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until the bird is tender. About J hour before it is ready, add small forcemeat balls made according to Recipe 1288. Serve neatly, placing the balls round the dish. Or, the fricassee may be cooked and served in an earthenware casserole. An orange or celery salad would be a good accompaniment. Note. — The forcemeat balls may be omitted and the dish garnished with fried croutons of bread. The grated rind and juice of an orange may be added instead of the lemon juice. Time to cook, 1 to 1½ hours. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. 1168. Roast Pigeon (Pigeon Roti) A pigeon should be plucked and drawn as soon as killed. Do this in the same way as directed for a fowl (see p. 275). Only a very young and tender pigeon should be roasted, in fact as a rule they are better braised or stewed. Wash the pigeon or wipe it well, scald and skin the legs and feet and cut off the toes at the first joint. Put a small piece of butter inside, and season with pepper and salt. A pigeon is trussed in very much the same way as a fowl for roasting, only the legs are crossed. Make a small slit in the skin of one of them, just above the foot, and pass the other through it. Turn the ends of the pinions over the back and press the thighs close to the sides of the body. Now take a needle and fine string, pass it through the pinion and leg on one side, then through the body and the leg and pinion on the other side. Pass back again at a very short distance from where the first string comes out, and tie the two ends together at the other side. Tie a piece of fat bacon over the breast, or the breast may be larded. Roast in a good oven from 15 to 20 minutes, keeping it well basted with butter. Serve garnished with watercress or chip potatoes and a thickened gravy made in the roasting tin (see p. 208) separately. Bread sauce may also be served if wished, and a green salad is a good accompaniment. Note. — If liked, the pigeon may be stuffed before roasting. For For Recipe for forcemeat see p. 308, and a little port wine may be added to the gravy. Time to roast, 20 to 30 minutes. 1169. Boiled or Steamed Pigeon This is not a very usual way of cooking a pigeon, but it makes a nice change when the birds are plentiful, and when served with a good sauce, a boiled or steamed pigeon makes a very tasty dish. Prepare the pigeon in the same way as you would a fowl or chicken for boiling, rub it all over with cut lemon, wrap it in greased paper and boil as directed for Boiled Fowl (Recipe 1127). It is always better if the pigeon can be boiled in stock instead of water. The time required will depend on the age of the bird and also upon the kind, some of the wild pigeons being much tougher than a Bordeaux pigeon. As a rule f to 1 hour will be sufficient. When ready, serve on a hot dish, removing the trussing string, and mask with celery, parsley, soubise, or any other sauce preferred. The dish may be garnished with little rolls of bacon. If the pigeon is steamed instead of boiled, longer time must be allowed for cooking it. 1170. Grilled Pigeons with Orange Sauce (Pigeons Grilles, Sauce a l’Orange) 2 pigeons. Butter. I Pepper. Salt. White bread-crumbs. ] Watercress. Lemon.