The Cook's Decameron Part 21

Ingredients: Partridges, cauliflower, bacon, sausage, fowls' livers, carrots, onions herbs, stock, gravy, b.u.t.ter, Madeira.

Cut a cauliflower into quarters, blanch for a few minutes, drain, and put it into a saucepan with some bits of bacon. Let it drain on paper till dry, then arrange the bits in a circle in a deep stewpan, and in the centre put a small bit of sausage, the livers of the partridges, a fowl's liver cut up, a carrot, an onion, and a bunch of herbs. Cover about three-quarters high with good stock and gravy, put b.u.t.ter on the top and boil gently for an hour; then take out the sausage, replace it by two or three partridges, and simmer for three-quarters of an hour. In the meantime cut a sausage in thin slices and line a mould with it. When the birds are cooked, take them out, drain and cut them up, and fill the mould with alternate layers of partridge and cauliflower, and steam for half an hour. Five minutes before serving turn the mould over on a plate, but do not take it off, so as to let all the grease drain off.

Cut up the fowls' and partridges' livers, make them into scallops and glaze them. Wipe off all the grease round the mould; take it off, garnish the dish with the scallops of liver and serve hot with an Espagnole sauce (No. 1) reduced, and add a gla.s.s of Madeira or Marsala, and a gla.s.s of essence of game to it. This is an excellent way of cooking an old partridge or pheasant.

No. 146. Beccaccini alla Diplomatica (Snipe)

Ingredients: Snipe, ham, larding bacon, herbs, Marsala, croutons, truffles, c.o.c.ks' combs, mushrooms, sweetbread, tongue.

Truss fourteen snipe and cook them in a mirepoix made with plenty of ham, fat bacon, herbs, and a wine gla.s.s of Marsala. When they are cooked pour off the sauce, skim off the grease and reduce it. Take the two smallest snipe and make a forcemeat of them by pounding them in a mortar with the livers of all the snipe, then dilute this with reduced Espagnole sauce (No. 1) and add it to the first sauce. Cut twelve croutons of bread just large enough to hold a snipe each, and fry them in b.u.t.ter. Add some chopped herbs and truffles to the forcemeat, spread it on the croutons, and on each place a snipe and cover it with a bit of fat bacon and b.u.t.tered paper. Put them in a moderate oven for a few minutes, arrange them on a dish, and pour some of their own sauce over them. Garnish the s.p.a.ces between the croutons with white c.o.c.ks' combs, mushrooms, and truffles. The truffles should be scooped out and filled with a little stuffing of sweetbread, tongue, and truffles mixed with a little of the sauce of the snipe. Serve the rest of the sauce in a sauce-boat.

No. 147. Piccioni alla minute (Pigeons)

Ingredients: Pigeons, b.u.t.ter, truffles, herbs, fowls' livers, sweetbread, salt, flour, stock, Burgundy.

Prepare two pigeons and put them into a stewpan with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, two truffles cut up, two fowls' livers, half-pound of sweetbread cuttings (boiled), a bunch of herbs and salt. Let them brown a little, then add a dessert-spoonful of flour mixed with stock, and half a gla.s.s of Burgundy, and stew gently for half an hour.

No. 148. Piccioni in Ripieno (Stuffed Pigeons)

Ingredients: Pigeons, sweetbread, parsley, onions, carrots, salt, pepper, bacon, stock, Chablis, fowls' livers, and gizzards.

Cut up a sweetbread, a fowl's liver and gizzard, an onion, a sprig of parsley, and add salt and pepper. Put this stuffing into two pigeons, tie larding bacon over them, and put them into a stewpan with a gla.s.s of Chablis, a cup of stock, an onion, and a carrot. When cooked pa.s.s the sauce through a sieve, skim it, add a little more sauce, and pour it over the pigeons.

No. 149. Lepre in istufato (Stewed Hare)

Ingredients: Hare, b.u.t.ter, onions, garlic, marjoram, celery, ham, salt, Chablis, stock, mushrooms, spice, tomatoes.

Put into a stewpan three ounces of b.u.t.ter, an onion cut up, a clove of garlic with a cut across it, a sprig of marjoram, and a little cut-up ham. Fry these slightly, put the hare cut up into the same stewpan, and let it get brown. Then pour a gla.s.s of Chablis and a gla.s.s of stock over it; add a little tomato sauce or a mashed-up tomato, a pinch of spice, and a few mushrooms; take out the garlic and let the rest stew gently for an hour or more. Keep the cover on the stewpan, but stir the stew occasionally.

No. 150. Lepre Agro-dolce (Hare)

Ingredients: Hare, vinegar b.u.t.ter, onion, ham, stock salt, sugar, chocolate, almonds, raisins.

Cut up a hare and wash the pieces in vinegar, then cook them in b.u.t.ter, chopped onion, some bits of ham stock and a little salt. Half fill a wine-gla.s.s with sugar and add vinegar until the gla.s.s is three-quarters full mix the vinegar and sugar well together, and when the hare is browned all over and nearly cooked, pour the vinegar over it and add a dessert spoonful of grated chocolate a few shredded almonds and stoned raisins. Mix all well together and cook for a few minutes more. This is a favourite Roman dish.

No. 151. Coniglio alla Provenzale (Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, flour b.u.t.ter, stock, Chablis, parsley onion, spice, mushrooms.

Cut up a rabbit, wipe the pieces, flour them over, and fry them in b.u.t.ter until they are coloured all over. Then pour a gla.s.s of Chablis over them, add some chopped parsley, half an onion, three mushrooms, salt, and a cup of good stock. Cover the stewpan and cook on a moderate fire for about three-quarters of an hour. Should the stew act too dry, add a spoonful of stock occasionally.

No. 152. Coniglio arrost.i.to alla Corradino (Roast Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, pig's fry, b.u.t.ter, salt, pepper, fennel, bay leaf, onions.

Make a stuffing of pig's fry (previously cooked in b.u.t.ter), salt, pepper, fennel, an onion, all chopped up, and a bay leaf. With this stuff a rabbit well and braize it for half an hour, then roast it before a brisk fire and baste it well with good gravy. If you like, put in a clove of garlic with one cut whilst it is being braized, but only leave it in for five minutes. Serve with ham sauce (Salsa di prosciutto, No.

7.) A fowl may be cooked in this way.

No. 153. Coniglio in salsa Piccante (Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, b.u.t.ter, flour, celery, parsley, onion, carrot, mushrooms, cloves, spices, Burgundy, stock, capers, anchovies.

Cut up a rabbit, wipe the pieces well on a dishcloth, flour them over and put them into a frying-pan with two ounces of b.u.t.ter and fry for about ten minutes. Then add half a stick of celery, parsley, an onion, half a carrot, and three mushrooms, all cut up, three cloves, a pinch of spice and salt, a gla.s.s of Burgundy, and the same quant.i.ty of stock; cover the stewpan and cook for half an hour, then put the pieces of rabbit into another stewpan and pa.s.s the liquor through a sieve; press it well with a wooden spoon, so as to get as much through as possible, pour this over the rabbit and add four capers and an anchovy in brine pounded in a mortar, mix all well together, let it simmer for a few minutes, then serve hot with a garnish of croutons fried in b.u.t.ter.

Vegetables

No. 154. Asparagi alla salsa Suprema (Asparagus)

Ingredients: Asparagus, b.u.t.ter, nutmeg, salt, supreme sauce (No. 16) gravy, lemon, Parmesan.

Cut some asparagus into pieces about an inch long and cook them in boiling water with salt, then drain and put them into a saute pan with one and a half ounce of melted b.u.t.ter and sautez for a few minutes, but first add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and a dust of grated cheese. Pour a little supreme sauce over them, and at the last add a little gravy, one ounce of fresh b.u.t.ter, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

No. 155. Cavoli di Bruxelles alla Savoiarda (Brussels Sprouts)

Ingredients: Brussels sprouts, b.u.t.ter, pepper, stock, Bechamel sauce, Parmesan, croutons.