Roast Pheasant. — Allow from three-quarters of an hour
to an hour for roasting, and be very careful to baste the bird
often. Hand brown gravy, bread sauce, and fried crumbs.
Boiled Pheasant. — Boil like a chicken with plenty of
vegetables. Serve with Celery Sauce. For this, choose good
sticks of Celery, wash and wipe them, pare off any discoloured
parts, but do not scrape the sticks. Cut up the Celery, put it
into cold water and let it come to the boil. Strain off the
water, and add to the Celery a pint of milk, and a pint of veal
or chicken stock. Bring it again to the boil, skim, and let the
Celeiy simmer till quite tender. This will take about two
hours. Thicken, stir well, pass the sauce through a strainer,
add a tablespoonful of cream, and keep it warm in the bain-
marie. This is less rich and less troublesome than the old-
fashioned way of boiling the Celery in half a pint of cream,
stirring it all the while ovei’ a low fire. It is an improvement
to stuff the Pheasant itself with Celery cut in pieces and
blanched for a few minutes in boiling water. Fill the cavity
of the bird with this and its chopped liver ; a little onion✪ Boiled Pheasant with Celery Sauce may
be added.
Black Game. — Black Cock and Grey Hen are in season
from the twentieth of August till the tenth of December.
284
COOKING OF GAME AND VENISON
Cook and serve Black Game like Grouse, only allowing more
time, as the birds are much lai’ger. A Black Cock generally
Aveiglis four pounds, whilst the largest Grouse does not weigh
half so much.
Woodcock. — Woodcock is generally very lightly roasted ;
indeed some people say that the bird is sufficiently cooked if it
is merely carried through the kitchen. The reasonable time to
allow for roasting it is a quarter of an hour. Woodcock are
not drawn, and, as has already been observed, their skin is so
thin that they must be plucked with the greatest care. Bacon
must be tied over the breast, and the bird must be continually
basted. A piece of buttered toast should be laid in a baking-
tin under the Woodcock so as to receive all the droppings
whilst it is roasting. Serve the bird on this toast, and hand
fried potatoes.
Snipe. — Snipe are best roasted in the Dutch oven, and
great care is needed to prevent their getting dry. Allow from
eight to ten minutes for roasting. Cover the breasts Avith
bacon, and do not cease basting. Lay a square of buttered
toast under each Snipe to catch the melted butter and gravy
which fall from the bird, and serve the Snipe on the toast as
hot as possible.
Woodcock and Snipe are both in season from October to
March.
Page 196 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Roast Pheasant. — Allow from three-quarters of an hour to an hour for roasting, and be very careful to baste the bird often. Hand brown gravy, bread sauce, and fried crumbs.
Boiled Pheasant. — Boil like a chicken with plenty of vegetables. Serve with Celery Sauce. For this, choose good sticks of Celery, wash and wipe them, pare off any discoloured parts, but do not scrape the sticks. Cut up the Celery, put it into cold water and let it come to the boil. Strain off the water, and add to the Celery a pint of milk, and a pint of veal or chicken stock. Bring it again to the boil, skim, and let the Celery simmer till quite tender. This will take about two hours. Thicken, stir well, pass the sauce through a strainer, add a tablespoonful of cream, and keep it warm in the bain-marie. This is less rich and less troublesome than the old-fashioned way of boiling the Celery in half a pint of cream, stirring it all the while ovei’ a low fire. It is an improvement to stuff the Pheasant itself with Celery cut in pieces and blanched for a few minutes in boiling water. Fill the cavity of the bird with this and its chopped liver ; a little onion may be added.
Black Game. — Black Cock and Grey Hen are in season from the twentieth of August till the tenth of December.
Cook and serve Black Game like Grouse, only allowing more time, as the birds are much larger. A Black Cock generally weighs four pounds, whilst the largest Grouse does not weigh half so much.
Woodcock. — Woodcock is generally very lightly roasted ; indeed some people say that the bird is sufficiently cooked if it is merely carried through the kitchen. The reasonable time to allow for roasting it is a quarter of an hour. Woodcock are not drawn, and, as has already been observed, their skin is so thin that they must be plucked with the greatest care. Bacon must be tied over the breast, and the bird must be continually basted. A piece of buttered toast should be laid in a bakingtin under the Woodcock so as to receive all the droppings whilst it is roasting. Serve the bird on this toast, and hand fried potatoes.
Snipe. — Snipe are best roasted in the Dutch oven, and great care is needed to prevent their getting dry. Allow from eight to ten minutes for roasting. Cover the breasts with bacon, and do not cease basting. Lay a square of buttered toast under each Snipe to catch the melted butter and gravy which fall from the bird, and serve the Snipe on the toast as hot as possible.
Woodcock and Snipe are both in season from October to March.
Records on this page
Boiled Pheasant with Celery Sauce