A year's cookery

Stewed Pigeon with Green Peas. — A daintily cooked pigeon is a very suitable dish for an invalid. It is most important, however, that the bird should be young and freshly killed. House pigeons are generally understood to be the best, and they very quickly lose their flavour. Clean the bird carefully, and put inside it a force¬ meat ball made of breadcrumbs, butter, chopped parsley, pepper and salt. Take a stewpan which has a closely-fitting lid ; melt in this a piece of butter the size of a large egg, and put in a slice of uncooked bacon cut into dice, and the bird, breast downwards, and let it roast gently, turning it from time to time. At the end of about three quarters of an hour, or when the pigeon is browned equally all over, and is almost cooked, drain away the fat; put in its place a quarter of a pint of stock, and when this boils, put in half a pint of freshly-shelled green peas. Stew very gently until the peas are tender, and serve. If it is desired to make the pigeon more tasty, a bouquet and a few carrots turned the shape of small balls may be stewed with the bird. If there is a fear that pigeon cooked according to the above method would be too rich for the invalid, the bird may be cut into quarters and stewed until tender in stock, without being browned in butter. The broth may then be thickened with flour, enriched by the addition of an egg and a little milk, and poured over the pigeon. Peas can be served as an accompaniment. Of course, the condition of the invalid and the orders of the doctor must always be con¬ sidered when making choice of a dish. An excellent dish for one person may also be made of the fillets of a pigeon. The fillets, it will be understood, consist of the meat from each side of the breast cut out with a sharp knife from the breastbone to the wing. A pigeon, when cooked whole, does not furnish very much meat, and this is an easy way of getting the best of what there is. After the fillets are removed, the carcase of the pigeon can be stewed for sauce. The fillets should be flattened with a cutlet bat, egged, and breaded twice, then fried in hot fat. Broiled Pigeons make a very excellent dish. Clean a plump young pigeon and split it in two. Make the pieces flat, oil them all over, then lay on a greased gridiron over a low fire, the bones down¬ wards. Baste well, and turn when the gravy begins to ooze out. Put each half on a slice of buttered toast. Sweetbreads , being very delicate and easy of digestion, are generally regarded as suitable for the use of invalids. Either a lamb’s sweet¬ bread or a calf’s sweetbread may be used for this purpose. However they are to be prepared, they should be used very fresh, and they should be laid for an hour in cold water as soon as they are pro¬ cured. At the end of this time, put them into a saucepan, cover them with cold water ; bring this to a boil, and simmer for five minutes. Drain, put into cold water again, and, when quite cold, peel away the skin and remove the gristle. A sweetbread of a fair size will probably be large enough for more than one dish for an invalid. The whole of it should be parboiled in the first instance. Here are two or three ways of treatment after being divided