Practical household cookery

Clean, draw, and singe a cygnet in the same style as a goose. Chop fine two pounds of beef-steak ; season with three chopped shalots, two pinches of grated nutmeg, two of pepper, and a teaspoonful of salt, and moisten with a gill of broth. Stuff the cygnet with this in the usual way and truss it for roasting ; lay on the breast two nice slices of fat bacon, and wrap it in two sheets of well- buttered paper; roast it before a clear fire for about three hours, during which time it must be frequently basted. When done, serve it with a rich gravy. 660. ROAST PEA FOWL. Pea-fowls are seldom cooked now, though young birds when fat and full in the flesh are very good roasted ; but they should first be larded over the breast and thighs and put to marinade for a day in a pint of white wine, some aromatic herbs, salt, pepper, cloves, a blade of mace, and a slice of gammon ; they should then be roasted in a similar manner to cygnet, and served with a sharp or devilled sauce mixed with the gravy of roast fowl and garnished with seasoned watercress. CHAPTER XV. REMARKS ON GAME. The markets of this country are generally well supplied with game, and such birds as pheasants, partridges, grouse, snipes, and wild -fowl are always plentiful in season. Pheasants when young have very small spurs, and the tenderness of the flesh is ascertained by pressing the pinions. Wild-duck, widgeon, teal, and other water-fowl are selected in a similar manner. Woodcock are also selected by trying the pinions and breast Partridges and grouse are tested in the same way, but their age can be ascertained by carefully examining the long feathers of the wing; those round at the tip belong to old birds, the pointed ones to young. The high flavour and peculiar delicacy of game, when hung properly, is superior to that of all other animal food. Pheasants cooked within three days of l^eing killed have none of their characteristic taste, and will simply eat as chicken ; but if hung for twelve or fifteen days in a cool place, the pleasant and agreeable aroma so much appreciated by epicures is fully imparted to the flesh. To obtain this the colour of the lower part of the birds should be of a darkgreen before cooking. . Should they, however, be found too high or even putrefied, do not on that account throw them away, as the following recipe (like many others given in JJ this work, but very little known) will remove all unpleasant taste and flavour from any game : — Wash the birds that may be full of maggots, &a, first in vinegar, then soak them in cold milk for half an hour, and then let them be wiped and cooked in the usual way, when they will eat to perfection. 66L SALMI OF PHEASANTS. Roast two hen-pheasants, and when cold remove the legs and cut off the drum-sticks ; then cut the fillets with the pinion-bones attached to them, separate the breast from the back, trim them both and cut them crosswise into halves and put these pieces in a stewpan. Pound in a mortar the drum-sticks and trimmings, and mix this purto with some Salmis sauce (No. 199), previously prepared; stir the contents well together, pour it over the pieces of pheasant, and warm it gradually without boiling. When ready squeeze in the juice of half a lemon, stir, and dish it up as a fricassee of chicken; pour the sauce over, garnish round with fried crodtons, and serve Note. — ^A few button mushrooms and slices of truffles, previously cooked with the Salmis sauce, will greatly improve this dish. 662. PHEASANT, HOUSEWIFE STYLE.