HOW TO COOK IT

Broiling is a favorite method of cooking game and all birds are exceedingly nice roasted, especially quails. Game is best if kept as long as possible, without tainting, before cooking, as it gives it the " gamy " flavor. When birds do become tainted, pick clean as soon as

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possible, and lay in milk, where they are completely covered, for twen- ty-four hours, when they will be sweet, fresh and ready for cooking.

Birds should be carefully dry-picked — removing all feathers that come off easily, plunged in a pot of boiling water, and skinned, drawn, wiped clean and all shot removed. Game should never be washed, unless absolutely necessary to assure cleanliness, and then must be washed quickly, using as little water as possible. The more plainly game is cooked, the finer the flavor. They require more heat than poultry, but cook quicker, and should be served smoking hot. White- meated game should be cooked to well-done ; dark-meated game rare.

To lard game — After cleaning and washing, cut fat salt pork into thin, narrow strips; thread a larding needle with one of the strips, run the needle under the skin with a little of the flesh of the bird and draw the pork half way through, so that the ends of the strips exposed will be of equal length. The strips should be about one inch apart. The larding destroys the flavor of the bird, and many prefer tying a piece of bacon on the breast instead, but the larding of birds renders them more juicy.

To roast game — Season with salt and pepper, place a lump of butter or pork inside; truss, skewer and place in oven. The flavor is best pre- served without dressing, but many prefer a plain bread dressmg, or a few oysters placed inside. Or, put the fowl, with an onion, salt and hot water into a pan and baste for ten or fifteen minutes ; change the pan ; put in a slice of salt pork and baste with butter and pork drip- pings very often ; just before serving dredge lightly with flour and baste. Ducks take from twenty-five to thirty-five minutes to roast, and woodcocks and snipe fifteen to twenty-five. Do not draw or take off the heads of either.

To broil — Split down the back ; open and flatten the breast by cover- ing with a cloth and pounding, season with pepper, and lay the inside first upon the gridiron. Turn as soon as browned, and when almost done, take off ; place on a platter ; sprinkle with salt and return to the gridiron. When done, place in a hot dish, butter both sides well, and serve at once. The time required is usually about twenty minutes. This is a very nice way to cook prairie chickens, partridges and quails, or you will find it a decided improvement to stuff them with sausage meat.

To roast them, they must be cleaned nicely, rinsed and dried and then filled with dressing, sewing them up nicely and binding down the legs and wings with cords. Put them in a steamer over hot water, and let them cook until just done. Then place them in a pan with a little butter, set them in the oven and baste them frequently with melted butter until of a nice brown. They ought to brown nicely in about fifteen minutes. Serve them on a platter with sprigs of parsley alternately with currant jelly.

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Pigeons may be either roasted, potted or stewed. After they are thoroughly picked and cleaned, put a small piece of salt pork and a little ball of dressing into the body of every pigeon. The dressing should be Hiade of one ^%'g to one cracker, an equal quantity of suet, or butter, seasoned with sweet marjoram, or sage (if marjoram cannot be pro- cured). Flour the pigeons well ; lay them close together in the bottom of the pot ; just cover them with water ; throw in a bit of butter ; and let them stew an hour and a quarter, if young ; an hour and three-quar- ters if old. Some people turn offi the liquor just before they are done, and brown the pigeons on the bottom of the pot ; but this is very trou- blesome, as they are apt to break to pieces. Stewed pigeons are cooked in nearly the same way, with the omission of the stuffing. Being dry meat, they require a good deal of butter. Pigeons should be stuffed and roasted about fifteen minutes before a smart fire. Those who like birds just warmed through, would perhaps think less time necessary. It makes them nicer to butter them well just before you take them off the spit, and sprinkle them with nicely pounded bread or cracker. All poultry should be basted and floured a few minutes before it is taken up.

The age of pigeons can be judged by the color of the legs. When young, they are of a pale, delicate brown ; as they grow older, the color is deeper and redder.

If the wild flavor of larger birds, such as prairie chickens, is disliked, they may be soaked over night in salt water, or two or three hours in soda and water, or parboiled with an onion or two in the water, and then cooked as desired. Geese, ducks, etc., may lie in salt water for several hours, or a fresh lemon, stripped of the outer skin, may be put inside the game for a day or two, renewing the lemon every ten hours. This will absorb unpleasant flavors from nearly all game. Squirrels should be carefully skinned and -laid in salt water a short time before cooking ; if old, parboil. They are very savory if broiled, and are excellent made into a stew, or cooked with thin slices of bacon.

Venison is considered by many a very fine dish. The haunch, neck, shoulder and saddle should be roasted ; the breast roasted or broiled, and the steaks broiled or fried with slices of bacon or salt pork. Veni- son requires more time for cooking than beefsteak.

The garnishes for small game are dried or roasted bread, slices of lemon, parsley and currant jelly ; for larger game, such as wild ducks, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, sliced lemons, or sliced oranges and parsley.