Cassell's dictionary of cookery

the oven until it is about five inches in height ; when it has done so, and is lightly coloured, take it out, remove the lid, and scoop out the inside. Have as many peaches as will be required to fill the empty space, already cut into halves and stewed in syrup until they are tender, but unbroken. Put them into the volau-vent, boil the syrup quickly for a few minutes until it is very thick, pour it upon the peaches, and serve the vol-au-vent on a neatlyfolded napkin. Time to bake a moderate-sized vol-au-vent — say one made with three-quarters of a pound of puff' paste— about twenty-five minutes. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for four or five persons. Peacock. — This beautiful and majestic bird has been introduced on the table both by the ancients and the moderns, but chiefly as a showy and ornamental dish, the bird being preserved in some of its handsome plumage. The flesh is coarse and ill-coloured. Peafowl. — The peafowl is generally to be had during the first six months of the year, and when young and well kept it tastes not unlike pheasant. It requires to be larded on the breast and legs, as the flesh is rather dry. When the cock is served, some of the feathers of the tail should be preserved and stuck into the bird before it is sent to table, and when this is neatly done it presents an excellent appearance. The hen is, however, much more frequently served than the cock. Peafowl, Larded and Roasted.— Choose a young bird, lard it closely over the breast and legs, fill it with a good veal forcemeat— but the forcemeat may be omitted — truss it firmly, and roast before a clear fire for an hour or an hour and a half, according to the size of the bird. When done enough, take off the buttered paper which was round the head {see Peafowl, Trussed), trim the feathers, glaze the larding, and serve the bird on a hot dish, with a little clear brown gravy under it. Garnish the dish with watercresses, and send bread-sauce to table in a tureen. Probable cost, uncertain. Sufficient for five or six persons. Peafowl, Trussed. — Peafowls should be trussed in the same way as pheasants, excepting that the head should be left attached to the skin of the breast unplucked. It should be carefully covered with buttered paper, and fastened under the wing. When the bird is sufficiently cooked, and before it is dished, the paper should be removed and the plumage trimmed. Pear. — The pear is very wholesome when ripe, but is not so when green. It is then, however, fit for stewing. The best pears for baking purposes are rather austere than sweet ; by cooking, part of the acid is changed into sugar. Pears may be preserved in the same way as apples ; they are also pared and dried in an oven, by which means they wiU keep for years. This method of preservation is much followed in France. Several hundred kinds of pears are cultivated in the orchards of Europe. PEA ( 623 ) PEA Pear, Ancliovy. — This is a West Indian fruit, not unlike the mango in taste. When in a green state it is sometimes pickled. Pear and Plum Jam without Sugar {see Plum and Pear Jam). Pear, Avocado, or Alligator.— A fruit,