Dressed Game and Poultry a la Mode Part 6

Partridge a la Creme.

See Pheasant ditto.

Fritot of Partridge a la Creme.

See Pheasant ditto.

Pheasant and Macaroni.

Pull the flesh with two forks from a cold roast pheasant. Put the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a saucepan with enough water to cover them, and let them simmer till it is much reduced. Add two shalots, a little salt and pepper, a grate of nutmeg, a gill of mushroom ketchup and the same of Marsala. Thicken with flour and b.u.t.ter, and let all simmer gently for twenty minutes; strain it, and put it back into the saucepan for it to boil up. Just before the pheasant is to be served, put the meat into the gravy and let it warm through without boiling. After it is dished, place round it some macaroni made as follows:--Have two pints of boiling water, into which plunge four ounces of macaroni, add pepper and salt, and simmer gently for twenty minutes. Drain it, and put it into a pint of good stock, with a little salt, a teaspoonful of unmixed mustard and a dust of cayenne. Let it all boil till the macaroni is tender, then add a tablespoonful of Parmesan cheese and an ounce of b.u.t.ter. Toss it over fire till all is well mixed, then serve.

Pheasant Pie with Oysters.

Boil a pheasant till almost done; it will finish cooking in the pie.

Make as much gravy as the size of the bird will require, add half a cup of milk, season and thicken it. Make a good pie-crust, and then put the pieces of pheasant in a pie-dish, which must be hot. Scatter some raw oysters among the pieces of pheasant, pour over all enough gravy to fill the dish to the depth of one inch, and cover it with the crust, which must be pressed against the edge so that it will adhere. Let it bake for half an hour. After it is cooked, pour in remainder of the gravy in the slit in the top of the crust.

Pheasant des Rois.

Have a pound of the best preserved truffles, such as can be obtained at Benoist's, in Wardour Street, stew them in a mixture of a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter, a large tablespoonful of finest Lucca oil, and half a pound of bacon fat sc.r.a.ped into shreds. Thoroughly cook the truffles, so that a silver fork can be stuck into them without pushing hard. Stuff a pheasant with them and sew it up. Cover the breast with a slice of fat bacon, and put two or three slices beneath it. Place round the pheasant pieces of veal and ham cut into small cubes the size of dice, add a few carrots, an onion or two, salt and pepper. Pour on it a claretgla.s.sful of Chablis, cover the saucepan, place it on a slow fire and use the salamander, then let it stew for an hour. When ready to serve, strain the same, removing all grease, and pour over the bird.

Pheasant a la Sainte Alliance.

An expensive dish.

Take a well-hung c.o.c.k pheasant and truss it for roasting. Farce it with a stuffing made of two woodc.o.c.ks' flesh and internals (or snipes') finely minced with two ounces of fresh b.u.t.ter, some salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne, a bouquet garni finely powdered, and as many chopped truffles as will be required to fill the pheasant. Truss the bird and roast, basting it well with fresh b.u.t.ter. Whilst roasting, lay in the pan a round of toast, upon which a little of the stuffing has been spread, and serve the bird on it. Bread sauce and brown gravy should be handed round with it.

Salmi of Pheasant.

Half roast a pheasant, and when it is nearly cold cut it into neat joints, removing the skin. Put the bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs into a saucepan with an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, a bayleaf, and a bouquet garni, and stir these over a slow fire till lightly brown, then pour over half a pint of Espagnole sauce and a gla.s.sful of claret. Let all simmer for a quarter of an hour. Strain the gravy, skim it carefully, add a pinch of cayenne and the juice of half a lemon, then put it back into the saucepan with the pieces of game. Heat these up slowly. When cooked, dish up and pour the hot sauce over them and garnish with fried sippets. A little orange juice and a lump of sugar is an improvement to the sauce.

Pheasant Stewed with Cabbage.

Truss a pheasant for boiling. Divide a large cabbage into quarters, soak them after cutting off the stalks, plunge them into boiling water and boil for about ten minutes. Take them out, drain them and press all the water from them, then put them into the stewpan. Lay the pheasant well in the cabbage, add six ounces of good bacon, half a pound of Bologna sausage, three pork sausages, some parsley, a bayleaf, a bouquet garni, one carrot, an onion stuck with four cloves, a shalot, and some pepper.

Pour in as much stock as will cover the whole, and cover the pan closely and bring to a boil and let it simmer slowly for an hour. Then take out the bird and the meat and keep them warm whilst the cabbage is drained, peppered, and salted, and steamed over fire till dry. Then place it on a dish, arrange the pheasant on it and all the other adjuncts round it.

Serve poivrade sauce in a tureen.

Pheasant Stuffed with Oysters.

Truss a pheasant for roasting and fill it with forcemeat made of two dozen oysters pounded in the mortar, with a tablespoonful of brown breadcrumbs, half an ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, a dessertspoonful of lemon juice, a boned anchovy, and a little cayenne. Mix these ingredients thoroughly and bind them with the yolk of an egg. Cover the bird with thin slices of fat bacon tied on securely, and roast before a clear fire. When done, dish up with clear gravy, and hand bread sauce in a tureen with it.

Pheasant Stuffed with Tomatoes.

Truss a pheasant for roasting, and fill it with a forcemeat made of six tomatoes pounded in the mortar, with a tablespoonful of breadcrumbs, a shalot, a mushroom, half a clove of garlic, a teaspoonful of parsley, and half an ounce of b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt to taste. Bind together with the yolk of an egg. Cover the bird with slices of bacon and roast before a clear fire. Mushroom or tomato sauce may be served in a tureen with it. Partridge and grouse are also very delicious stuffed in this way.

Pheasant en Surprise.

Take a pheasant, remove the skin from the breast and take away all the meat, removing any gristle there may be, and place it in a mortar. Have ready half a pint of good cream, and begin by pouring half the quant.i.ty over the pheasant and pound together for a few minutes, then rub it through a clean wire sieve. When pa.s.sed, put it back into the mortar, add the remainder of the cream gradually into the fowl, stirring it round so that they blend together perfectly. Fill a mould with this mixture and twist a bit of b.u.t.tered paper round the top; then fold a sheet of paper several times and place it in a stewpan, put about half a pint of boiling water into the stewpan, or more according to size of it, and let all simmer gently for twenty minutes. Add a little salt and a dust of cayenne pepper. Turn this out and mix with it half a pint of white aspic jelly. Have ready some very clear aspic jelly, and colour it red. Take a pretty shaped jelly mould, pour in a little of the red aspic to about rather more than a quarter of the mould. When this is cool, put in the pheasant and aspic mixture, and place on ice for four hours; when properly frozen, turn out, and garnish the top with a wreath of fresh chervil leaves. Serve chopped aspic in little mounds round the base alternately with mounds of mayonnaise salad or tomatoes.

Pheasant a la Suisse.

Take the remains of a cold pheasant, cut it into neat joints. Salt and pepper these highly, and strew over it finely chopped onion and parsley. Cover them with oil, and squeeze over them the juice of a lemon. Turn the pieces every now and then, and let them remain till they have imbibed the flavour, then dip the pieces in a batter made of four ounces of flour, with as much milk added as will make a thick batter.

Stir into it half a winegla.s.sful of brandy and an egg, the white and yolk beaten to a froth. This batter should rest for an hour in a warm place before using. Fry the pieces of chicken in the batter, and send it up piled on a dish garnished with fried parsley.

Pheasant a la Tregothran.

Bone a pheasant and stuff it with the meat from four woodc.o.c.ks or six snipe, cut it up, and chop up some truffles and make it into forcemeat.

Fry the trail of the woodc.o.c.k or snipe in a little b.u.t.ter, and place on little rounds of fried bread and arrange round the dish. Stew the bones of the woodc.o.c.ks or snipe to make the gravy, reduce it, and add a gla.s.s of Marsala to the broth and serve in a boat.

Pheasant a la Victoria.

Take a quarter of a pound of bacon, cut it up in pieces (frying the bacon first), add a small clove of garlic, a small shalot, a bayleaf, half a carrot, half a turnip, half a dozen stewing oysters, and salt and pepper to taste. Stew over the fire, and when cooked pound it all together with a few more oysters and pa.s.s through a wire sieve. Stuff a pheasant with this, and place it in a stewpan with carrots and turnips; let all stew till tender, well basting it with its own stock. Serve with rich Espagnole sauce or oyster sauce on a croustade of potato.

Pigeons a la d.u.c.h.esse.

Split a couple of pigeons in halves, remove the breast bones and beat them flat, saute them with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt. Press them flat between two plates with a weight on them, and when the pigeons are cold spread the quenelle meat over the cut side of the birds; then egg and breadcrumb them and fry in fat. Dish in a circle with brown sauce round and a macedoine of vegetables in the centre.

Pigeons a la Financiere.

Take four pigeons, truss and braise them in stock, then glaze them, dish them up against a block of fried bread. Pour round half a pint of Financiere sauce, and garnish with small quenelles of forcemeat, truffles, mushrooms, and c.o.c.ks...o...b.. in the centre.

Pigeons a la Merveilleuse.

Blanch a brace of pigeons, and beat the backs so as to spread out the b.r.e.a.s.t.s, boil them in equal quant.i.ties of stock and Chablis, season with salt and pepper, a sprig of parsley, two shalots, and two cloves; when cooked, take them out of the stewpan, and cook some mushrooms, twelve sh.e.l.led crayfish, and a little flour in the sauce of the pigeons, boil for half an hour, reduce and thicken the sauce with yolks of egg and cream, season with finely chopped parsley and pour over the pigeons, and serve garnished with the heads of the crayfish.

Ballotines of Pigeon a la Moderne.

Take four boned pigeons, cut them lengthways in two, and make a farce of half a pound of pork sausage meat, half a spoonful of chopped truffles, the same of mushrooms, a few pieces of tongue cut into dice shapes, a bouquet garni, pepper and salt, and one yolk of an egg, all well mixed together. Then divide it into eight equal parts, and fill the halves of the pigeons with it; make them into round b.a.l.l.s, cutting off the feet.

Tie each piece of pigeon in a little bit of calico, and braise them till nicely tender. Then let them cool, tie them up tightly, and let them get quite cold; place one of the feet in each ballotine, and arrange them on a saute-pan. Take off the calico, make them hot and glaze them, and serve with mushrooms and peas, and with a rich brown sauce over them.

Pigeons en Poqueton.