Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/201

Rh of the jelly, and set by to get cold, but cover them to preserve their colour. Skim the fat off the jelly when cold, then boil it up with the whites of 2 eggs beaten, to clear it, and strain through a bag. Place the pigeons in a dish, the clear jelly round, and over them, in rough heaps. Instead of baking, you may roast the pigeons, and when cold, put a sprig of anything you like into their bills, place them on some of the jelly, and heap more of it round.—Pigeons in Forcemeat—Spread a savoury forcemeat in a dish, then in layers, very thin slices of fat bacon, young pigeons cut up, sliced sweetbreads blanched, 2 palates boiled tender and cut up, mushrooms, asparagus tops, cockscombs and the yolks of 4 eggs boiled hard; spread more forcemeat on the top, bake it, and turn it out in a dish, with rich gravy poured round. Pigeons en Compote.—Parboil 2 large pigeons; take them out of the water, and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over the breast of each. Have prepared in a stew-pan ¼ lb. of butter, a table-spoonful of flour, and 2 tea-cupsful of weak broth, a faggot of herbs, pepper, salt, a piece of ham and 8 mushrooms in quarters: place the pigeons in this, and stew them slowly till tender. Blanch 12 button onions, and a ¼ of an hour before they are done, put them in the stew-pan. When done, take out the herbs and ham, skim the gravy, pour it over the pigeons, in a dish, and the onions round.

Season them with salt, pepper, cayenne and mixed spices. Lay some very thin slices of bacon in a stew-pan, the ducks on them, more slices over them, moisten with broth, or water, and stew them from half to a whole hour, according to their age, and size. While they are stewing, parboil, and fry in butter, or with bits of bacon, 2 or 3 pints of young green peas, pour off the fat, put them in a stew-pan with a very little water or broth, salt, pepper, sugar, a bunch of parsley, and some young onions. Take the onions and parsley out from the peas, skim off the fat, and pour the gravy over the ducks.—Or: half roast the ducks, and stew them in a pint of good gravy, a little mint, and 3 sage leaves chopped small, cover close and let it stew half an hour. Boil a pint of green peas as for eating, and put them in, after you have thickened the