each bird; put them to roast at a brisk fire over slices of toasted or fried bread laid in the dripping-pan, one for each bird; baste well with butter; remove the bacon just before serving, and sprinkle the birds with salt. When done lay them on the toast, serve with plain white sauce in a boat, and garnish with cut lemon.
Toast.—See Snipe.
Quail (Caille).—Quail as seen in England, has generally been subjected to a process of artificial fattening, but the wild birds of the south—at least those taken in autumn—have some advantage in flavour over their semi-civilised compeers. The modes of dressing them are almost endless, but when simply roasted they are delicious. To roast quails, pluck, draw, singe, and truss them; then cover the breast of each bird with a vine leaf, and over that place a thin sheet of fat bacon; tie this on with thread, and put the quails on a long skewer, attach it to the spit, roast for 10-15 minutes before a clear fire, and serve (if preferred) on toast. The excessively delicate and ethereal aroma of the quail renders the addition of sauce not only unnecessary but injudicious.
In Cases.—Bone some quails, and divide each one in two; put the livers on one side, and set the bones and trimmings to boil in some good stock, broth, or even water, with carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, salt, a few cloves, a bay leaf, and a few pieces of ham or bacon. When well reduced, strain this gravy and put it by. Cut up the quails’ livers, as also some fowls’ livers, or some calves’ liver, all in small dice; do the same with half their quantity of bacon. Fry a few shallots a bright yellow in plenty of butter, then put in the liver and bacon with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, and a little powdered spices. Toss the whole on the fire for a few minutes, then turn out on a sieve and pass the mixture through while hot. Have some paper cases ready oiled, put a layer of this “farce” into each, then a moderate-sized piece into each half quail; roll it up neatly, and place in its case with a thin slice of fat bacon over it. Bake them in the oven not longer than 10-15 minutes. At the time of serving thicken the gravy mentioned above by mixing a little flour with some butter, and then adding the gravy to it. Fill with gravy, and strew a little finely-minced parsley over each case. The pieces of bacon may be removed or not at pleasure before serving.
Roast.—Pluck, draw, singe, and truss them; then cover the breast with a vine leaf (if obtainable), and over that place a thin sheet of fat bacon; tie this on with thread, and put the quails on a long skewer, attach it to the spit; roast for about 10 minutes before a clear fire, and serve (if preferred) on toast.
Rabbits (Lapereaux).—In selecting rabbits for the table, the housekeeper should know that small claws and teeth denote youth, and that when the claws are long, thick, and curved, protruding far beyond the fur, the animal is generally more than 4 years old, and, of course, on this account less desirable than his offspring. The Belgian hare-rabbits are considered the best of all as food; and, whatever the preference of the consumer may be, it should never be forgotten that wild rabbits, if not usually so plump, are as a rule more gamey in their flavour, and are said to be far less subject to diseases of all kinds than the tame, bred and pampered as these are upon a more or less artificial diet. A wild rabbit, carefully roasted and served with all the accessories which are given to a roasted hare, becomes a very fair imitation of this latter dainty; and if it will not actually “jug,” it makes a most excellent curry, whilst the liver, properly fried, is a very toothsome little mouthful indeed.
Baked.—Open a 2 lb. tin of rabbit round the side (all tins should be opened in this way if the meat is required to be turned out without breaking); place the tin in boiling water to melt the jelly; pour the liquid into a saucepan, and add half a teacupful of gravy, which should be seasoned, but not thickened. Grate 3 oz. breadcrumbs; add a dessert spoonful of marjoram, a teaspoonful of thyme, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and ½ lb. minced ham or bacon. Mix together, and season with pepper and salt; put a thin layer of this mixture at the bottom of a pie dish well buttered, then a layer of rabbit and a layer of seasoning alternately until the dish is full. Pour the gravy over all and cover with a dish, and bake 15 minutes.
Boiled.—Truss the rabbits, and put them in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water 2 or 3 times. Put them into boiling water with a lump of stale crumb of bread, and boil them for 40-45 minutes. Have ready abundance of onion sauce made thus: take 2 doz. large, or 3 doz. small silver onions, peel them, take off the first coat, split them and throw them into cold water, and boil them till they are tender, changing the water twice, then squeeze and rub them through a colander. Put into a stewpan ½ lb. butter, or ¼ lb. butter and 1 gill cream, dredge in carefully a little flour and a little salt, throw in the onions, and shake them up gently till the mixture is smooth; keep stirring all the time.