Mrs. De Salis

“ Take as many even large-sized truffles as ortolans; make a large round hole in the middle of each truffle, and put in it a little chicken forcemeat. Cut off the heads, necks, and feet of the birds, season with salt and pepper, and lay each bird on its back in one of the truffles. Arrange them in a stewpan, lay thin slices of bacon over them, pour over them some good stock, into which a gill of Madeira has been poured, and then simmer them very gently for twenty-five minutes. Dish the ortolans on toast, and strain the gravy over them. ”

“ 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 balls, cutting off the feet. ”

“ Put a wineglass of the best olive oil in a stewpan, let it get hot. Put in the chicken, stir and turn the joints and sprinkle with salt. When the chicken is a golden brown add some chopped onions, one or two red chillies, and fry all together. Meanwhile have ready four tomatoes cut in quarters, and two teacupfuls of rice well washed. Mix these with the chicken and pour in a very small quantity of broth and stew till the rice is cooked and the broth dried up. Sprinkle a little chopped parsley and serve in a deep dish without a cover, as the steam must not be kept in. ”

“ Take a well-hung cock pheasant and truss it for roasting. Farce it with a stuffing made of two woodcocks' flesh and internals (or snipes') finely minced with two ounces of fresh butter, 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 butter. 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. ”

“ 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 butter, 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. ”

“ Truss the birds, putting aside the hearts, livers, and gizzards, and dredge them with flour, then place them in a saucepan with a piece of butter, and let them brown equally, taking care of the gravy which oozes from them. Let them get cold, then carve them in such a way that the wings and legs can be taken off with a piece of breast adhering to it. ”

“ Make a stiff forcemeat from the breast of a fowl or pheasant, or the two breasts of partridge or grouse. Cut some slices of tongue into cutlet shapes. Take some more tongue, pound and pass it through a sieve and mix it with the forcemeat. Season with a little cayenne and mushroom flavour. Butter and fill up some cutlet moulds with the forcemeat, and steam them in the oven. Then turn out the cutlets and place them on a baking sheet. Glaze them and replace them in the oven for a few seconds. Dish up alternately a cutlet of tongue with a cutlet of forcemeat ”

“ After this has stood some time untie the jar and add the gravy, with a dust of cinnamon, six cloves, two bayleaves, and the juice of half a lemon. The gravy should have onion made in it, and should be thickened with a little arrowroot. A wineglassful of port should be added, and a good spoonful of red currant jelly should be dissolved in it. Next place the jar up to its neck in a large saucepan of boiling water, only taking care the jar is well tied down. Let it remain in the boiling water from an hour to an hour and a half. ”

“ Carve the birds very neatly, and strip every particle of skin and fat from the legs, wings, and breasts, braise the bodies well and put them with the skin and other trimmings into a very clean stewpan. Add two or three sliced shalots, a bayleaf, a small blade of mace and a few peppercorns, then pour in a pint of good veal gravy, and boil briskly till reduced nearly half, strain the gravy, pressing the bones well, skim off the fat, add a dust of cayenne and squeeze in a few drops of lemon ”

“ Put some pâté de foie gras forcemeat, or any other forcemeat, into a small stewpan, and spread it all over at the bottom and sides, rubbing the stewpan first with butter. Put in a couple of pigeons trussed for roasting, some sweetbreads and tongue cut into neat pieces, and some button mushrooms; arrange all these tastily in the pan, place some more forcemeat on the top, cover it over with slices of bacon, and bake it in a gentle oven. Before closing it, pour some good gravy inside. The pigeons should be seasoned with pepper [Pg 55] and salt, and just rubbed with garlic. ”

“ They must be cooked very slowly. When tender, add a chopped onion, a shalot, parsley, and pepper. Cover closely again, and when it has heated to boiling, stir in a teacupful of milk, to which have been added two beaten eggs and two tablespoonfuls of flour. Boil up and add an ounce of butter. Arrange the chickens neatly in an entrée dish, pour the gravy over and serve. ”

“ When the flesh is removed from the four large fillets and from the four smaller ones, and little remnants gathered from the carcases, place them in a mortar and pour in a gill of cream and pound well for a few minutes, then rub through clean wire sieve, place it back in the mortar and keep adding, a gill at a time, more cream until one pint of cream is used up ”

“ Braise the drumsticks, and arrange them uprightly in tent fashion, and all around and between the drumsticks should be finely chopped salad. Alternate slices of tongue and ham should be placed at the edge of the salad, and the border of the dish ornamented with thin rounds of beetroot. ”

“ Mix these thoroughly, pound them together, and season highly with salt and cayenne, and a trifle of mace. Bind together with the yolks of four eggs, one at a time, two tablespoonfuls of white sauce, and last of all two tablespoonfuls of boiled onions chopped small. Spread this mixture out on a dish, and make it up into small cutlets about three inches long, two inches wide, and a quarter of an inch thick. Drop these carefully into very hot water, and poach them gently for a few minutes. The water must not [Pg 43] boil. ”

“ Devilled Duck or Teal. Indian Recipe.
Take a pound of onions, a piece of green ginger, and six chillies. Reduce them to a pulp, then add two teaspoonfuls of mustard, pepper, salt, cayenne, and chutney, two tablespoonfuls of ketchup, and half a bottle of claret. ”