The housekeeper's guide to preserved meats, fruits, vegetables, &c

A delicious breakfast dish is now supplied in the shape of pates made from plover, truffle, and forcemeat. Like all other game pates preserved in tins, the mixture is undoubtedly rich, but at the same time very nice, and forms a very agreeable change to the breakfast table. These tinned game pates are exceedingly useful for picnics. I would recommend those who have the management of picnics to see that the tins are placed in some water and ice before being opened. As these pates are somewhat rich, of course it is important that they should be cool and the fat hard. When a pate is opened that has been kept some time in a hot room, it is far less appetising than when fresh opened after being kept in a cool place. I have on several occasions called attention to the fact that the remains or fag ends of these tinned game pies mixed with truffle, etc. , are exceedingly useful to the cook in helping to make almost any kind of rich forcemeat, and I have under the heading of “ Chicken-and-Ham Patd ” — (see Chicken-and-Ham Pate)— given receipts for making rissoles and kromeskies, and also, under the heading of “ Foie Gras” (see Foie Gras), given a receipt for making Italian fritters. Of course when tinned goods are used, when they contain game they are more suited for making Italian fritters than rissoles and kromeskies. Still, however, they do very well for both purposes. The fat contained in these pates imparts a most rich and decided flavour to any forcemeat ; indeed so valuable is the fat which is impregnated with the flavour of truffle, that the cook will do well, whenever she has the remains of any tin of this kind, to utilise the fat at once in making some such dish as I have mentioned — namely, kromeskies or Italian fritters. PLOVERS, TRUFFLED. — Truffled plovers can now be obtained in tins. They differ somewhat from the pates, being more solid, and are not so much mixed with forcemeat. The tins as a rule contain a considerable amount of rich fat, but this fat can be utilised to make forcemeat of various kinds, for such purposes as rissoles and kromeskies, receipts for making which are given under the heading ‘‘Chicken-and-Ham Pates or the fat can be used for making Italian fritters, a receipt for which will be found under the heading of “ Foie Gras.” When the plovers are preserved whole a very nice dish can be made by first of all removing from them all the rich fat by placing them for a short time in the oven, and then glazing them. A salad can be placed in the middle of the dish, made of either plain lettuce or a German salad made from macedoines (see Macedoines). The outside of the dish should be ornamented with aspic jelly, and the aspic jelly sold in bottles is very suitable for the purpose (see Aspic J elly in bottles). When the plovers are preserved whole the cook will probably experience some difficulty owing to the fact that the meat has a tendency to drop from the bones. Very great care therefore should be exercised in taking the birds out of the tins. It is also important that when the plovers are glazed the glaze should be rich and strong, When glaze is in this form it will act as a species of glue. With the assistance of a brush and a little ingenuity the cook will often be able to fit the bird together and join on any part that has fallen off.