Canetons Froids1765—CANETONA LA CUILLERBraise the duckling with Madeira, and cook it well. Put into aterrinejust large enough to hold it; cover with the braising-liquor, strained through a napkin, and combined with enough aspic jelly to completely coat the duckling. Leave to cool.When about to serve, clear the surface of grease, first by means of a spoon, then with boiling water, and dish on a napkin.1766—CANETON GLACÉ AUX MANDARINESPoëlethe duckling, and let it cool in its liquor.When it is quite cold, set it on its back; glaze it with aspic jelly, and place it on a low rice or carved-bread cushion lying on a long dish.Surround it with emptied tangerines, filled with coldmoussemade from ducklings’ livers and foie gras. Alternate the tangerines with small timbales of aspic, combined with thepoëling-liquor and the juice squeezed from the sections of the tangerines.1767—CANETON GLACÉ AUX CERISESRoast the duckling, and keep it underdone.When it is quite cold, remove the breast, and remove the bones in such wise as to form a case with the carcass. Cut each fillet into eight thin slices; coat them with a brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate with truffles. Fill the carcass with amoussemade from the remains of the meat, the duckling’s liver, and some foie gras, and shape it so as to imitate the convex breast of the bird.Glaze with aspic, and set in the refrigerator, that themoussemay harden. When the latter is firm, lay the chaud-froid-coated collops upon it, and set the piece in a deep, square dish. Surround with cold, stoned, morello cherries, poached in Bordeaux wine, and cover these with an aspic jelly flavoured with duckling essence.[562]1768—AIGUILLETTES DE CANETONSA L’ÉCARLATEPoëlea Rouen duckling until it is just cooked, and let it cool in its liquor. Raise the fillets; skin them, and cut them each into eight thin slices. Coat them with a brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate with truffles. Prepare an equal number of slices of tongue the size and shape of the slices of duckling, and coat them with aspic.With the remains and the meat of the legs, prepare amousse, and pour it into a square or oval silver dish; let it cool, and then set theaiguillettesof duckling and the slices of tongue upon it, alternating them in so doing, and cover themoussewith aspic.1769—MOUSSE ET MOUSSELINES DE CANETON ROUENNAISThese are prepared with the same quantities as the chickenmoussesandmousselines, but they allow of no other sauce than the Rouennaise or the Bigarrade, nor of any other garnishes than sections of orange, cherries, vegetable purées, or creams.1770—MOUSSE DE CANETON ROUENNAISWith the exception of the nature of the principal ingredient, the preparation, quantities, and moulding of thismousseare the same as for chickenmousse. The reader is, therefore, begged to refer to No.1670, which may be applied perfectly well to Rouen duckling.1771—SOUFFLÉ FROID DE CANETONA L’ORANGEProceed as for the “Caneton aux cerises,” but with this difference, that the duckling is used entirely for themousse.Serve, similarly, in a square dish, and surround with sections of oranges skinned raw. Cover with an aspic jelly flavoured with the juice of Seville oranges, and combined with a liqueur-glassful of curaçao per pint of jelly.1772—TERRINE DE CANETON ROUENNAISA LA GELÉEFirst prepare the followingforcemeat:—Heat three oz. of fat bacon, cut into small dice, and three oz. of butter in a frying-pan. Throw six fine ducks’ livers (seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with a pinch of powdered thyme, bay-leaf, and half an onion chopped) into this fat. Toss them over a fierce fire, just long enough to heat them; leave them to cool, and rub them through a sieve.Bone the breast of a Rouen duckling and its back as far as the region of the legs, and suppress the tail. Stuff it with the preparation given above; truss as for an entrée, and put[563]it in aterrinejust large enough to hold it. Sprinkle it with a glassful of brandy; cover with a slice of bacon, and cook it in thebain-marie, in the oven, and under cover for forty minutes.With the carcass and some strong veal stock, prepare two-thirds pint of excellent aspic, and, when withdrawing the duckling from the oven, cover it with this aspic, and let it cool. When about to serve, remove all grease, first by means of a spoon, and then by means of boiling water, and set theterrineon a napkin lying on a long dish.1773—TIMBALE DE CANETONA LA VOISINRoast a Rouen duckling, and keep it underdone; let it cool, and raise its fillets. With the carcass prepare a Salmis sauce, and thicken it with aspic as for a chaud-froid sauce.Cut the fillets into slices, coat them with Salmis sauce, and leave this to set. Let a thickness of sauce set on the bottom of a timbale.Upon this sauce lay some of the coated slices, alternating them with slices of truffle, and cover with a thin layer of aspic jelly. Lay another row of slices of fillet and of truffles, followed as before by a layer of aspic, and continue thus in the same order. Complete with a somewhat thick layer of aspic, and keep in the cool until ready for serving.N.B.—This old and excellent cold entrée is really only a cold salmis. The procedure may be applied to all game suited to the salmis method of preparation. It is the simplest and certainly the best way of serving them cold.1774—PINTADES (GUINEA FOWL)The guinea-fowl is not equal to the pheasant from the gastronomical standpoint, though it often takes the place of the latter among the roasts after the shooting season. But, though it has neither the fine flavour nor the delicate meat of the pheasant, it does good service notwithstanding. The majority of pheasant recipes may be applied to it, especially à la Bohémienne, à la crème, enChartreuse, en salmis, à la choucroûte, &c.1775—PIGEONS AND SQUABS (PIGEONS ET PIGEONNEAUX)Young pigeons are not very highly esteemed by English gourmets, and this is more particularly to be regretted, since, when the birds are of excellent quality, they are worthy the best tables.1776—PIGEONNEAUXA LA BORDELAISOpen the squabs down the back; season them; slightly flatten them, and toss them in butter. They may just as[564]well be halved as left whole. Dish, and surround with the garnish given under “Poulet à la Bordelaise” (No.1538).1777—PIGEONNEAUX EN CASSEROLEA LA PAYSANNECook the squabs in the oven in an earthenware saucepan.When they are two-thirds done, surround them with one and one-half oz. of salted breast of pork, cut into small dice andblanched, and two oz. of sliced andsautédpotatoes for each pigeon. Complete the cooking of the whole gently, and, when about to serve, add a little good gravy.1778—PIGEONNEAUX EN CHARTREUSEPrepare theChartreusein a Charlotte mould, as explained under No.1182. Line the bottom and sides with a layer of braised, drained, and pressed cabbages; in the centre set the squabs, cooked “à la casserole” and cut into two lengthwise, and alternate them with small rectangles ofblanched, salted breast of pork, and sausage roundels. Cover with cabbages, and steam in abain-mariefor thirty minutes.Let theChartreusestand for five minutes after withdrawing from thebain-marie; turn out on a round dish, and surround with a few tablespoonfuls of half-glaze sauce.1779—PIGEONNEAUX EN CRAPAUDINECut the young pigeons horizontally in two, from the apex of the breast to the wings. Open them; flatten them slightly; season them; dip them in melted butter, roll them in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently.Serve a devilled sauce at the same time.1780—PIGEONNEAUX EN COMPOTEFry in butter two oz. ofblanched, salted breast of pork and two oz. of raw mushrooms, peeled and quartered. Drain the bacon and the mushrooms, and set the squabs, trussed as for an entrée, to fry in the same butter.Withdraw them when they are brown; drain them of butter; swill with half a glassful of white wine; reduce the latter, and add sufficient brown stock and half-glaze sauce (tomatéd), in equal quantities, to cover the birds. Plunge them into this sauce, with a faggot, and simmer until they are cooked and the sauce is reduced to half.This done, transfer the squabs to another saucepan; add the pieces of bacon, the mushrooms, and six small onions, glazed with butter, for each bird; strain the sauce over the[565]whole through a fine sieve; simmer for ten minutes more, and serve very hot.1781—PIGEON PIELine the bottom and sides of a pie-dish with very thin, flattened collops of lean beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with chopped shallots.Set the quartered pigeons inside the dish, and separate them with a halved hard-boiled egg-yolk for each pigeon. Moisten half-way up with good gravy; cover with a layer of puff paste;gild; streak; make a slit in the top, and bake for about one and one-half hours in a good, moderate oven.1782—VOL AU VENT DE PIGEONNEAUXSuppress the feet and the pinions;poëlethe squabs, and only just cook them.Cut each bird into four, and mix them with a garnish “à la Financière” (No.1474) combined with thepoëling-liquor. Pour the whole into a vol-au-vent crust, and dish on a napkin.1783—CÔTELETTES DE PIGEONNEAUXA LA NESLESCut them in two, and reserve the claw, which serves as the bone of the cutlet. Flatten them slightly; season, and fry them in butter on one side only. Cool them under slight pressure; coat their fried side, dome-fashion, with some godiveau with cream, combined with a third of its bulk ofgratinforcemeat and chopped truffles. Set them on a tray, and place in a moderate oven to complete the cooking, and poach the forcemeat. Dish in a circle, and separate the cutlets with collops of veal sweetbreads, dipped in beaten eggs, rolled in bread-crumbs, and tossed in butter. Garnish their midst with mushrooms and sliced fowls’ livers, tossed in butter and cohered with a few tablespoonfuls of Madeira sauce.1784—CÔTELETTES DE PIGEONNEAUX EN PAPILLOTESCut the pigeons in two, as above; stiffen them in butter, and enclose them inpapillotesas explained under “Côtelettes de Veau en Papillotes” (No.1259).1785—CÔTELETTES DE PIGEONNEAUXA LA SÉVIGNÉSautéthe half-pigeons in butter, and leave them to cool under slight pressure. Garnish their cut sides dome-fashion with asalpiconof white chicken-meat, mushrooms, and truffles, the whole cohered by means of a cold Allemande sauce.Dip them in beaten egg, roll them in bread-crumbs, and cook them gently in clarified butter.[566]Dish them in a circle; garnish their midst with asparagus-heads cohered with butter, and serve a light, Madeira sauce separately.1786—SUPRÊMES DE PIGEONNEAUXA LA DIPLOMATERaise the fillets and slightly flatten them; stiffen them in butter, and leave them to cool under slight pressure. This done, dip them in a Villeroy sauce, combined with chopped herbs and mushrooms, and cool them. Dip each fillet in beaten egg; roll them in bread-crumbs, and fry just before serving.Dish in a circle, and in their midst set a heap of fried parsley. Send separately a garnish of pigeon quenelles, mushrooms, and small, olive-shaped truffles, to which a half-glaze sauce flavoured with pigeon essence has been added.1787—SUPRÊMES DE PIGEONNEAUXA LA SAINT-CLAIRWith the meat of the legs prepare amousselineforcemeat, and, with the latter, make some quenelles the size of small olives, and set them to poach.Poëlethe breasts, without colouration, on a thick litter of sliced onions, and keep them underdone. Add a little velouté to the onions; rub them through tammy, and put the quenelles in this sauce.In the middle of a shallowcroustade, set a pyramid ofcèpestossed in butter. Raise the fillets; skin them, and set them on thecèpes; coat them with the prepared sauce; surround with a thread of meat glaze, and place the quenelles all round.1788—SUPRÊMES DE PIGEONNEAUXA LA MARIGNYCut off the legs, and, with their meat, prepare a forcemeat. Poach the latter on a tray, and stamp it out with an oval cutter into pieces the size of thesuprêmes.Cover the breasts with slices of bacon, andpoëlethem, taking care to only just cook them.Quickly raise thesuprêmes, skin them, and set each upon an oval of forcemeat, sticking them on by means of a littlegratinforcemeat.Put thesuprêmesin the oven for a moment, that this forcemeat may poach. Dish thesuprêmesround a pyramid consisting of a smooth purée of peas, and coat with a velouté sauce, finished with an essence prepared from the remains and thepoëling-liquor of the breasts.1789—SUPRÊMES DE PIGEONNEAUX AUX TRUFFESRaise thesuprêmes, flatten them slightly; toss them in clarified butter, and set them on a border of smooth forcemeat,[567]laid on a dish by means of a piping-bag, and poached in the front of the oven.Swill the vegetable-pan with Madeira; add four fine slices of truffle for eachsuprême, and a little pale melted meat glaze, and finish with a moderate amount of butter.Coat thesuprêmeswith this sauce, and set the slices of truffle upon it.1790—MOUSSELINES DE PIGEONNEAUXA L’EPICURIENNEPrepare and poach thesemousselineslike the chicken ones, but make them a little smaller. Dish them in the form of a crown; set thereon a young pigeon’s fillet roasted, and in their midst arrange a garnish of peas with lettuce. Coat with afumetprepared from the carcasses and cohered with a few tablespoonfuls of velouté.N.B.—Pigeons and squabs may also be prepared after the recipes given for chicks.Relevés and EntréesGAMEVENISON AND GROUND GAMEThe stag (Fr. Cerf) and the fallow deer (Fr. Daim) supply the only venison that is consumed in England, where the roebuck (Fr. Chevreuil) is not held in very high esteem. True, the latter’s flesh is very often mediocre in quality, and saddles and legs of roebuck often have to be imported from the Continent when they are to appear on an important menu.On the other hand, venison derived from the stag or red deer and the fallow deer proper is generally of superior quality. The former has perhaps more flavour, but the latter, which is supplied by animals bred in herds on large private estates, has no equal as far as delicacy and tenderness are concerned, while it is covered with white and scented fat, which is greatly appreciated by English connoisseurs.Although these two kinds of venison are generally served as relevés, they belong more properly to the roasts, and I shall give their recipes a little later on. In any case, only half of the hind-quarters (that is to say, the leg together with that part of the saddle which reaches from it to the floating ribs) is served at high-class tables.I shall now, therefore, only give the various recipes dealing with roebuck, it being understood that these, if desired, may be applied to corresponding joints of the stag or deer.[568]1791—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL ET CUISSOTSaddles and legs of roebuck may be prepared after the same recipes, and allow of the same garnishes. The recipes for saddle which I give hereafter may therefore be applied equally well to legs.Whichever joint be selected, it must first be cleared of all tendons and then larded with larding bacon. The last operation is no more essential than is themarinadingwhich in France has become customary with such pieces. It might even be said with justice thatmarinadingis not only useless, but harmful, more particularly in the case of young animals whose meat has been well hung.Unlike many other specimens of game, roebuck has to be eaten fresh; it does not suit it to be in the least tainted. I should like to point out here that game shot in ambush is best, owing to the fact that animals killed after a chase decompose very quickly, and thereby lose a large proportion of their flavour.The saddle of the roebuck generally consists of the whole of the latter’s back, from the withers to the tail, in which case the bones of the ribs are cut very short, that the joint may lie steady at all points.At the croup-end, cut the joint on either side diagonally, from the point of the haunch to the root of the tail. Sometimes, however, the saddle only consists of the lumbar portion of the back, and, in this case, the ribs are cut up to be cooked as cutlets.1792—SELLE DE CHEVREUILA L’ALLEMANDEMarinadethe saddle for two or three days in rawmarinadeNo.169, and roast it, on a narrow baking-tray, upon the vegetables of themarinade.As soon as the joint is cooked, withdraw it; swill the tray with a littlemarinade, and almost entirely reduce. Clear of grease; add two-thirds pint of cream and one powdered juniper berry; reduce by a third; complete with a few drops of melted glaze, and rub through tammy.Serve this sauce at the same time as the saddle, which set on a long dish.1793—SELLE DE CHEVREUILA LA BADEN-BADENThe saddle should bemarinadedand well dried before being set to cook.Poëleit on the vegetables of themarinade.When it is cooked, put it on a long dish, and, at either end[569]of it, set a garnish of stewed pears, unsugared, but flavoured with cinnamon and lemon-rind. Pour one-third pint of game stock into the tray in which the joint was cooked; cook for ten minutes; strain; clear of grease, and thicken with arrowroot.Serve this thickened stock separately, and send some red-currant jelly to the table at the same time.1794—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL AUX CERISESKeep the saddle for twelve hours inmarinade(No.169) made from verjuice instead of vinegar. Roast it on the spit, basting it with themarinade, and keep it slightly underdone.At the same time, serve a cherry sauce consisting of equal quantities of poivrade sauce and red-currant jelly, to each pint of which add three oz. of semi-candied cherries, set to soak in hot water thirty minutes beforehand.N.B.—This saddle need not bemarinadedif it be desired plain.1795—SELLE DE CHEVREUILA LA CUMBERLANDRoast it like a haunch of venison, withoutmarinadingit. Send it to the table with a timbale of French beans, cohered with butter, and serve a Cumberland sauce (No.134) separately.1796—SELLE DE CHEVREUILA LA CRÉOLEMarinadeit for a few hours only, and roast it on the spit, basting it the while with themarinade.Set it on a long dish, and surround it with bananas tossed in butter.At the same time serve a Roberts sauce, combined with a third of its bulk of Poivrade sauce, and one oz. of fresh butter per pint.1797—SELLE DE CHEVREUILA LA BEAUJEULard and roast it. Set it on a long dish, and surround it with artichoke-bottoms, garnished with lentil purée, and alternated with chestnuts cooked in a small quantity of consommé and glazed.Serve a venison sauce separately.1798—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL AU GENIÈVRELard the saddle, and roast it. Swill the baking-tray with a small glassful of burned gin; add one powdered juniper berry and one-sixth pint of double cream. Reduce the cream to half; complete with a few tablespoonfuls of poivrade sauce and a few drops of lemon juice. Serve this sauce with the saddle, and send separately some hot stewed apples, very slightly sugared.[570]1799—SELLE DE CHEVREUIL AVEC SAUCES DIVERSESSaddle of roebuck may also be served with the followingsauces:—Poivrade, Venison, Grand-Veneur, Moscovite, Roberts, &c. The selected accompaniment determines the title of the dish.1800—NOISETTES ET CÔTELETTES DE CHEVREUILThe same recipes may be applied to both. Trim them after the manner of lamb noisettes or cutlets. They may be moderatelymarinaded, but they may also be used fresh. In the latter case, fry them in butter over a somewhat fierce fire, like the lamb noisettes.If they have beenmarinaded, it is better to toss them very quickly in very hot oil, and then to dry them before dishing them.It is in the dishing only that the noisettes and the cutlets differ; for, whereas the latter are always dished in a crown, one overlapping the other, or each separated from the rest bycroûtonsof bread-crumb fried in butter, the noisettes are always dished in a circle on small, ovalcroûtonsfried in butter, or on tartlet crusts containing some kind of garnish.1801—CÔTELETTES DE CHEVREUIL CONTISautéthe cutlets in very hot oil; dry them; dish them in a crown, and separate them by similarly-shaped collops of salted tongue.Swill the saucepan with a little white wine; add this liquor to a Poivrade sauce, and coat the cutlets with it.Serve a light, buttered purée of lentils at the same time.1802—CÔTELETTES DE CHEVREUIL DIANESpread an even layer, one-third inch thick, ofmousselinegame forcemeat on a tray. Poach this forcemeat in a steamer or in a very moderate oven, and cut it into triangles equal in size to the cutlets.Toss the latter as already explained; dish them in a crown, and separate them bycroûtonsof forcemeat already prepared.Coat the whole with poivrade sauce, thinned by means of a little beaten cream, and garnished with crescents of truffle and hard-boiled white of egg, and serve a purée of chestnuts at the same time.1803—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL AU GENIÈVRECook the noisettes in smoking oil. Dry them, dish them,[571]and coat them with the same sauce as that given under “Selle au Genièvre” (No.1798).Serve some stewed apples at the same time.1804—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL ROMANOFFCook the noisettes; set them on stuffed sections of cucumber, prepared after No.2124a, and place a slice of truffle on each noisette. Coat with a Poivrade sauce with cream, and serve a mushroom purée separately.1805—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL VALENCIACook the noisettes, and dish them in a circle, each on a roundcroûtonof brioche fried in butter, and coat lightly with bigarrade sauce.Serve a sauceboat of bigarrade sauce and an orange salad at the same time.1806—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL VILLENEUVECarefully clear the meat of the roebuck of all tendons, and chop it up with a knife, combining with it the while the third of its weight of fresh butter, as much bread-crumb, soaked in milk, and pressed, and one-third pint of fresh cream per lb. of meat. Season, divide into portions weighing two oz., mould to a nice round shape, wrap in pig’s caul, cook quickly at the last moment, and dish in the form of a crown.Coat with Chasseur sauce, and send a timbale of celery purée separately.1807—NOISETTES DE CHEVREUIL WALKYRIESautéthe noisettes in the usual way, and dish them in the form of a crown, each on a small quoit of “Pommes Berny” (No.2184). On each noisette lay a fine, grilled mushroom, garnished with a rosette of Soubise purée, made by means of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe. Pour a little venison sauce over the dish, and send a sauceboat of it separately.N.B.—Roebuck noisettes and cutlets are still served with purées of chestnuts or celery, with truffles,cèpes, mushrooms, &c.The sauces best suited to them are Poivrade sauce and its derivatives, such as Venison sauce, Grand-Veneur sauce, Romaine sauce, &c., also Roberts sauce Escoffier.1808—CIVET DE CHEVREUILFor “Civet de Chevreuil” the shoulders, the neck, and the breast are used, and these pieces are cut up and set tomarinadesix hours beforehand with the aromatics and the same red wine as that with which the civet will be moistened.[572]When about to prepare the civet, drain and dry these pieces, and proceed exactly as for “Civet de Lièvre” (No.1821), except for the thickening by means of blood, which the difficulty of obtaining the blood of the roebuck perforce precludes.This civet, which should be classed among dishes for the home, is usually served in the form of a stew; for, inasmuch as the final thickening with blood is lacking, it can only be an imitation of the civet. When, therefore, hare’s blood is available, it should always be used in finishing this dish exactly after the manner of No.1821—that is to say, the preparation should be given the characteristic stamp of civet by means of a final thickening with blood.1809—BOAR AND YOUNG BOAR (SANGLIER ET MARCASSIN)When the wild boar is over two years of age, it is no more fit to be served as food. Between one and two years it should be used with caution, and the various roebuck recipes may then be applied to it. But only the young boar less than twelve months old should be prepared in decent kitchens.The hams of a young boar, salted and smoked, supply a very passable relevé, which allows of varying the ordinary menu. They are treated exactly like pork hams.The saddle and the cushions may be prepared after the recipes given for saddle of roebuck, and the same holds good with the cutlets and the noisettes.Finally, the saddle may be served cold, in a daube, when it is prepared after No.1173.As the various parts of the young boar are covered with fat, it is understood that they are not larded, nor do they need it.1810—HARE AND LEVERET (LIÈVRE ET LEVRAUT)As a result of one of those freaks of taste, of which I have already pointed out some few examples, hare is not nearly so highly esteemed as it deserves in England; and the fact seems all the more strange when one remembers that in many of her counties excellent specimens of the species are to be found.Whatever be the purpose for which it is required, always select a young hare, five or six lbs. in weight. The age may be ascertained asfollows:—Grasp one ear close to its extremity with both hands, and pull in opposite directions; if the ear tear, the beast is young; if it resist the strain, the hare is old, and should be set aside for soups and the preparation offumetsand forcemeats.[573]1811—LIÈVRE FARCIA LA PERIGOURDINETake care to collect all the blood when emptying the hare; break the bones of the legs, that they may be easily trussed; clear the legs and the fillets of all tendons, and lard them. Chop up the liver, the lungs, the heart, and four fowls’ livers, together with five oz. of fat bacon.Add to this mincemeat five oz. of soaked and pressed bread-crumbs, the blood, two oz. of chopped onion, cooked in butter and cold; a pinch of chopped parsley, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, and three oz. of raw truffle parings. Mix the whole up well; fill the hare with this stuffing; sew up the skin of the belly; truss the animal, and braise it in white wine for about two and one-half hours, basting it often the while. Glaze at the last moment. Serve the hare on a long dish.Add two-thirds pint of half-glaze game sauce to the braising-liquor; reduce; clear of grease; strain, and add three oz. of chopped truffles to this sauce.Pour a little sauce over the dish on which the hare has been set, and serve what remains of the sauce separately.1812—RÂBLE DE LIÈVREThe French term “râble” means the whole of the back of the hare, from the root of the neck to the tail, with the ribs cut very short.Often, however, that piece which corresponds with the saddle in butchers’ meat alone is taken,i.e., the piece reaching from the croup to the floating ribs. Whatever be the particular cut, the piece should be well cleared of all tendons, and finely larded before being set tomarinade; and this last operation may even be dispensed with when the “râble” is derived from a young hare.Marinadingwould only become necessary if the piece had to be kept some considerable time.1813—RÂBLE DE LIÈVREA L’ALLEMANDESet therâblewell dried on the vegetables of themarinade, which should be laid on the bottom of a long, narrow dish. When it is nearly cooked, remove the vegetables, pour one-quarter pint of cream into the dish, and complete the cooking of therâble, basting it the while with that cream.Finish at the last minute with a few drops of lemon juice.Dish therâble, and surround it with the cream stock, strained through a fine strainer.[574]1814—RÂBLE DE LIÈVRE AU GENIÈVRERoast it, as above, on the vegetables of themarinade.Swill the dish with a small glassful of gin and two or three tablespoonfuls ofmarinade, and reduce to half. Add one-sixth pint of cream, two tablespoonfuls of poivrade sauce, and four powdered juniper berries.Strain and serve this sauce separately at the same time as therâble.1815—CUISSES DE LIÈVREUse the legs of young hares only; those of old animals may be used for the “civet” and forcemeat alone. After having cleared them of tendons and larded them with very thin strips of bacon, treat them like therâble.1816—FILETS DE LEVRAUTA LA DAMPIERRETake five leverets’ fillets;contisethem with slices of truffle, after the manner directed for “Suprêmes de Volaille à la Chevalière” (No.1458); shape them like crescents, and set them on a buttered dish.Lard the minion fillets with a rosette consisting of strips of salted tongue, and set them also on a buttered dish.With what remains of the meat of the leverets, prepare amousselineforcemeat, and add thereto some truffle essence and some chopped truffles.Dish this forcemeat, shaping it like a truncated cone two and one-half inches high, the radius of which should be the length of a leveret’s fillet.Set this forcemeat to poach in the front of the oven.Sprinkle the fillets and the minion fillets with a little brandy and melted butter; cover them, and poach them likewise in the front of the oven. This done, arrange them radially on the cone of forcemeat, alternating the fillets and the minion fillets. Place a fine, glazed truffle in the middle of the rosette, and surround the base with mushrooms, separated by chestnuts cooked in consommé and glazed, and small onions cooked in butter.Serve a poivrade sauce at the same time, combined with the fillets’ cooking-liquor.1817—FILETS DE LEVRAUTA LA MORNAY(Recipe of the Frères Provençaux)Trim two leverets’ fillets, and cut them into collops, one inch in diameter and one-third inch thick. Prepare (1) the[575]same number of bread-crumbcroûtonsas there are collops, and make them of the same size as the latter, though half as thick; (2) the same number of thick slices of truffle, cooked at the last minute in a little Madeira.Toss the collops of fillet quickly in clarified butter; colour thecroûtonsin butter at the same time, and mix the latter with the collops and the truffles in a saucepan.Swill the sautépan with the Madeira in which the truffles have cooked; add a little succulent pale glaze; reduce sufficiently; strain the sauce through a sieve; finish it liberally with butter; add it to thesautédcollops, and serve the latter in a very hot timbale.N.B.—This recipe was given by the Comte de Mornay himself to the proprietors of the famous Parisian restaurant, and for a long while the dish was one of the specialities of a house no longer extant.1818—FILETS DE LEVRAUTA LA VENDOMEAfter havingcontisedthe leveret’s fillets, roll them round a buttered tin mould, and fasten them with a string, that they may form rings.Set to poach. Meanwhile, spread on a buttered tray a layer one-half inch thick of game forcemeat; poach the latter; stamp it out by means of an even cutter into roundels of the same size as the rings, and set one of these on each of the forcemeat roundels, fixing it by means of a little raw forcemeat.Cut the minion fillets into collops, and quickly toss them in butter with an equal quantity of mushrooms and five oz. of raw, sliced truffles.Swill the saucepan with a little brandy and the poaching-liquor of the fillet-rings; add a little poivrade sauce; finish this sauce with butter, and plunge therein the collops of fillet, the mushrooms, and the truffles.Set the rings in a circle on a dish, and fill them with this garnish. Serve separately a sauceboat of poivrade sauce and a timbale of chestnut purée.1819—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES DE LIÈVREProceed exactly as for all othermoussesandmousselines, except, of course, in regard to the basic ingredient, which in this case is the meat of a hare.1820—SOUFFLÉDE LIÈVREWith one lb. of the meat of a hare, prepare a lightmousselineforcemeat; add thereto the whites of two eggs,[576]whisked to a stiff froth; poach themousselinein asoufflésaucepan.Cut the hare’s minion fillets into collops, and toss them in butter at the last moment.Cook thesouffléin a moderate oven; coat the top lightly with half-glaze sauce flavoured with harefumet, and surround it with the minion-fillet collops, alternated with slices of truffles.The minion-fillet collops and the slices of truffles may be added to the sauce, and this garnish is served separately in another timbale.1821—CIVET DE LIÈVRESkin and clean the hare, taking care to collect all the blood in so doing. Put the liver aside, after having carefully freed it from the gall-bladder, as also from those portions touching the latter.Cut up the hare, and put the pieces in a basin with a few tablespoonfuls of brandy and an equal quantity of olive oil, salt, pepper, and an onion cut into thin roundels. Cover and leave tomarinadefor a few hours in the very red wine used for the moistening. Fry one-half lb. of lean bacon, cut into large dice, in butter, and drain it as soon as it is brown. In the same butter brown two fair-sized, quartered onions; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and cook this roux gently until it acquires a golden tinge. Put the pieces of hare into this roux, after having well dried them, and stiffen them.Moisten with the wine used for themarinade. Add a large faggot, in which place a garlic clove; cover, and leave to cook gently on the side of the stove.A few minutes before serving, thicken the civet with the reserved blood, which should be gradually heated, and mix therewith a few tablespoonfuls of sauce. Then transfer the pieces of hare, one by one, to another saucepan with the fried pieces of bacon, twenty small, glazed onions, and twenty cooked mushrooms.Strain the sauce over the whole through a strainer.Dish in a warm timbale, and surround with heart-shapedcroûtonsfried in butter at the last moment.Cold Preparations of Hare
Canetons Froids1765—CANETONA LA CUILLERBraise the duckling with Madeira, and cook it well. Put into aterrinejust large enough to hold it; cover with the braising-liquor, strained through a napkin, and combined with enough aspic jelly to completely coat the duckling. Leave to cool.When about to serve, clear the surface of grease, first by means of a spoon, then with boiling water, and dish on a napkin.
Braise the duckling with Madeira, and cook it well. Put into aterrinejust large enough to hold it; cover with the braising-liquor, strained through a napkin, and combined with enough aspic jelly to completely coat the duckling. Leave to cool.
When about to serve, clear the surface of grease, first by means of a spoon, then with boiling water, and dish on a napkin.
Poëlethe duckling, and let it cool in its liquor.
When it is quite cold, set it on its back; glaze it with aspic jelly, and place it on a low rice or carved-bread cushion lying on a long dish.
Surround it with emptied tangerines, filled with coldmoussemade from ducklings’ livers and foie gras. Alternate the tangerines with small timbales of aspic, combined with thepoëling-liquor and the juice squeezed from the sections of the tangerines.
Roast the duckling, and keep it underdone.
When it is quite cold, remove the breast, and remove the bones in such wise as to form a case with the carcass. Cut each fillet into eight thin slices; coat them with a brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate with truffles. Fill the carcass with amoussemade from the remains of the meat, the duckling’s liver, and some foie gras, and shape it so as to imitate the convex breast of the bird.
Glaze with aspic, and set in the refrigerator, that themoussemay harden. When the latter is firm, lay the chaud-froid-coated collops upon it, and set the piece in a deep, square dish. Surround with cold, stoned, morello cherries, poached in Bordeaux wine, and cover these with an aspic jelly flavoured with duckling essence.
Poëlea Rouen duckling until it is just cooked, and let it cool in its liquor. Raise the fillets; skin them, and cut them each into eight thin slices. Coat them with a brown chaud-froid sauce, and decorate with truffles. Prepare an equal number of slices of tongue the size and shape of the slices of duckling, and coat them with aspic.
With the remains and the meat of the legs, prepare amousse, and pour it into a square or oval silver dish; let it cool, and then set theaiguillettesof duckling and the slices of tongue upon it, alternating them in so doing, and cover themoussewith aspic.
These are prepared with the same quantities as the chickenmoussesandmousselines, but they allow of no other sauce than the Rouennaise or the Bigarrade, nor of any other garnishes than sections of orange, cherries, vegetable purées, or creams.
With the exception of the nature of the principal ingredient, the preparation, quantities, and moulding of thismousseare the same as for chickenmousse. The reader is, therefore, begged to refer to No.1670, which may be applied perfectly well to Rouen duckling.
Proceed as for the “Caneton aux cerises,” but with this difference, that the duckling is used entirely for themousse.
Serve, similarly, in a square dish, and surround with sections of oranges skinned raw. Cover with an aspic jelly flavoured with the juice of Seville oranges, and combined with a liqueur-glassful of curaçao per pint of jelly.
First prepare the followingforcemeat:—Heat three oz. of fat bacon, cut into small dice, and three oz. of butter in a frying-pan. Throw six fine ducks’ livers (seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with a pinch of powdered thyme, bay-leaf, and half an onion chopped) into this fat. Toss them over a fierce fire, just long enough to heat them; leave them to cool, and rub them through a sieve.
Bone the breast of a Rouen duckling and its back as far as the region of the legs, and suppress the tail. Stuff it with the preparation given above; truss as for an entrée, and put[563]it in aterrinejust large enough to hold it. Sprinkle it with a glassful of brandy; cover with a slice of bacon, and cook it in thebain-marie, in the oven, and under cover for forty minutes.
With the carcass and some strong veal stock, prepare two-thirds pint of excellent aspic, and, when withdrawing the duckling from the oven, cover it with this aspic, and let it cool. When about to serve, remove all grease, first by means of a spoon, and then by means of boiling water, and set theterrineon a napkin lying on a long dish.
Roast a Rouen duckling, and keep it underdone; let it cool, and raise its fillets. With the carcass prepare a Salmis sauce, and thicken it with aspic as for a chaud-froid sauce.
Cut the fillets into slices, coat them with Salmis sauce, and leave this to set. Let a thickness of sauce set on the bottom of a timbale.
Upon this sauce lay some of the coated slices, alternating them with slices of truffle, and cover with a thin layer of aspic jelly. Lay another row of slices of fillet and of truffles, followed as before by a layer of aspic, and continue thus in the same order. Complete with a somewhat thick layer of aspic, and keep in the cool until ready for serving.
N.B.—This old and excellent cold entrée is really only a cold salmis. The procedure may be applied to all game suited to the salmis method of preparation. It is the simplest and certainly the best way of serving them cold.
The guinea-fowl is not equal to the pheasant from the gastronomical standpoint, though it often takes the place of the latter among the roasts after the shooting season. But, though it has neither the fine flavour nor the delicate meat of the pheasant, it does good service notwithstanding. The majority of pheasant recipes may be applied to it, especially à la Bohémienne, à la crème, enChartreuse, en salmis, à la choucroûte, &c.
Young pigeons are not very highly esteemed by English gourmets, and this is more particularly to be regretted, since, when the birds are of excellent quality, they are worthy the best tables.
Open the squabs down the back; season them; slightly flatten them, and toss them in butter. They may just as[564]well be halved as left whole. Dish, and surround with the garnish given under “Poulet à la Bordelaise” (No.1538).
Cook the squabs in the oven in an earthenware saucepan.
When they are two-thirds done, surround them with one and one-half oz. of salted breast of pork, cut into small dice andblanched, and two oz. of sliced andsautédpotatoes for each pigeon. Complete the cooking of the whole gently, and, when about to serve, add a little good gravy.
Prepare theChartreusein a Charlotte mould, as explained under No.1182. Line the bottom and sides with a layer of braised, drained, and pressed cabbages; in the centre set the squabs, cooked “à la casserole” and cut into two lengthwise, and alternate them with small rectangles ofblanched, salted breast of pork, and sausage roundels. Cover with cabbages, and steam in abain-mariefor thirty minutes.
Let theChartreusestand for five minutes after withdrawing from thebain-marie; turn out on a round dish, and surround with a few tablespoonfuls of half-glaze sauce.
Cut the young pigeons horizontally in two, from the apex of the breast to the wings. Open them; flatten them slightly; season them; dip them in melted butter, roll them in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently.
Serve a devilled sauce at the same time.
Fry in butter two oz. ofblanched, salted breast of pork and two oz. of raw mushrooms, peeled and quartered. Drain the bacon and the mushrooms, and set the squabs, trussed as for an entrée, to fry in the same butter.
Withdraw them when they are brown; drain them of butter; swill with half a glassful of white wine; reduce the latter, and add sufficient brown stock and half-glaze sauce (tomatéd), in equal quantities, to cover the birds. Plunge them into this sauce, with a faggot, and simmer until they are cooked and the sauce is reduced to half.
This done, transfer the squabs to another saucepan; add the pieces of bacon, the mushrooms, and six small onions, glazed with butter, for each bird; strain the sauce over the[565]whole through a fine sieve; simmer for ten minutes more, and serve very hot.
Line the bottom and sides of a pie-dish with very thin, flattened collops of lean beef, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with chopped shallots.
Set the quartered pigeons inside the dish, and separate them with a halved hard-boiled egg-yolk for each pigeon. Moisten half-way up with good gravy; cover with a layer of puff paste;gild; streak; make a slit in the top, and bake for about one and one-half hours in a good, moderate oven.
Suppress the feet and the pinions;poëlethe squabs, and only just cook them.
Cut each bird into four, and mix them with a garnish “à la Financière” (No.1474) combined with thepoëling-liquor. Pour the whole into a vol-au-vent crust, and dish on a napkin.
Cut them in two, and reserve the claw, which serves as the bone of the cutlet. Flatten them slightly; season, and fry them in butter on one side only. Cool them under slight pressure; coat their fried side, dome-fashion, with some godiveau with cream, combined with a third of its bulk ofgratinforcemeat and chopped truffles. Set them on a tray, and place in a moderate oven to complete the cooking, and poach the forcemeat. Dish in a circle, and separate the cutlets with collops of veal sweetbreads, dipped in beaten eggs, rolled in bread-crumbs, and tossed in butter. Garnish their midst with mushrooms and sliced fowls’ livers, tossed in butter and cohered with a few tablespoonfuls of Madeira sauce.
Cut the pigeons in two, as above; stiffen them in butter, and enclose them inpapillotesas explained under “Côtelettes de Veau en Papillotes” (No.1259).
Sautéthe half-pigeons in butter, and leave them to cool under slight pressure. Garnish their cut sides dome-fashion with asalpiconof white chicken-meat, mushrooms, and truffles, the whole cohered by means of a cold Allemande sauce.
Dip them in beaten egg, roll them in bread-crumbs, and cook them gently in clarified butter.
[566]Dish them in a circle; garnish their midst with asparagus-heads cohered with butter, and serve a light, Madeira sauce separately.
Raise the fillets and slightly flatten them; stiffen them in butter, and leave them to cool under slight pressure. This done, dip them in a Villeroy sauce, combined with chopped herbs and mushrooms, and cool them. Dip each fillet in beaten egg; roll them in bread-crumbs, and fry just before serving.
Dish in a circle, and in their midst set a heap of fried parsley. Send separately a garnish of pigeon quenelles, mushrooms, and small, olive-shaped truffles, to which a half-glaze sauce flavoured with pigeon essence has been added.
With the meat of the legs prepare amousselineforcemeat, and, with the latter, make some quenelles the size of small olives, and set them to poach.Poëlethe breasts, without colouration, on a thick litter of sliced onions, and keep them underdone. Add a little velouté to the onions; rub them through tammy, and put the quenelles in this sauce.
In the middle of a shallowcroustade, set a pyramid ofcèpestossed in butter. Raise the fillets; skin them, and set them on thecèpes; coat them with the prepared sauce; surround with a thread of meat glaze, and place the quenelles all round.
Cut off the legs, and, with their meat, prepare a forcemeat. Poach the latter on a tray, and stamp it out with an oval cutter into pieces the size of thesuprêmes.
Cover the breasts with slices of bacon, andpoëlethem, taking care to only just cook them.
Quickly raise thesuprêmes, skin them, and set each upon an oval of forcemeat, sticking them on by means of a littlegratinforcemeat.
Put thesuprêmesin the oven for a moment, that this forcemeat may poach. Dish thesuprêmesround a pyramid consisting of a smooth purée of peas, and coat with a velouté sauce, finished with an essence prepared from the remains and thepoëling-liquor of the breasts.
Raise thesuprêmes, flatten them slightly; toss them in clarified butter, and set them on a border of smooth forcemeat,[567]laid on a dish by means of a piping-bag, and poached in the front of the oven.
Swill the vegetable-pan with Madeira; add four fine slices of truffle for eachsuprême, and a little pale melted meat glaze, and finish with a moderate amount of butter.
Coat thesuprêmeswith this sauce, and set the slices of truffle upon it.
Prepare and poach thesemousselineslike the chicken ones, but make them a little smaller. Dish them in the form of a crown; set thereon a young pigeon’s fillet roasted, and in their midst arrange a garnish of peas with lettuce. Coat with afumetprepared from the carcasses and cohered with a few tablespoonfuls of velouté.
N.B.—Pigeons and squabs may also be prepared after the recipes given for chicks.
The stag (Fr. Cerf) and the fallow deer (Fr. Daim) supply the only venison that is consumed in England, where the roebuck (Fr. Chevreuil) is not held in very high esteem. True, the latter’s flesh is very often mediocre in quality, and saddles and legs of roebuck often have to be imported from the Continent when they are to appear on an important menu.
On the other hand, venison derived from the stag or red deer and the fallow deer proper is generally of superior quality. The former has perhaps more flavour, but the latter, which is supplied by animals bred in herds on large private estates, has no equal as far as delicacy and tenderness are concerned, while it is covered with white and scented fat, which is greatly appreciated by English connoisseurs.
Although these two kinds of venison are generally served as relevés, they belong more properly to the roasts, and I shall give their recipes a little later on. In any case, only half of the hind-quarters (that is to say, the leg together with that part of the saddle which reaches from it to the floating ribs) is served at high-class tables.
I shall now, therefore, only give the various recipes dealing with roebuck, it being understood that these, if desired, may be applied to corresponding joints of the stag or deer.
Saddles and legs of roebuck may be prepared after the same recipes, and allow of the same garnishes. The recipes for saddle which I give hereafter may therefore be applied equally well to legs.
Whichever joint be selected, it must first be cleared of all tendons and then larded with larding bacon. The last operation is no more essential than is themarinadingwhich in France has become customary with such pieces. It might even be said with justice thatmarinadingis not only useless, but harmful, more particularly in the case of young animals whose meat has been well hung.
Unlike many other specimens of game, roebuck has to be eaten fresh; it does not suit it to be in the least tainted. I should like to point out here that game shot in ambush is best, owing to the fact that animals killed after a chase decompose very quickly, and thereby lose a large proportion of their flavour.
The saddle of the roebuck generally consists of the whole of the latter’s back, from the withers to the tail, in which case the bones of the ribs are cut very short, that the joint may lie steady at all points.
At the croup-end, cut the joint on either side diagonally, from the point of the haunch to the root of the tail. Sometimes, however, the saddle only consists of the lumbar portion of the back, and, in this case, the ribs are cut up to be cooked as cutlets.
Marinadethe saddle for two or three days in rawmarinadeNo.169, and roast it, on a narrow baking-tray, upon the vegetables of themarinade.
As soon as the joint is cooked, withdraw it; swill the tray with a littlemarinade, and almost entirely reduce. Clear of grease; add two-thirds pint of cream and one powdered juniper berry; reduce by a third; complete with a few drops of melted glaze, and rub through tammy.
Serve this sauce at the same time as the saddle, which set on a long dish.
The saddle should bemarinadedand well dried before being set to cook.
Poëleit on the vegetables of themarinade.
When it is cooked, put it on a long dish, and, at either end[569]of it, set a garnish of stewed pears, unsugared, but flavoured with cinnamon and lemon-rind. Pour one-third pint of game stock into the tray in which the joint was cooked; cook for ten minutes; strain; clear of grease, and thicken with arrowroot.
Serve this thickened stock separately, and send some red-currant jelly to the table at the same time.
Keep the saddle for twelve hours inmarinade(No.169) made from verjuice instead of vinegar. Roast it on the spit, basting it with themarinade, and keep it slightly underdone.
At the same time, serve a cherry sauce consisting of equal quantities of poivrade sauce and red-currant jelly, to each pint of which add three oz. of semi-candied cherries, set to soak in hot water thirty minutes beforehand.
N.B.—This saddle need not bemarinadedif it be desired plain.
Roast it like a haunch of venison, withoutmarinadingit. Send it to the table with a timbale of French beans, cohered with butter, and serve a Cumberland sauce (No.134) separately.
Marinadeit for a few hours only, and roast it on the spit, basting it the while with themarinade.
Set it on a long dish, and surround it with bananas tossed in butter.
At the same time serve a Roberts sauce, combined with a third of its bulk of Poivrade sauce, and one oz. of fresh butter per pint.
Lard and roast it. Set it on a long dish, and surround it with artichoke-bottoms, garnished with lentil purée, and alternated with chestnuts cooked in a small quantity of consommé and glazed.
Serve a venison sauce separately.
Lard the saddle, and roast it. Swill the baking-tray with a small glassful of burned gin; add one powdered juniper berry and one-sixth pint of double cream. Reduce the cream to half; complete with a few tablespoonfuls of poivrade sauce and a few drops of lemon juice. Serve this sauce with the saddle, and send separately some hot stewed apples, very slightly sugared.
Saddle of roebuck may also be served with the followingsauces:—Poivrade, Venison, Grand-Veneur, Moscovite, Roberts, &c. The selected accompaniment determines the title of the dish.
The same recipes may be applied to both. Trim them after the manner of lamb noisettes or cutlets. They may be moderatelymarinaded, but they may also be used fresh. In the latter case, fry them in butter over a somewhat fierce fire, like the lamb noisettes.
If they have beenmarinaded, it is better to toss them very quickly in very hot oil, and then to dry them before dishing them.
It is in the dishing only that the noisettes and the cutlets differ; for, whereas the latter are always dished in a crown, one overlapping the other, or each separated from the rest bycroûtonsof bread-crumb fried in butter, the noisettes are always dished in a circle on small, ovalcroûtonsfried in butter, or on tartlet crusts containing some kind of garnish.
Sautéthe cutlets in very hot oil; dry them; dish them in a crown, and separate them by similarly-shaped collops of salted tongue.
Swill the saucepan with a little white wine; add this liquor to a Poivrade sauce, and coat the cutlets with it.
Serve a light, buttered purée of lentils at the same time.
Spread an even layer, one-third inch thick, ofmousselinegame forcemeat on a tray. Poach this forcemeat in a steamer or in a very moderate oven, and cut it into triangles equal in size to the cutlets.
Toss the latter as already explained; dish them in a crown, and separate them bycroûtonsof forcemeat already prepared.
Coat the whole with poivrade sauce, thinned by means of a little beaten cream, and garnished with crescents of truffle and hard-boiled white of egg, and serve a purée of chestnuts at the same time.
Cook the noisettes in smoking oil. Dry them, dish them,[571]and coat them with the same sauce as that given under “Selle au Genièvre” (No.1798).
Serve some stewed apples at the same time.
Cook the noisettes; set them on stuffed sections of cucumber, prepared after No.2124a, and place a slice of truffle on each noisette. Coat with a Poivrade sauce with cream, and serve a mushroom purée separately.
Cook the noisettes, and dish them in a circle, each on a roundcroûtonof brioche fried in butter, and coat lightly with bigarrade sauce.
Serve a sauceboat of bigarrade sauce and an orange salad at the same time.
Carefully clear the meat of the roebuck of all tendons, and chop it up with a knife, combining with it the while the third of its weight of fresh butter, as much bread-crumb, soaked in milk, and pressed, and one-third pint of fresh cream per lb. of meat. Season, divide into portions weighing two oz., mould to a nice round shape, wrap in pig’s caul, cook quickly at the last moment, and dish in the form of a crown.
Coat with Chasseur sauce, and send a timbale of celery purée separately.
Sautéthe noisettes in the usual way, and dish them in the form of a crown, each on a small quoit of “Pommes Berny” (No.2184). On each noisette lay a fine, grilled mushroom, garnished with a rosette of Soubise purée, made by means of a piping-bag fitted with a grooved pipe. Pour a little venison sauce over the dish, and send a sauceboat of it separately.
N.B.—Roebuck noisettes and cutlets are still served with purées of chestnuts or celery, with truffles,cèpes, mushrooms, &c.
The sauces best suited to them are Poivrade sauce and its derivatives, such as Venison sauce, Grand-Veneur sauce, Romaine sauce, &c., also Roberts sauce Escoffier.
For “Civet de Chevreuil” the shoulders, the neck, and the breast are used, and these pieces are cut up and set tomarinadesix hours beforehand with the aromatics and the same red wine as that with which the civet will be moistened.
[572]When about to prepare the civet, drain and dry these pieces, and proceed exactly as for “Civet de Lièvre” (No.1821), except for the thickening by means of blood, which the difficulty of obtaining the blood of the roebuck perforce precludes.
This civet, which should be classed among dishes for the home, is usually served in the form of a stew; for, inasmuch as the final thickening with blood is lacking, it can only be an imitation of the civet. When, therefore, hare’s blood is available, it should always be used in finishing this dish exactly after the manner of No.1821—that is to say, the preparation should be given the characteristic stamp of civet by means of a final thickening with blood.
When the wild boar is over two years of age, it is no more fit to be served as food. Between one and two years it should be used with caution, and the various roebuck recipes may then be applied to it. But only the young boar less than twelve months old should be prepared in decent kitchens.
The hams of a young boar, salted and smoked, supply a very passable relevé, which allows of varying the ordinary menu. They are treated exactly like pork hams.
The saddle and the cushions may be prepared after the recipes given for saddle of roebuck, and the same holds good with the cutlets and the noisettes.
Finally, the saddle may be served cold, in a daube, when it is prepared after No.1173.
As the various parts of the young boar are covered with fat, it is understood that they are not larded, nor do they need it.
As a result of one of those freaks of taste, of which I have already pointed out some few examples, hare is not nearly so highly esteemed as it deserves in England; and the fact seems all the more strange when one remembers that in many of her counties excellent specimens of the species are to be found.
Whatever be the purpose for which it is required, always select a young hare, five or six lbs. in weight. The age may be ascertained asfollows:—Grasp one ear close to its extremity with both hands, and pull in opposite directions; if the ear tear, the beast is young; if it resist the strain, the hare is old, and should be set aside for soups and the preparation offumetsand forcemeats.
Take care to collect all the blood when emptying the hare; break the bones of the legs, that they may be easily trussed; clear the legs and the fillets of all tendons, and lard them. Chop up the liver, the lungs, the heart, and four fowls’ livers, together with five oz. of fat bacon.
Add to this mincemeat five oz. of soaked and pressed bread-crumbs, the blood, two oz. of chopped onion, cooked in butter and cold; a pinch of chopped parsley, a piece of crushed garlic the size of a pea, and three oz. of raw truffle parings. Mix the whole up well; fill the hare with this stuffing; sew up the skin of the belly; truss the animal, and braise it in white wine for about two and one-half hours, basting it often the while. Glaze at the last moment. Serve the hare on a long dish.
Add two-thirds pint of half-glaze game sauce to the braising-liquor; reduce; clear of grease; strain, and add three oz. of chopped truffles to this sauce.
Pour a little sauce over the dish on which the hare has been set, and serve what remains of the sauce separately.
The French term “râble” means the whole of the back of the hare, from the root of the neck to the tail, with the ribs cut very short.
Often, however, that piece which corresponds with the saddle in butchers’ meat alone is taken,i.e., the piece reaching from the croup to the floating ribs. Whatever be the particular cut, the piece should be well cleared of all tendons, and finely larded before being set tomarinade; and this last operation may even be dispensed with when the “râble” is derived from a young hare.
Marinadingwould only become necessary if the piece had to be kept some considerable time.
Set therâblewell dried on the vegetables of themarinade, which should be laid on the bottom of a long, narrow dish. When it is nearly cooked, remove the vegetables, pour one-quarter pint of cream into the dish, and complete the cooking of therâble, basting it the while with that cream.
Finish at the last minute with a few drops of lemon juice.
Dish therâble, and surround it with the cream stock, strained through a fine strainer.
Roast it, as above, on the vegetables of themarinade.
Swill the dish with a small glassful of gin and two or three tablespoonfuls ofmarinade, and reduce to half. Add one-sixth pint of cream, two tablespoonfuls of poivrade sauce, and four powdered juniper berries.
Strain and serve this sauce separately at the same time as therâble.
Use the legs of young hares only; those of old animals may be used for the “civet” and forcemeat alone. After having cleared them of tendons and larded them with very thin strips of bacon, treat them like therâble.
Take five leverets’ fillets;contisethem with slices of truffle, after the manner directed for “Suprêmes de Volaille à la Chevalière” (No.1458); shape them like crescents, and set them on a buttered dish.
Lard the minion fillets with a rosette consisting of strips of salted tongue, and set them also on a buttered dish.
With what remains of the meat of the leverets, prepare amousselineforcemeat, and add thereto some truffle essence and some chopped truffles.
Dish this forcemeat, shaping it like a truncated cone two and one-half inches high, the radius of which should be the length of a leveret’s fillet.
Set this forcemeat to poach in the front of the oven.
Sprinkle the fillets and the minion fillets with a little brandy and melted butter; cover them, and poach them likewise in the front of the oven. This done, arrange them radially on the cone of forcemeat, alternating the fillets and the minion fillets. Place a fine, glazed truffle in the middle of the rosette, and surround the base with mushrooms, separated by chestnuts cooked in consommé and glazed, and small onions cooked in butter.
Serve a poivrade sauce at the same time, combined with the fillets’ cooking-liquor.
Trim two leverets’ fillets, and cut them into collops, one inch in diameter and one-third inch thick. Prepare (1) the[575]same number of bread-crumbcroûtonsas there are collops, and make them of the same size as the latter, though half as thick; (2) the same number of thick slices of truffle, cooked at the last minute in a little Madeira.
Toss the collops of fillet quickly in clarified butter; colour thecroûtonsin butter at the same time, and mix the latter with the collops and the truffles in a saucepan.
Swill the sautépan with the Madeira in which the truffles have cooked; add a little succulent pale glaze; reduce sufficiently; strain the sauce through a sieve; finish it liberally with butter; add it to thesautédcollops, and serve the latter in a very hot timbale.
N.B.—This recipe was given by the Comte de Mornay himself to the proprietors of the famous Parisian restaurant, and for a long while the dish was one of the specialities of a house no longer extant.
After havingcontisedthe leveret’s fillets, roll them round a buttered tin mould, and fasten them with a string, that they may form rings.
Set to poach. Meanwhile, spread on a buttered tray a layer one-half inch thick of game forcemeat; poach the latter; stamp it out by means of an even cutter into roundels of the same size as the rings, and set one of these on each of the forcemeat roundels, fixing it by means of a little raw forcemeat.
Cut the minion fillets into collops, and quickly toss them in butter with an equal quantity of mushrooms and five oz. of raw, sliced truffles.
Swill the saucepan with a little brandy and the poaching-liquor of the fillet-rings; add a little poivrade sauce; finish this sauce with butter, and plunge therein the collops of fillet, the mushrooms, and the truffles.
Set the rings in a circle on a dish, and fill them with this garnish. Serve separately a sauceboat of poivrade sauce and a timbale of chestnut purée.
Proceed exactly as for all othermoussesandmousselines, except, of course, in regard to the basic ingredient, which in this case is the meat of a hare.
With one lb. of the meat of a hare, prepare a lightmousselineforcemeat; add thereto the whites of two eggs,[576]whisked to a stiff froth; poach themousselinein asoufflésaucepan.
Cut the hare’s minion fillets into collops, and toss them in butter at the last moment.
Cook thesouffléin a moderate oven; coat the top lightly with half-glaze sauce flavoured with harefumet, and surround it with the minion-fillet collops, alternated with slices of truffles.
The minion-fillet collops and the slices of truffles may be added to the sauce, and this garnish is served separately in another timbale.
Skin and clean the hare, taking care to collect all the blood in so doing. Put the liver aside, after having carefully freed it from the gall-bladder, as also from those portions touching the latter.
Cut up the hare, and put the pieces in a basin with a few tablespoonfuls of brandy and an equal quantity of olive oil, salt, pepper, and an onion cut into thin roundels. Cover and leave tomarinadefor a few hours in the very red wine used for the moistening. Fry one-half lb. of lean bacon, cut into large dice, in butter, and drain it as soon as it is brown. In the same butter brown two fair-sized, quartered onions; add two tablespoonfuls of flour, and cook this roux gently until it acquires a golden tinge. Put the pieces of hare into this roux, after having well dried them, and stiffen them.
Moisten with the wine used for themarinade. Add a large faggot, in which place a garlic clove; cover, and leave to cook gently on the side of the stove.
A few minutes before serving, thicken the civet with the reserved blood, which should be gradually heated, and mix therewith a few tablespoonfuls of sauce. Then transfer the pieces of hare, one by one, to another saucepan with the fried pieces of bacon, twenty small, glazed onions, and twenty cooked mushrooms.
Strain the sauce over the whole through a strainer.
Dish in a warm timbale, and surround with heart-shapedcroûtonsfried in butter at the last moment.