Dressed game and poultry à la mode

Take a brace of birds, and prepare about half a pound of button mushrooms, and place them in a stewpan with an ounce and a half of melted butter ; add a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne, and let them simmer for about nine minutes, then turn out all into a plate, and when quite cold put it into the bodies of the partridges ; sew and truss them securely and roast them in the usual way, and serve either mushroom sauce round them, or they can be served up with their own gravy only, and bread sauce handed. Partridge Pie. Cut the breasts and legs off two or three birds, sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and cook them in the oven smothered in butter, and covered with a buttered paper. Pound the carcases, and make them into good gravy, but do not thicken it. Take the livers of the birds with an equal quantity of calf's liver, mince both, and toss them in butter over the fire for a minute or two ; then pound them in a mortar with an equal quantity of bacon, two shalots parboiled, with pepper, salt, powdered spice, and sweet herbs to taste. When well pounded, pass it through a sieve ; put a layer of forcemeat into a pie-dish, arrange the pieces of partridge on it, filling up the interstices with the forcemeat ; then pour in as much gravy as is required, put on the paste ^pver, and bake for an hour. When done, a little more boiling hot gravy may be introduced through the hole in the centre of the crust. A little melted aspic jelly may be added to the gravy. Partridge Pudding. Take a brace of well-kept partridges, cut them into neat joints and skin them ; line a quart pudding basin with suet crust, place a thinnish slice of rump steak at the bottom of the dish cut into pieces, put in the pieces of partridge, season with pepper and salt, and pour in about a pint of good dark stock well clarified from fat, then put on the cover and boil in the usual way. Partridges a la Reine. Truss a brace of partridges for boiling, fill them with good game forcemeat, with two or three truffles cut up in small pieces, and tie thin slices of fat bacon over them. Slice a small carrot into a stewpan with an onion, four or five sticks of celery, two or three sprigs of parsley, and an ounce of fresh butter. Place the partridges on these, breasts uppermost, pour over them half a pint of good stock, cover with a round of buttered paper, and simmer as gently as possible till the partridges are done enough. Strain the stock, free it carefully from grease, thicken it with a little flour and as much browning as is necessary ; flavour with a little cayenne, half a dozen drops of essence of anchovy, and a tablespoonful of sherry. Stir this sauce over a gentle fire till it is on the point of boiling, then pour it over the partridges already dished up on toast, and serve instantly. Salmi of Partridge a la Chasseur. Take a couple of cold roast partridges — they should be rather under-cooked — cut into neat joints, removing all skin and sinew, and lay the pieces in a stewpan with four tablespoonfuls of salad oil, six tablespoonfuls of claret, the strained juice of a lemon, salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste. Simmer gently for a few minutes till the salmi is hot throughout, then serve directly. Garnish with fried sippets. Scalloped Partridges.