Cold Pheasant

1852—FAISAN A LA BOHÉMIENNE

Proceed as for “Faisan à la Bohémienne” hot (No. 1831). Cook it in an earthenware _terrine_, and add thereto, at the same time as the prescribed brandy, enough succulent, savoury jelly to fill up the _terrine_.

Leave to cool for a day or two, and, when about to serve, remove the grease that has settled on the surface, by means of a spoon. Remove the last vestiges of grease by repeated scaldings; carefully wipe the _terrine_, and serve it incrusted in a block of ice.

1853—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN

Proceed exactly as for “Chaud-froid de Volaille” (No. 1689), and use a brown chaud-froid sauce, flavoured with pheasant _fumet_.

In regard to the decoration, dishing, &c., follow the recipe already referred to.

1854—CHAUD-FROID DE FAISAN A LA BULOZ

_Poële_ a pheasant, keeping it underdone; raise its _suprêmes_, and cut these into thin collops.

With a _fumet_ prepared from the carcass and the _poëling_-liquor, prepare a brown chaud-froid sauce. Coat the collops with this sauce, and also coat ten cooked and grooved mushrooms with a white chaud-froid sauce.

_Clothe_ a dome-mould with clear aspic jelly, and deck it with truffles.

Set the collops of pheasant and the chaud-froid-coated truffles inside, alternating the two in so doing; fill up the mould with the same jelly, and let it set on ice. When about to serve, turn out after the manner of an aspic, on a low cushion of rice or semolina, lying on a round dish.

Border with neatly-cut _croûtons_ of very clear aspic.

1855—FAISAN A LA CROIX DE BERNY

Roast the pheasant and keep it underdone. When it is quite cold, raise its fillets and leave the legs and the wings attached to the carcass.

By means of scissors, completely bone the carcass; garnish its inside with a truffled foie-gras Parfait, and cover it with a thin coat of foie-gras _Mousse_.

Replace the fillets upon this _Mousse_, after having sliced them, and fill any gaps that may exist between the slices with some of the same _Mousse_: thus reconstructing the bird.

Let the _Mousse_ set thoroughly, and glaze with aspic jelly.

Meanwhile, coat eight boned, stuffed, poached and cold larks with brown chaud-froid sauce. Decorate them with pieces of truffle and salted tongue, and glaze them with aspic jelly.

Dish the pheasant on a low cushion; surround it with the larks, and garnish the gaps between the latter with chopped and very clear aspic.

1856—FAISAN EN DAUBE

Proceed as for “Terrine de Poularde à la gelée” (No. 1701), making due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference between the sizes of the two birds.

1857—CÔTELETTES DE FAISAN

Proceed as for “Côtelettes froides de Volaille.”

1858—GALANTINE DE FAISAN

See “Galantine de Volaille” (No. 1708).

1859—MOUSSE DE FAISAN

Prepare the _Mousse_ according to the usual procedure, and mould it after the manner of “Mousse de Volaille” (No. 1711).

1860—PAIN DE FAISAN EN BELLE-VUE

The procedure follows that of No. 1709, but for the difference in the basic ingredient, which in this case is pheasant.

1861—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN CHÂTELAINE

Raise the _suprêmes_ and prepare them exactly like the _suprêmes_ of fowl in “Chaud-froid Félix Faure” (No. 1691). Poach them; cool them, and cut them into medallions as explained.

Cover half of these medallions with chicken _Mousse_, and the other half with pheasant _Mousse_. Keep on ice for some time that the _Mousse_ may set. This done, coat the first lot with brown chaud-froid sauce and the second lot with white chaud-froid sauce. Deck each medallion with small pieces of truffle. Set them in a deep, square dish (alternating the two colours), and cover with very clear, succulent aspic jelly. Leave to set and serve on a block of ice.

1862—SUPRÊMES DE FAISAN GASTRONOME

_Poële_ the pheasant in Madeira and let it cool. Raise the fillets; cut them into thin, regular slices; coat them with brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate according to fancy. With the trimmings and the meat of the legs, prepare a pheasant _Mousse_ after the manner described under No. 1711, and mould it in a Parfait mould which should have the depth of the chaud-froid-coated slices.

When this _Mousse_ has set, turn it out on a dish and place the slices all round, standing them upright and letting them lean one against the other.

Surround with a crown of fine, fair-sized, peeled truffles, cooked in Champagne, and set one of them on the top of the _Mousse_, fixing it there by means of a _hatelet_.

Border the dish with fine _croûtons_ of aspic.

1863—TERRINE DE FAISAN

Prepare it after the manner of the “Terrine de Lièvre” (No. 1825), and take care to make due allowance, in the cooking, for the difference, in the matter of tenderness, between the two meats. But the explanations already given on this subject ought to suffice for ascertaining whether or not the patty have cooked sufficiently.

PARTRIDGE (PERDRIX ET PERDREAUX)

Three kinds of partridges are used in Cookery:—the Grey Partridge, which is commonest in flat country, and which is also the most highly esteemed; the Red Partridge, which is to be found in hilly and wooded country; and the Bartavelle (perdix vertevella), which is a somewhat larger species than the two former. To these three kinds may be added the American Colin (Ortix Virginianus), an excellent bird sometimes seen in English markets.

All the recipes given for pheasants may be applied to partridge, and below, I shall only give those which are proper to the latter.

1864—PERDREAU A LA BOURGUIGNONNE

Truss the partridge as for an entrée; three-parts _poële_ it, and place it in a _terrine_ with six small glazed onions and as many small, cooked mushroom heads. Swill the saucepan with a glassful of red wine; reduce it two-thirds, and add a tablespoonful of game half-glaze. Strain; clear of grease; pour this sauce over the partridge, and complete the latter’s cooking for seven or eight minutes.

1865—PERDREAU EN DEMI-DEUIL

Bone the breast and fill the partridge with truffled partridge forcemeat, prepared with panada or butter. Between the skin and the fillets, slip a few slices of very black truffle; truss as for an entrée; wrap the piece in muslin, and poach it for thirty minutes in a game _fumet_.

When about to serve, remove the muslin; take the string off, and dish the partridge. Reduce the _fumet_ in which the partridge has poached; strain it; add thereto a liqueur-glassful of burnt liqueur-brandy, and send this reduced _fumet_ separately.

1866—PERDREAU EN ESTOUFFADE

Brown the partridge in the oven and set in a _terrine_ just large enough to hold it, with a tablespoonful of Matignon (No. 227) and one crushed juniper berry, on top and beneath.

Add one-half oz. of butter, a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy, and twice that amount of game _fumet_. Close the _terrine_; seal down the lid with a strip of paste; bake in a hot oven for twenty-five minutes and serve the dish as it stands.

1867—PERDREAU A LA LAUTREC

Select a young partridge; open its back; slightly flatten it with a butcher’s beater; pierce it through with a skewer; season it with salt, pepper and melted butter, and gently grill.

At the same time grill six small mushroom-heads.

Dish the partridge; on either side of it set the mushrooms, each of which should be garnished with a coffeespoonful of Maître-d’hôtel butter; surround the mushrooms with a thread of melted meat glaze and sprinkle the partridge with a few drops of lemon juice.

1868—PERDREAU LADY CLIFFORD

Cook the partridge in butter in a saucepan. When it is three-parts done, surround it with two oz. of fine slices of raw truffle; add a liqueur-glassful of burnt brandy and one tablespoonful of clear melted meat glaze.

Serve a Soubise sauce at the same time and separately.

1869—PERDREAU AUX CHOUX

Prepare a garnish of braised cabbages as explained under No. 2100, and add thereto an old partridge, browned in the oven or on the spit. Meanwhile, roast or _poële_ a very tender young partridge and keep it underdone.

Dish the cabbages, which should be well drained; set the young partridge upon them, and surround with small rectangles of very lean bacon, cooked with the cabbages, and a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_.

N.B.—This dish may be given a more decorative appearance by means of a sort of _Chartreuse_, which is prepared as follows:—Line a large bowl or a buttered, round-bottomed timbale with roundels of sausages; roundels of carrots arranged in superposed rows, separated by a line of French beans or peas; and small rectangles of bacon, laid side by side.

Line the inside of the timbale with a thick layer of cabbages, and put the young partridge, breast undermost, in the middle (the partridge may also be carved up). Cover the cabbages and press the latter with a fork; turn the timbale out on a dish and tilt the latter that all the grease may fall before withdrawing the timbale, which answers the purpose of a mould.

Surround with a thread of half-glaze sauce, flavoured with game _fumet_.

1870—CRÉPINETTES DE PERDREAUX

After substituting the meat of a young partridge, cleared of all tendons, for the veal sweetbreads, and fresh bacon for calf’s udder, proceed exactly as directed (as regards quantities and other particulars) under “Crépinettes de ris de Veau” (No. 1222), taking care to add three oz. of chopped truffles per lb. of the forcemeat.

Divide up the forcemeat into portions one and one-half oz. to two oz. in weight; wrap them in pig’s caul; roll them first in melted butter and then in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently.

The usual accompaniment to these crépinettes is a light chestnut or lentil purée.

1871—EPIGRAMMES DE PERDREAU

Raise the young partridge’s fillets, leaving the wing-bone attached to the carcass, and put them aside. From the minion fillets and the meat of the legs, prepare a _mousseline_ forcemeat; mould the latter in very small buttered cutlet moulds, and set to poach.

Roll the fillets in melted butter and bread-crumbs, and grill them gently. Dip the cutlets in beaten egg; roll them in finely-chopped truffles; press upon the latter with the flat of a knife, that they may combine with the egg; adjust the shape of the cutlets, and toss them in butter.

Dish in the form of a circle, alternating the fillets and the cutlets; pour in their midst a cullis prepared from the partridge’s carcasses, and serve a chestnut purée separately.

1872—TIMBALE DE PERDREAU DIANE

Line a liberally-buttered, shallow mould with crescents of truffle arranged in superposed rows, and then completely cover the bottom and sides of the mould with a layer, two-thirds in. thick, of raw partridge forcemeat.

Place the mould in the front of the oven that the forcemeat may be poached; and then spread another layer of _gratin_ forcemeat of game.

Fill the utensil with a garnish of small quenelles consisting of truffled partridge forcemeat, mushrooms and slices of truffles, cohered with a reduced Madeira sauce. Cover the garnish with a small coat of forcemeat, and poach in the _bain-marie_ for from thirty to thirty-five minutes.

When about to serve, turn out on a dish, and deck the timbale with a crown of partridges’ _suprêmes_, raised from birds fresh from the spit or the oven. Surround the base of the timbale with a thread of Diane sauce, and send a sauceboat of the latter separately.

1873—PERDREAUX FROIDS

The various recipes given for cold pheasant also suit cold partridge; it is only necessary therefore to replace the word “pheasant” by “partridge” in the formulæ referred to.

1874—WOODCOCK AND SNIPE (BÉCASSE ET BÉCASSINES)

If grouse, which can only be thoroughly appreciated in its native country, were extinct, woodcock would be the leading feathered game. But the latter have this advantage over the former, namely: that their _fumet_ is not so fugitive, and that they may be kept much longer. Woodcock does not yield its full quality unless it be moderately high.

1875—BÉCASSE DE CARÊME

Sprinkle the woodcock with a few drops of oil, and roast it, keeping it underdone. As soon as it is cooked, divide it into two lengthwise, and cut each half of the breast into two collops. Mix half a coffeespoonful of French mustard in a small vegetable-pan, with a few drops of lemon juice. Roll the pieces of woodcock in this mustard, and keep them hot.

Chop up the carcass and the intestines; sprinkle with a glassful of burnt liqueur brandy; reduce; add a tablespoonful of game _fumet_, and cook for five minutes.

Strain through a strainer, pressing on the pieces of woodcock in so doing, and rock the saucepan, that the pieces may be coated with the cullis. Dish in a hot timbale, and, upon the pieces, set the woodcock’s head.

N.B.—_Bécasse à la fine Champagne_ is prepared in the same way, but without mustard. Cut it into six pieces: wings, legs and two halves of the breast, and put these pieces into a round _cocotte_. Swill the saucepan with burnt liqueur brandy; add the chopped intestines, mixed with the juices of the pressed carcass; add a tablespoonful of _fumet_, a little lemon juice, and a little cayenne, and pour this cullis (heated but not boiled) over the pieces.

_Bécasse à la Riche_ is prepared in the same way, but:—(1) the pieces are dished on a _croûton_ of fried bread, coated with _gratin_ forcemeat of game; (2) the sauce is thickened with a little foie-gras purée and one oz. of butter, and then strained over the pieces through a coarse strainer, during which process the operator should press with a spoon or a whisk.

1876—BÉCASSE A LA FAVART

Proceed as for “Caneton Rouennais Soufflé” (No. 1764), and remember to add the woodcock’s intestines to the forcemeat.

When the carcass is garnished, set the sliced _suprêmes_ on the forcemeat, with a row of sliced truffles in the middle. The forcemeat should poach for about twenty minutes.

Serve at the same time a half-glaze sauce, flavoured with woodcock _fumet_.

1877—SALMIS DE BÉCASSE

Under the article “Pheasant,” I gave the generic recipe for Salmis, which may be applied to all feathered game. In regard to the Woodcock Salmis, the operator should remember to add the bird’s intestines to the sauce, and to keep the meat rather under- than overdone.

1878—BÉCASSE SOUVAROFF

Proceed exactly as for “Faisan à la Souvaroff” (No. 1845), after making due allowance for the size of the bird in regard to the quantity of truffles and foie gras.

1879—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE BÉCASSE

Proceed as indicated in No. 1850.

1880—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE METTERNICH

Prepare a somewhat shallow, decorated timbale crust.

Roast the woodcocks and keep them underdone.

Raise the _suprêmes_ and put them in the timbale, separating them by collops of fresh foie gras, _sautéd_ at the last moment.

Pound the remains of the woodcocks, including their carcasses; thin the purée with truffle essence; rub it through a sieve, pressing heavily the while, and then rub it through tammy.

Heat the cullis thus obtained, without letting it boil; finish it with a little lemon juice, liqueur-brandy and butter, and pour it into the timbale over the pieces of woodcock and the foie gras collops.

Dish the timbale on a folded napkin, lying on a round dish.

1881—TIMBALE DE BÉCASSE NESSELRODE

_Poële_ the woodcocks and keep them underdone.

As soon as they are cooked, raise their fillets and put these aside.

Bone the remains, and pound the meat thus obtained, together with a quarter of its weight of raw foie gras.

Rub through a sieve, and add an equal weight of game forcemeat, prepared with panada and butter. Add the chopped carcasses and a glassful of liqueur brandy to the _poëling_-liquor; cook for a few minutes; strain, and in this stock poach five oz. of olive-shaped truffles (for an ordinary timbale).

Line a buttered Charlotte-mould with short paste; cover its bottom and sides with the prepared forcemeat, and against this forcemeat set the woodcock’s _suprêmes_, cut into collops. Garnish the centre with the truffles, and cover these with a few tablespoonfuls of Espagnole, reduced with some of the _fumet_. Close the timbale with a layer of paste, as explained in the various preceding timbale recipes, and bake in a good, moderate oven for about forty-five minutes.

When about to serve, turn out the timbale on a dish; pour into the former some half-glaze sauce combined with what remains of the _fumet_, and send a sauceboat of the same sauce separately.

N.B.—This “Timbale Nesselrode” may be prepared after the same recipe, from Pheasant, Partridge, Woodcock or Hazel-Hen, but the name of the selected bird should, of course, appear on the menu.

1882—BÉCASSES ET BÉCASSINES FROIDES

All the recipes given for cold pheasant and partridge may be applied to woodcocks and snipes.

1883—QUAILS

Quails should always be chosen plump, and their fat should be white and very firm. Besides the spit, which should always be used in preference to the oven for roasting, they allow of two other methods of cooking: they may be cooked in butter, in a saucepan; or they may be poached in excellent strong and gelatinous veal stock.

This last mode of procedure greatly enhances the quail’s quality and is frequently used.

1884—CAILLES EN CASSEROLE

Cook them in butter, in the saucepan in which they will be served.

Swill with a few drops of brandy; add a little game _fumet_; cover, and serve very hot.

1885—CAILLES AUX CERISES

For four quails:—Truss them as for an entrée and cook them with butter in a saucepan. Swill with a little brandy and a glass of port, in which a piece of orange rind should have soaked.

Add three tablespoonfuls of excellent veal stock, three tablespoonfuls of red-currant jelly and about forty cherries, previously poached in a boiling syrup of about 18° (Saccharometer) and cooled in the syrup.

Drain them before adding them to the quail, and, if the sauce be too insipid, sharpen it with a few drops of lemon juice.

1886—CAILLES A LA DAUPHINE

Wrap each quail in a buttered vine-leaf and a thin, square slice of bacon, and roast them for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a well-seasoned purée of fresh peas with lettuce, and reduce it to a somewhat stiff consistence.

Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with very thin slices of ham; pour the purée into it; smooth the surface, and half-plunge the quails into this purée.

Place in the oven for ten minutes, and this done, send the dish to the table immediately.

1887—CAILLES FIGARO

Insert a piece of truffle into each quail, and wrap them each in a piece of gut together with a bit of pale veal glaze, the size of a pigeon’s egg. String the pieces of gut at two points one in. from either extremity of the quails, that the envelope may not burst while cooking. Poach the quails in good veal stock, that they may not be washed as they would be if the gut happened to burst in a poaching-liquor consisting of salted water.

Serve the quails as they leave their cooking-liquor.

1888—CAILLES A LA GRECQUE

Cook the quails in a saucepan, and set them in a timbale, half-garnished with “Riz à la Grecque.” Swill the saucepan with a few tablespoonfuls of game _fumet_, and pour this swilling-liquor over the quails, without clearing it of grease.

1889—CAILLES JULIETTE

Divide the quails into two along the back and do not separate the two halves; season them; sprinkle them with melted butter and finely-chopped truffle. Wrap each quail in a piece of pig’s caul; sprinkle again with melted butter and fine raspings, and grill gently.

Dish the quails and sprinkle them with a few drops of verjuice.

1890—CAILLES JUDIC

_Poële_ the quails.

Dish them in the form of a crown, each on a small, braised lettuce, with a cock’s kidney on either side and a truffle on top. Coat with a half-glaze sauce prepared with quail _fumet_.

1891—CAILLES LUCULLUS

Cook the quails in butter. Dish them in a circle on a round dish, each on an oval or rectangular fried _croûton_, and between each set a fine truffle cooked in Champagne and chicken glaze.

1892—CAILLES A LA NORMANDE

Peel, mince and toss some apples in butter, as explained under “Faisan à la Normande.” Allow half an apple per quail. Garnish the bottom of a _cocotte_ with some of these apples; upon them set the quails, browned in butter; add what remains of the apples; sprinkle with a few tablespoonfuls of cream, and complete the cooking in the oven.

1893—CAILLES AUX PETITS POIS A LA ROMAINE

Cook the quails in butter. At the same time, fry in butter one small new onion and two-thirds oz. of raw, chopped ham, for each quail. Add some peas, shelled at the last moment, and cook without any moistening whatsoever.

The moisture contained in the ham and peas is sufficient for the cooking. The peas should be ready simultaneously with the quails.

Serve the quails and the peas separately, in little, closed timbales. The diner mixes them.

1894—CAILLES AUX RAISINS

Cook the quails in butter. Swill the utensil with a few drops of dry, white wine and a little verjuice; add half a tablespoonful of strong game _fumet_ for each quail; and dish in a very hot _cocotte_ with about one oz. of fresh peeled grapes for each quail.

1895—CAILLES RICHELIEU

Select some fresh and plump quails; remove their gizzards; season them inside with a grain of salt and a few drops of brandy; insert a piece of raw truffle into each bird, and truss them as for an entrée. Set them in a sautépan, snugly pressed one against the other, and season them with salt. Cover them with a coarse _julienne_ of carrots, onions and celery, cooked in butter, and prepared as far as possible from new vegetables.

Moisten, just enough to cover, with some succulent amber-coloured veal stock, gelatinous and fine; cover, boil, and then poach gently for twelve minutes.

This done, add a _julienne_ of truffles (raw if possible) which should equal only half of the vegetable _julienne_, and poach for a further two minutes, that the truffles may cook and the quails be done.

Dish in a timbale, clear of grease, and pour the cooking-liquor and the _julienne_ over the quails.

Pilaff rice is often served with quails prepared in this way.

1896—RIZOTTO DE CAILLES

Into each quail insert a piece of fresh, pounded pork fat, the size of a hazel nut, combined with an equal quantity of white truffle; and cook them in a saucepan with butter.

Add their fat to a previously-prepared Rizotto. Dish this rizotto in a timbale, and hollow it out so as to make a nest for the quails.

Sprinkle the latter with the saucepan-swillings, consisting of game _fumet_; and send the dish to the table at once.

1897—CAILLES SOUS LA CENDRE

Stuff the quails with a little smooth truffled game forcemeat, and wrap them each in a buttered vine-leaf, followed by a slice of bacon, and finally by two sheets of buttered paper.

Place them on the hearth-stone; cover them with very hot cinders, and cook thus for thirty-five minutes, taking care to renew the hot cinders from time to time.

When about to serve them, remove the outside covering of paper which is charred, but leave the other coverings.

N.B.—A log fire is essential for this recipe.

1898—CAILLES SOUVAROFF

Prepare these as described under “Faisan à la Souvaroff” (No. 1845).

1899—CAILLES A LA TURQUE

Truss the quails as for an entrée; brown them in butter, and complete their cooking in pilaff rice, combined with a quarter of its weight of cooked and chopped egg-plant pulp.

Set the rice in a pyramid on a dish; place the quails all round (upright against the rice), and surround with a thread of quail _fumet_.

1900—TIMBALE DE CAILLES ALEXANDRA

Coat a well-buttered timbale mould with patty paste, and line it with slices of bacon so as to completely cover the paste. The slices of bacon in this case are there to prevent the moistening of the timbale from reaching the paste. Insert a piece of foie gras into each quail; stiffen them in butter, and set them against the sides of the timbale in successive tiers.

Completely garnish the middle with small, peeled truffles; add one-quarter pint of excellent stock with Madeira (per six quails), and a few bits of bay-leaf. Close the timbale with a layer of paste and cook in a moderately hot oven for one and one-quarter hours.

Turn out upon withdrawing from the oven, and serve the dish as it stands.

N.B.—(1) The shell of paste merely serves to hold in the quails and their garnish, and ought not to be eaten.

(2) The same timbale may be prepared with ortolans, except that these need only forty-five minutes’ cooking.