Chapter 3

Boil a brace of partridges and let them get cold. Melt about a pint of aspic jelly and take a plain round quart mould and pour about a gill of aspic jelly into it to mask it by turning the mould round and round in the hands till the inside has been entirely covered by the jelly, pour away any that does not adhere, and place the mould on ice at once. Cut a few large truffles in slices and ornament the bottom of the mould with a star, pour on about two tablespoonfuls of a little cold liquid aspic. Put into a stewpan a pint of aspic and whisk it till it becomes white as cream, then mask the mould with this; pour in enough to half fill it, then turn it round and round, covering all the inside of the mould, pouring out any superfluity. Skin the partridges and cut off all the meat and chop it up: then pound it with a gill of cream in the mortar, and then rub through a fine wire sieve. Place this in a large stewpan, add half a pint of cream, and mix it with the partridge meat. Collect the aspic jelly, melt it, and whip it up and add it to the partridge; then fill the mould with this and pour in a little liquid aspic; place on ice. To serve this, dip it into warm water the same as a mould of jelly, turn it out, and garnish with aspic croûtons alternately with very small tomatoes; around the top arrange a wreath of chervil.

Partridges à la Béarnaise.

Wipe the inside of the partridges with a damp cloth. Cut off the heads, and truss the legs like boiled fowls. Put them into a stewpan with two tablespoonfuls of oil and a piece of garlic the size of a pea, and shake them over a clear fire till slightly browned all over. Then pour over them two tablespoonfuls of strong stock, one glassful of sherry, and two tablespoonfuls of preserved tomatoes, with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Simmer all gently together until the partridges are done enough, and serve very hot. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Blanquette of Partridge aux Champignons.

Raise the flesh of a cold partridge, take off the skin; cut the flesh into scallops; put some velouté sauce in a stewpan with half a basket of mushrooms skinned and sliced. Reduce the sauce till very thick, adding enough cream to make it white. Throw it over the partridge scallops, to which add a few mushrooms.

Broiled Partridges.

Take off the heads and prepare them as if for the spit. Break down the breast bone and split them entirely up the back and lay them flat. Shred an eschalot as fine as possible and mix it with breadcrumbs. Dip the partridges in clarified butter and cover inside and outside with the crumbs. Broil them over a clear fire, turning them frequently for a quarter of an hour, and serve them up with mushroom sauce.

Chartreuse of Partridges.

Boil some carrots and turnips separately, and cut them into pieces two inches long and three quarters of an inch in diameter. Braise a couple of small summer cabbages, drain well, and stir over the fire till quite dry; then roll them on a cloth and cut them into pieces about two inches long and an inch thick. Roast a brace of partridges, and cut them into neat joints. Butter a plain entrée mould, line it at the bottom and the sides with buttered paper to form a sort of wall, then fill it up with cabbage and the pieces of partridge in alternate layers. Steam the chartreuse to make it hot, turn it out of the mould upon an entrée dish, and garnish with turnips, carrots, and French beans. Send good brown sauce to table with it.

Partridges aux Choux.

Truss a brace of partridges for boiling, and mince about half a pound of fat bacon or pork, and put it into a saucepan on the fire; when it is boiling, immerse the birds quickly, and sauté them till nicely coloured. Have ready a small savoy, which has been well washed and drained, chop it up and place it in the saucepan with the partridges, a bouquet garni, two pork sausages, pepper and salt to taste; add about half a pint of stock, and let all simmer together for two and a half hours. When ready to serve, remove the bouquet garni, and serve the chopped cabbage round the birds, and the sausages split and divided into four pieces each.

Cold Glazed Fillets of Partridge.

Roast a brace of partridges, fillet them, pound the meat from the carcases in a mortar with truffles and mushrooms; simmer the bones in some vin de Grave, with truffle trimmings, shalots, and a bayleaf, which reduce on the fire to about three-quarters the quantity; squeeze through a cloth, add two tablespoonfuls of clear stock to it, and stir half of it into the pounded meat; mix it thoroughly, and stir it until it boils; pass it through a tammy, and leave to get cold. Arrange the fillets, with a tomato cut the same shape between each one, in a circle round an entrée dish; fill the centre with the purée, cover the whole with the remainder of the sauce, and garnish with croûtons of aspic jelly.

Partridges à la Cussy.

Remove all the bones from the birds except the thigh bones and legs, stuff them with a forcemeat composed of chopped sweetbread, mushrooms, truffles, and cockscombs which have been boiled; sew up the birds to their original shape, hold them over hot coals till the breasts are quite firm, and cover them with buttered paper. Line a stewpan with a slice of ham, two or three onions, carrots, a bouquet garni, a little scraped bacon, the partridge bones which have been pounded, salt, and pepper; moisten with stock. As soon as the vegetables get soft, add the partridges, and simmer over a slow fire. When done, dish up the birds, pass the sauce through a tammy, skim off the fat, reduce, and add a few truffles or slices of mushrooms, and pour over the partridges.

Partridges with Mushrooms.

Take a brace of birds, and prepare about half a pound of button mushrooms, and place them in a stewpan with an ounce and a half of melted butter; add a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne, and let them simmer for about nine minutes, then turn out all into a plate, and when quite cold put it into the bodies of the partridges; sew and truss them securely and roast them in the usual way, and serve either mushroom sauce round them, or they can be served up with their own gravy only, and bread sauce handed.

Partridge Pie.

Cut the breasts and legs off two or three birds, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cook them in the oven smothered in butter, and covered with a buttered paper. Pound the carcases, and make them into good gravy, but do not thicken it.

Take the livers of the birds with an equal quantity of calf's liver, mince both, and toss them in butter over the fire for a minute or two; then pound them in a mortar with an equal quantity of bacon, two shalots parboiled, with pepper, salt, powdered spice, and sweet herbs to taste. When well pounded, pass it through a sieve; put a layer of forcemeat into a pie-dish, arrange the pieces of partridge on it, filling up the interstices with the forcemeat; then pour in as much gravy as is required, put on the paste cover, and bake for an hour. When done, a little more boiling hot gravy may be introduced through the hole in the centre of the crust. A little melted aspic jelly may be added to the gravy.

Partridge Pudding.

Take a brace of well-kept partridges, cut them into neat joints and skin them; line a quart pudding basin with suet crust, place a thinnish slice of rump steak at the bottom of the dish cut into pieces, put in the pieces of partridge, season with pepper and salt, and pour in about a pint of good dark stock well clarified from fat, then put on the cover and boil in the usual way.

Partridges à la Reine.

Truss a brace of partridges for boiling, fill them with good game forcemeat, with two or three truffles cut up in small pieces, and tie thin slices of fat bacon over them. Slice a small carrot into a stewpan with an onion, four or five sticks of celery, two or three sprigs of parsley, and an ounce of fresh butter. Place the partridges on these, breasts uppermost, pour over them half a pint of good stock, cover with a round of buttered paper, and simmer as gently as possible till the partridges are done enough. Strain the stock, free it carefully from grease, thicken it with a little flour and as much browning as is necessary; flavour with a little cayenne, half a dozen drops of essence of anchovy, and a tablespoonful of sherry. Stir this sauce over a gentle fire till it is on the point of boiling, then pour it over the partridges already dished up on toast, and serve instantly.

Salmi of Partridge à la Chasseur.

Take a couple of cold roast partridges--they should be rather under-cooked--cut into neat joints, removing all skin and sinew, and lay the pieces in a stewpan with four tablespoonfuls of salad oil, six tablespoonfuls of claret, the strained juice of a lemon, salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Simmer gently for a few minutes till the salmi is hot throughout, then serve directly. Garnish with fried sippets.

Scalloped Partridges.

Take the fillets of a brace of partridges, sauté them in butter till firm, drain them, and put in some good game stock and two tablespoonfuls of Allemagne sauce; when boiling put in the scalloped partridges, with two or three peeled mushrooms, a small piece of butter, and the juice of half a lemon. Dish up the scallops in a circle, and fill the same in the centre.

Partridges à la Sierra Morena.

Take a brace of partridges properly trussed; cut into dice one inch thick a little less than half a pound of bacon, and put them in the stewpan; cut two large onions in quarters, take six whole black peppers, a little salt, one bayleaf, half a gill of vinegar, one gill of port wine, one gill of water, one tablespoonful of salad oil, and put all these ingredients into the stewpan; put on the lid, and cover the stewpan with half a sheet of brown kitchen paper; put the stewpan on a slow fire to stew for two hours; then take out the partridges and dish them and put round some of the quarters of onions which have been stewed. Pass the gravy through a sieve and send to table.

Partridge Soufflé.

Roast a partridge, chop and pound the flesh in a mortar with a few spoonfuls of Béchamel sauce and a small piece of butter. Season well; mix with this four eggs, and strain the whole through a sieve into a basin. Beat the whites of the eggs stiffly, and mix lightly with the purée. Put all into the soufflé dish, and let it bake in the oven for twenty minutes. Cover the top with a piece of paper to prevent its burning.

Partridge Soufflé.

Another way.

Skin a brace of cold roast partridges, cut off all the meat, and pound it in a mortar with the birds' livers; warm up in a saucepan with a little reduced stock, and pass through a tammy. Break up the bones and put them into a saucepan with a good brown sauce and stock, and reduce till nearly a glaze; add the partridge purée and half an ounce of butter, two yolks of eggs, and the two whites whipped, which must be stirred in gradually; pour into a soufflé dish, and bake as soon as the soufflé has risen sufficiently. Serve it _at once_.

Perdreaux en Surprise.

Take two roasted partridges, cut out the whole of the breasts in a square piece, so as to make a square aperture, clean away all the spongy substance from the interior, and make a _salpicon_ to be put inside the birds as follows:--Cut into very small dice the flesh taken out of the birds, also some truffles and pepper and salt. Put these into a little velouté sauce, and with this stuff the birds. Dip them into eggs and breadcrumbs put some bits of butter all over, and fry them of a nice colour. Dish up and serve with Espagnole sauce.

Stewed Partridges.

Lard a brace of partridges, and place them in a stewpan with onions, carrots, rashers of bacon, a bouquet garni, and equal quantities of stock and light claret, and simmer over a slow fire, skimming constantly. When done, dish up the partridges, reduce the sauce, and pass through a sieve and pour over the birds.

Partridge à la Toussenel.

Take a brace of partridges, stuff them with the livers of the birds minced up together with butter and some truffles which have been cooked in champagne; wrap each bird up in a figleaf or vineleaf, and over these place a sheet of buttered paper. Then put the birds on the spit, and roast till about three-fourths cooked; then take off the spit, and under the four members of each bird spread a mixture of breadcrumb worked into a farce with pepper, butter, parsley, shalot, and grated nutmeg. Replace the birds on the spit, and let them finish roasting, basting them continually alternately with broth and champagne. These drippings, to which the grated peel of one lemon and the juice of a Seville orange are added, form the sauce to be served with it.

Partridge Tartlets.

Bouchées de Perdreaux.

Take the breasts of two cooked partridges, about six ounces, and cut into very small pieces. Mince two ounces of lean ham, one truffle, and six mushrooms; stir this mixture into a gill of white sauce. Butter nine small moulds, line them neatly with this mixture, smooth well over with a hot wet knife, fill in with minced partridge, coat them neatly over the top with the quenelle meat, steam them for twenty minutes; dish on a circle of mashed potato, pour good white sauce over and round them, and serve French beans or tomatoes in the centre.

Partridge à la Vénitienne.

Put a brace of partridges into a stewpan with butter, two glasses of Chablis, and two glasses of stock, add a bouquet garni, very little garlic, two cloves, salt and pepper; let them simmer gently. Take them off when done, pass the gravy through a sieve, add a little butter and flour to thicken it, a small piece of glaze, a little cayenne and salt. Pour the sauce over the partridges, and cover over all with two spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese; put a few breadcrumbs and pieces of clarified butter on this, and set the whole on a baking sheet in the oven. Brown the birds well, and serve with sauce espagnole or sauce piquante.

Pintail.

This bird should be roasted at a clear quick fire, well floured when first laid down, turned briskly, and basted with butter _constantly_. It takes about twenty-five minutes to roast, and then it should be laid down before the fire for two or three more, when it will yield a very rich gravy. Score the breast, and sprinkle a little cayenne on it, and send cut lemon up to table to hand with it.

Boiled Pheasant.

Cover with buttered paper and simmer as gently as possible till it is done enough. Pour either celery, horseradish, oyster, or soubise sauce over it, and serve more in a tureen.

Boudins of Pheasant à la Richelieu.

Take a cold pheasant and pick the meat from it; remove the skin and sinews, and pound the flesh in a mortar to a smooth paste. Mix its weight with the same quantity of pounded potatoes or panada and six ounces of fresh butter. 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 boil. Take them up, drain, and let them get cold; then egg and breadcrumb them, and fry them in hot butter a nice pale colour. Make a gravy by peeling and frying four onions in butter till lightly browned, dredge an ounce of flour over them, and pour upon them half a pint of stock, a glassful of claret, the bones of the pheasant, and pepper and salt. Simmer over fire for twenty minutes, strain through sieve, and it is ready for use. Serve the boudins in a circle with the gravy round.

Pheasant à la Bonne Femme.

Put a well-hung pheasant in a buttered stewpan with three ounces of good beef dripping and six ounces of ham cut into dice. Let the pheasant fry over fire till it is nicely and lightly browned, then add a tablespoonful of chutnee and three large Spanish onions cut in rings; cover the saucepan, and let it simmer till all are cooked. Take up the bird and put it on a dish, beat the onions over the fire for ten minutes, season with pepper and salt, and serve round the pheasant.

Pheasant à la Brillat-Savarin.

Hang a pheasant till tender, pluck, draw, and lard it carefully. Bone and draw two woodcocks, keep the trail separate, throw away the gizzards, chop up the meat with beef marrow which has been cooked by steam, scraped bacon, pepper, salt, mixed herbs and truffles; fill the pheasant with this stuffing, which fix in with a piece of bread the shape of a cork and tie it round with fine thread. Lay a thick slice of bread two inches broader than the pheasant in the dripping pan; pound the tail of the woodcock in a mortar with truffles, add anchovy, a little scraped bacon, and a lump of fresh butter; spread a thick layer on the bread, roast the pheasant over it so as to catch all the dripping and dish up on it.

Crème of Pheasants à la Moderne.

Take two pheasants, remove the skin from the breast, and cut from each the two large fillets and the two under ones; remove every particle of the white flesh that did not come away with the fillets, leaving the legs and pinions on the carcases.

Spread each fillet on a board and with a knife scrape the flesh from the skin of the fillet. 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; now take two plain cylinder moulds, well buttered and ornamented according to fancy with truffles (or small dariole moulds may be used), fill carefully and place a piece of buttered paper on the top of the mould or moulds, and place them in a stewpan with about a pint of boiling water and let them simmer very gently for twenty minutes and turn out. Make a sauce to serve with this dish of the carcases, &c., mixed with rich Béchamel sauce, and when dished there should be a garnish of peas, mushrooms, or shred truffles.

Pheasant Cutlets.

Take a well-hung young pheasant, cut it when prepared into neat joints. Take out the bones carefully and shape the joints into cutlets; flatten these with the cutlet-bat, season rather highly and cover them thickly with egg and finely-grated breadcrumbs. Put the bones and trimmings into a saucepan with a carrot, a turnip, an onion, a handful of parsley, a bouquet garni, a bayleaf, pepper, salt, and as much water as will cover them. Let them stew slowly till the flavour of the herbs is drawn out, then thicken gravy and strain. Fry the cutlets in hot fat till a bright brown. Serve on a hot dish in a circle with one of the small bones stuck into each cutlet; pour the gravy round.

Galantine of Pheasant à la Mode.

Bone a pheasant, cut off the legs and press what is left of the leg inside, and cut away any sinews. Take three-quarters of a pound of sausage meat, a dozen oysters, three or four truffles, a slice of tongue, and three rashers of fat bacon. Cut the truffles into _small_ dice, also the tongue and bacon. Mix all together with the sausage meat, adding a little cayenne pepper, half a teaspoonful of herbs mixed, half an ounce of melted gelatine, and two yolks of eggs. Mix well together, and spread over the pheasant evenly. Then roll it up lengthways and tightly in a cloth and place it in saucepan to boil for an hour, then take it out and remove the cloth carefully. To serve this dish, cut it up into thin slices and dish them in a circle, letting one piece overlap the other uniformly all round. Place a little cress salad compressed into a ball on the top, and at the base a few croûtons of aspic jelly at an equal distance apart, and a little chopped aspic between. Sprinkle a little over the salad ball at the top.

Fritôt of Crème of Pheasant.

Take eight tartlet tins, not too large, butter them, and fill about three parts full of crème of pheasant and place them in the oven for a few minutes. When quite firm to the touch, remove them from oven, and when cold dip each one into a light batter and fry in clean lard of a light brown. The batter should be made with half a pound of Vienna flour, the half of a yolk of egg, a dessertspoonful of salad oil, and a gill of pale ale. Mix all these together lightly till it will mask the point of one's finger; if too thick, add a drop or two more ale. Serve with brown or mushroom sauce. Send this dish very hot to table.

Partridge à la Crème.

See Pheasant ditto.

Fritôt of Partridge à la Crème.

See Pheasant ditto.

Pheasant and Macaroni.

Pull the flesh with two forks from a cold roast pheasant. Put the bones and trimmings 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 butter, 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 butter. 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 butter, a large tablespoonful of finest Lucca oil, and half a pound of bacon fat scraped 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 claretglassful 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 à la Sainte Alliance.

An expensive dish.