The Book of Household Management Part 124

They are only fit to be eaten when the blood begins to run from the bill, which is commonly six days or a week after they have been killed. The flesh is white, tender, and has a good flavour, if you keep it long enough; if not, it is not much different from that of a common fowl or hen."

BRILLAT SAVARIN'S RECIPE FOR ROAST PHEASANT, a la Sainte Alliance.

1042. When the pheasant is in good condition to be cooked (_see_ No.

1041), it should be plucked, and not before. The bird should then be stuffed in the following manner:--Take two snipes, and draw them, putting the bodies on one plate, and the livers, &c., on another. Take off the flesh, and mince it finely with a little beef, lard, a few truffles, pepper and salt to taste, and stuff the pheasant carefully with this. Cut a slice of bread, larger considerably than the bird, and cover it with the liver, &c., and a few truffles: an anchovy and a little fresh b.u.t.ter added to these will do no harm. Put the bread, &c., into the dripping-pan, and, when the bird is roasted, place it on the preparation, and surround it with Florida oranges.

Do not be uneasy, Savarin adds, about your dinner; for a pheasant served in this way is fit for beings better than men. The pheasant itself is a very good bird; and, imbibing the dressing and the flavour of the truffle and snipe, it becomes thrice better.

BROILED PHEASANT (a Breakfast or Luncheon Dish).

1043. INGREDIENTS.--1 pheasant, a little lard, egg and bread crumbs, salt and cayenne to taste.

_Mode_.--Cut the legs off at the first joint, and the remainder of the bird into neat pieces; put them into a fryingpan with a little lard, and when browned on both sides, and about half done, take them out and drain them; brush the pieces over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs with which has been mixed a good seasoning of cayenne and salt. Broil them over a moderate fire for about 10 minutes, or rather longer, and serve with mushroom-sauce, sauce piquante, or brown gravy, in which a few game-bones and tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs have been stewed.

_Time_.--Altogether 1/2 hour. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from the 1st of October to the beginning of February.

THE HEIGHT OF EXCELLENCE IN A PHEASANT.--Things edible have their degrees of excellence under various circ.u.mstances: thus, asparagus, capers, peas, and partridges are best when young.

Perfection in others is only reached when they attain maturity: let us say, for example, melons and nearly all fruits (we must except, perhaps, the medlar), with the majority of those animals whose flesh we eat. But others, again, are not good until decomposition is about to set in; and here we may mention particularly the snipe and the pheasant. If the latter bird be eaten so soon as three days after it has been killed, it then has no peculiarity of flavour; a pullet would be more relished, and a quail would surpa.s.s it in aroma. Kept, however, a proper length of time,--and this can be ascertained by a slight smell and change of colour,--then it becomes a highly, flavoured dish, occupying, so to speak, the middle distance between chicken and venison. It is difficult to define any exact time to "hang" a pheasant; but any one possessed of the instincts of gastronomical science, can at once detect the right moment when a pheasant should be taken down, in the same way as a good cook knows whether a bird should be removed from the spit, or have a turn or two more.

TO DRESS PLOVERS.

1044. INGREDIENTS.--3 plovers, b.u.t.ter, flour, toasted bread.

_Choosing and Trussing_.--Choose those that feel hard at the vent, as that shows their fatness. There are three sorts,--the grey, green, and b.a.s.t.a.r.d plover, or lapwing. They will keep good for some time, but if very stale, the feet will be very dry. Plovers are scarcely fit for anything but roasting; they are, however, sometimes stewed, or made into a ragot, but this mode of cooking is not to be recommended.

_Mode_.--Pluck off the feathers, wipe the outside of the birds with a damp cloth, and do not draw them; truss with the head under the wing, put them down to a clear fire, and lay slices of moistened toast in the dripping-pan, to catch the trail. Keep them _well basted_, dredge them lightly with flour a few minutes before they are done, and let them be nicely frothed. Dish them on the toasts, over which the _trail_ should be equally spread. Pour round the toast a little good gravy, and send some to table in a tureen.

_Time_.--10 minutes to 1/4 hour.

_Average cost_, 1s. 6d. the brace, if plentiful.

_Sufficient_ for 2 persons.

_Seasonable_.--In perfection from the beginning of September to the end of January.

THE PLOVER.--There are two species of this bird, the grey and the green, the former being larger than the other, and somewhat less than the woodc.o.c.k. It has generally been cla.s.sed with those birds which chiefly live in the water; but it would seem only to seek its food there, for many of the species breed upon the loftiest mountains. Immense flights of these birds are to be seen in the Hebrides, and other parts of Scotland; and, in the winter, large numbers are sent to the London market, which is sometimes so much glutted with them that they are sold very cheap. Previous to dressing, they are kept till they have a game flavour; and although their flesh is a favourite with many, it is not universally relished. The green is preferred to the grey, but both are inferior to the woodc.o.c.k. Their eggs are esteemed as a great delicacy. Birds of this kind are migratory. They arrive in England in April, live with us all the spring and summer, and at the beginning of autumn prepare to take leave by getting together in flocks. It is supposed that they then retire to Spain, and frequent the sheep-walks with which that country abounds.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PLOVER.]

TO DRESS THE PTARMIGAN.

1045. INGREDIENTS.--2 or 3 birds; b.u.t.ter, flour, fried bread crumbs.

_Mode_.--The ptarmigan, or white grouse, when young and tender, are exceedingly fine eating, and should be kept as long as possible, to be good. Pluck, draw, and truss them in the same manner as grouse, No.

1025, and roast them before a brisk fire. Flour and froth them nicely, and serve on b.u.t.tered toast, with a tureen of brown gravy. Bread sauce, when liked, may be sent to table with them, and fried bread crumbs subst.i.tuted for the toasted bread.

_Time_.--About 1/2 hour. _Sufficient_,--2 for a dish.

_Seasonable_ from the beginning of February to the end of April.

THE PTARMIGAN, OR WHITE GROUSE.--This bird is nearly the same size as red grouse, and is fond of lofty situations, where it braves the severest weather, and is found in most parts of Europe, as well as in Greenland. At Hudson's Bay they appear in such mult.i.tudes that so many as sixty or seventy are frequently taken at once in a net. As they are as tame as chickens, this is done without difficulty. Buffon says that the Ptarmigan avoids the solar heat, and prefers the frosts of the summits of the mountains; for, as the snow melts on the sides of the mountains, it ascends till it gains the top, where it makes a hole, and burrows in the snow. In winter, it flies in flocks, and feeds on the wild vegetation of the hills, which imparts to its flesh a bitter, but not altogether an unpalatable taste. It is dark-coloured, and has something of the flavour of the hare, and is greatly relished, and much sought after by some sportsmen.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE PTARMIGAN.]

TO DRESS QUAILS.

1046. INGREDIENTS.--Quails, b.u.t.ter, toast.

_Mode_.--These birds keep good several days, and should be roasted without drawing. Truss them in the same manner as woodc.o.c.ks, No. 1062; roast them before a clear fire, keep them well basted, and serve on toast.

_Time_.--About 20 minutes. _Average cost_.--Seldom bought.

_Sufficient_ 2 for a dish.

_Seasonable_ from October to December.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE QUAIL.]

THE QUAIL.--Quails are almost universally diffused over Europe, Asia, and Africa. Being birds of pa.s.sage, they are seen in immense flocks, traversing the Mediterranean Sea from Europe to Africa, in the autumn, and returning again in the spring, frequently alighting in their pa.s.sage on many of the islands of the Archipelago, which, with their vast numbers, they almost completely cover. On the western coasts of the kingdom of Naples, they have appeared in such prodigious numbers, that, within the compa.s.s of four or five miles, as many as a hundred thousand have been taken in a day. "From these circ.u.mstances,"

says a writer on natural history, "it appears highly probable that the quails which supplied the Israelites with food during their journey through the wilderness, were sent thither, on their pa.s.sage to the north, by a wind from the south-west, sweeping over Egypt and Ethiopia towards the sh.o.r.es of the Red Sea." In England they are not very numerous, although they breed in it; and many of them are said to remain throughout the year, changing their quarters from the interior parts of the country for the seacoast.

TO DRESS SNIPES.

1047. INGREDIENTS.--Snipes, b.u.t.ter, flour, toast.

_Mode_.--These, like woodc.o.c.ks, should be dressed without being drawn.

Pluck, and wipe them outside, and truss them with the head under the wing, having previously skinned that and the neck. Twist the legs at the first joint, press the feet upon the thighs, and pa.s.s a skewer through these and the body. Place four on a skewer, tie them on to the jack or spit, and roast before a clear fire for about 1/4 hour. Put some pieces of b.u.t.tered toast into the dripping-pan to catch the trails; flour and froth the birds nicely, dish the pieces of toast with the snipes on them, and pour round, but not over them, a little good brown gravy. They should be sent to table very hot and expeditiously, or they will not be worth eating.--See coloured plate M1.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAST SNIPE.]

_Time_.--About 1/4 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. 6d. to 2s. the brace.

_Sufficient_,--4 for a dish.

_Seasonable_ from November to February.

_Note_.--Ortolans are trussed and dressed in the same manner.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SNIPE.]

THE SNIPE.--This is a migratory bird, and is generally distributed over Europe. It is found in most parts of England, in the high as well as the low lands, depending much on the weather. In very wet seasons it resorts to the hills, but at other times frequents marshes, where it can penetrate the earth with its bill, hunting for worms, which form its princ.i.p.al food.

In the Hebrides and the Orkneys snipes are plentiful, and they are fattest in frosty weather. In the breeding season the snipe changes its note entirely from that which it has in the winter.

The male will keep on wing for an hour together, mounting like a lark, and uttering a shrill piping noise; then, with a bleating sound, not unlike that made by an old goat, it will descend with great velocity, especially if the female be sitting in her nest, from which it will not wander far.

ROAST TEAL.