Dressed Game and Poultry a la Mode Part 4

Take a leveret, cut off the fillets and toss them in the oven in a saute-pan in b.u.t.ter; when cold, slice these fillets in shreds as for Julienne vegetables. Shred likewise some truffles, mushrooms, and tongue, and bind these together with two tablespoonfuls of good stock, in which a gla.s.s of port has been put, two cloves, the peel of a Seville orange, and a few mushrooms; thicken with b.u.t.ter and flour and tammy.

Make some game forcemeat with the legs, and with it line some little moulds; fill up the empty s.p.a.ce with the shredded game and vegetables and then cover with a layer of forcemeat. Poach these moulds in a deep saute-pan, and when done dish them up round a ragout composed of truffles, mushrooms, quenelles, and c.o.c.ks...o...b... Sauce the entree with gravy made from the bones and thickened. This entree may be served cold, when it should be mixed with aspic, and garnished with it also.

Salmi of Moor Fowl or Wild Duck.

Carve the birds very neatly, and strip every particle of skin and fat from the legs, wings, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s, braise the bodies well and put them with the skin and other tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a very clean stewpan. Add two or three sliced shalots, a bayleaf, a small blade of mace and a few peppercorns, then pour in a pint of good veal gravy, and boil briskly till reduced nearly half, strain the gravy, pressing the bones well, skim off the fat, add a dust of cayenne and squeeze in a few drops of lemon; heat the game very gradually in it, but it must not be allowed to boil. Place sippets of fried bread round the dish, arrange the birds in a pyramid, give the same a boil and pour over. A couple of winegla.s.ses of port or claret should be mixed with the gravy.

Ortolans in Cases.

Bone as many ortolans as are required, have ready about three rashers of bacon chopped fine, which must be put into a saute-pan with two shalots, one bayleaf, a bouquet garni, half a teaspoonful of black pepper and salt to taste. These must be fried till coloured; then add half a pound of calf's liver, cut small, and fried till brown; next place them in a mortar and pound them well, add the yolks of three hard boiled eggs and some truffle cuttings, pound again, and pa.s.s through a sieve; stuff the ortolans with this forcemeat, roll them up, and place them in a well-oiled paper case, and then bake in a quick oven. Pour over each case before serving a gravy made from the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs of the birds, half a pint of rich gravy and a gla.s.s of claret, which should be reduced one half: send to table as hot as possible.

Ortolans a la Perigourdine.

Cover the ortolans with slices of bacon, and cook them in a bain-marie moistened with stock and lemon juice. Take as many truffles as there are ortolans, scoop out the centres and boil them in champagne (Saumur will do). When done, pour a little puree of game into each truffle, add the ortolans, warm for a few seconds in the oven, and serve.

Ortolans aux Truffes.

Take as many even large-sized truffles as ortolans; make a large round hole in the middle of each truffle, and put in it a little chicken forcemeat. Cut off the heads, necks, and feet of the birds, season with salt and pepper, and lay each bird on its back in one of the truffles.

Arrange them in a stewpan, lay thin slices of bacon over them, pour over them some good stock, into which a gill of Madeira has been poured, and then simmer them very gently for twenty-five minutes. Dish the ortolans on toast, and strain the gravy over them.

Partridges a la Barbarie.

Truss the birds, and stuff them with chopped truffles and rasped bacon, seasoned with salt and pepper and a tiny dust of cayenne. Cut small pieces of truffles in the shape of nails; make holes with a penknife in the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the birds; widen the holes with a skewer, and fill them with the truffles; let this decoration be very regular. Put them into a stewpan with slices of bacon round them, and good gravy poured in enough to cover the birds. When they have been stewed for twenty minutes glaze them; dish them up with a Financiere sauce (see 'Entrees a la Mode').

Partridge Blancmanger aux Truffes.

Boil a brace of partridges and let them get cold. Melt about a pint of aspic jelly and take a plain round quart mould and pour about a gill of aspic jelly into it to mask it by turning the mould round and round in the hands till the inside has been entirely covered by the jelly, pour away any that does not adhere, and place the mould on ice at once. Cut a few large truffles in slices and ornament the bottom of the mould with a star, pour on about two tablespoonfuls of a little cold liquid aspic.

Put into a stewpan a pint of aspic and whisk it till it becomes white as cream, then mask the mould with this; pour in enough to half fill it, then turn it round and round, covering all the inside of the mould, pouring out any superfluity. Skin the partridges and cut off all the meat and chop it up: then pound it with a gill of cream in the mortar, and then rub through a fine wire sieve. Place this in a large stewpan, add half a pint of cream, and mix it with the partridge meat. Collect the aspic jelly, melt it, and whip it up and add it to the partridge; then fill the mould with this and pour in a little liquid aspic; place on ice. To serve this, dip it into warm water the same as a mould of jelly, turn it out, and garnish with aspic croutons alternately with very small tomatoes; around the top arrange a wreath of chervil.

Partridges a la Bearnaise.

Wipe the inside of the partridges with a damp cloth. Cut off the heads, and truss the legs like boiled fowls. Put them into a stewpan with two tablespoonfuls of oil and a piece of garlic the size of a pea, and shake them over a clear fire till slightly browned all over. Then pour over them two tablespoonfuls of strong stock, one gla.s.sful of sherry, and two tablespoonfuls of preserved tomatoes, with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Simmer all gently together until the partridges are done enough, and serve very hot. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Blanquette of Partridge aux Champignons.

Raise the flesh of a cold partridge, take off the skin; cut the flesh into scallops; put some veloute sauce in a stewpan with half a basket of mushrooms skinned and sliced. Reduce the sauce till very thick, adding enough cream to make it white. Throw it over the partridge scallops, to which add a few mushrooms.

Broiled Partridges.

Take off the heads and prepare them as if for the spit. Break down the breast bone and split them entirely up the back and lay them flat. Shred an eschalot as fine as possible and mix it with breadcrumbs. Dip the partridges in clarified b.u.t.ter and cover inside and outside with the crumbs. Broil them over a clear fire, turning them frequently for a quarter of an hour, and serve them up with mushroom sauce.

Chartreuse of Partridges.

Boil some carrots and turnips separately, and cut them into pieces two inches long and three quarters of an inch in diameter. Braise a couple of small summer cabbages, drain well, and stir over the fire till quite dry; then roll them on a cloth and cut them into pieces about two inches long and an inch thick. Roast a brace of partridges, and cut them into neat joints. b.u.t.ter a plain entree mould, line it at the bottom and the sides with b.u.t.tered paper to form a sort of wall, then fill it up with cabbage and the pieces of partridge in alternate layers. Steam the chartreuse to make it hot, turn it out of the mould upon an entree dish, and garnish with turnips, carrots, and French beans. Send good brown sauce to table with it.

Partridges aux Choux.

Truss a brace of partridges for boiling, and mince about half a pound of fat bacon or pork, and put it into a saucepan on the fire; when it is boiling, immerse the birds quickly, and saute them till nicely coloured.

Have ready a small savoy, which has been well washed and drained, chop it up and place it in the saucepan with the partridges, a bouquet garni, two pork sausages, pepper and salt to taste; add about half a pint of stock, and let all simmer together for two and a half hours. When ready to serve, remove the bouquet garni, and serve the chopped cabbage round the birds, and the sausages split and divided into four pieces each.

Cold Glazed Fillets of Partridge.

Roast a brace of partridges, fillet them, pound the meat from the carcases in a mortar with truffles and mushrooms; simmer the bones in some vin de Grave, with truffle tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, shalots, and a bayleaf, which reduce on the fire to about three-quarters the quant.i.ty; squeeze through a cloth, add two tablespoonfuls of clear stock to it, and stir half of it into the pounded meat; mix it thoroughly, and stir it until it boils; pa.s.s it through a tammy, and leave to get cold. Arrange the fillets, with a tomato cut the same shape between each one, in a circle round an entree dish; fill the centre with the puree, cover the whole with the remainder of the sauce, and garnish with croutons of aspic jelly.

Partridges a la Cussy.

Remove all the bones from the birds except the thigh bones and legs, stuff them with a forcemeat composed of chopped sweetbread, mushrooms, truffles, and c.o.c.ks...o...b.. which have been boiled; sew up the birds to their original shape, hold them over hot coals till the b.r.e.a.s.t.s are quite firm, and cover them with b.u.t.tered paper. Line a stewpan with a slice of ham, two or three onions, carrots, a bouquet garni, a little sc.r.a.ped bacon, the partridge bones which have been pounded, salt, and pepper; moisten with stock. As soon as the vegetables get soft, add the partridges, and simmer over a slow fire. When done, dish up the birds, pa.s.s the sauce through a tammy, skim off the fat, reduce, and add a few truffles or slices of mushrooms, and pour over the partridges.

Partridges with Mushrooms.

Take a brace of birds, and prepare about half a pound of b.u.t.ton mushrooms, and place them in a stewpan with an ounce and a half of melted b.u.t.ter; add a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne, and let them simmer for about nine minutes, then turn out all into a plate, and when quite cold put it into the bodies of the partridges; sew and truss them securely and roast them in the usual way, and serve either mushroom sauce round them, or they can be served up with their own gravy only, and bread sauce handed.

Partridge Pie.

Cut the b.r.e.a.s.t.s and legs off two or three birds, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cook them in the oven smothered in b.u.t.ter, and covered with a b.u.t.tered paper. Pound the carcases, and make them into good gravy, but do not thicken it.

Take the livers of the birds with an equal quant.i.ty of calf's liver, mince both, and toss them in b.u.t.ter over the fire for a minute or two; then pound them in a mortar with an equal quant.i.ty of bacon, two shalots parboiled, with pepper, salt, powdered spice, and sweet herbs to taste.

When well pounded, pa.s.s it through a sieve; put a layer of forcemeat into a pie-dish, arrange the pieces of partridge on it, filling up the interstices with the forcemeat; then pour in as much gravy as is required, put on the paste cover, and bake for an hour. When done, a little more boiling hot gravy may be introduced through the hole in the centre of the crust. A little melted aspic jelly may be added to the gravy.

Partridge Pudding.

Take a brace of well-kept partridges, cut them into neat joints and skin them; line a quart pudding basin with suet crust, place a thinnish slice of rump steak at the bottom of the dish cut into pieces, put in the pieces of partridge, season with pepper and salt, and pour in about a pint of good dark stock well clarified from fat, then put on the cover and boil in the usual way.

Partridges a la Reine.

Truss a brace of partridges for boiling, fill them with good game forcemeat, with two or three truffles cut up in small pieces, and tie thin slices of fat bacon over them. Slice a small carrot into a stewpan with an onion, four or five sticks of celery, two or three sprigs of parsley, and an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter. Place the partridges on these, b.r.e.a.s.t.s uppermost, pour over them half a pint of good stock, cover with a round of b.u.t.tered paper, and simmer as gently as possible till the partridges are done enough. Strain the stock, free it carefully from grease, thicken it with a little flour and as much browning as is necessary; flavour with a little cayenne, half a dozen drops of essence of anchovy, and a tablespoonful of sherry. Stir this sauce over a gentle fire till it is on the point of boiling, then pour it over the partridges already dished up on toast, and serve instantly.

Salmi of Partridge a la Cha.s.seur.

Take a couple of cold roast partridges--they should be rather under-cooked--cut into neat joints, removing all skin and sinew, and lay the pieces in a stewpan with four tablespoonfuls of salad oil, six tablespoonfuls of claret, the strained juice of a lemon, salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Simmer gently for a few minutes till the salmi is hot throughout, then serve directly. Garnish with fried sippets.