Cassell's dictionary of cookery

four or six fresh snipes, Pluck them, and cut them in halves. Take away the gizzards with the point of a knife, but put the trails aside till wanted. Season the birds with salt and black pepper; a few drops of lemon- juice may be sprinkled over them or not. Cut a Spanish onion into dice, put it into a saucepan which has been rubbed quickly round with garlic, and fry it in butter till it begins to turn yellow. Dredge a table-spoonful of flour upon it, and add a table-spoonful of chopped mushrooms, a tablespoonful of minced parsley, and a. pinch of aromatic powdered herbs {see Herbs, Ai'omatic, Powdered). Stir these ingredients over the fire, and moisten them with half a pint of wine, or with stock flavoured with wine. Boil all for ten minutes, add the trails, and rub the sauce through a sieve. Lino a pudding-basin with thin suet crust, put in the bu-ds, pour the sauce over them, and add three or four sliced truffles if liked. Cover the pudding with pastry, press the edges closely together, and boil or steam it in the usual way. Turn out carefully, and serve. Time to boil the pudding, an hour and a half. Sufficient, six birds for a good-sized pudding. Snipes, Raised Pie, Hot.— Take four snipes, pluck and singe them, and cut them in two lengthwise. Carefully remove the gizzards with the point of a knife, put the trails aside till wanted, and season the birds with salt and cayenne. Fry the birds in a saucepan with a little clarified butter till they are set ; they will take about ten minutes. Drain them, and put them in a cool place till wanted. Make a little forcemeat as follows : — Cut four ounces of calf's liver and four ounces of fat bacon into dice. Melt the bacon in a saute-pan over a brisk fire, add the liver, and season the mixture with salt, pepper, and a pinch of aromatic powdered herbs. \When the bacon and liver are cooked, put them aside till cold, then pound them till smooth in a mortar, add, whilst pounding, the trails of the birds, and press the paste through a sieve. Butter a moderate-sized pie-mould, Hno it evenly with crust {see Paste for Raised SNI ( 886 ) SNI Pies), and put a layer of the forcemeat in the bottom of the mould, taking care to leave it hollow in the centre. Put half the pieces of snipe in a circle upon the forcemeat, and place a little ball of forcemeat between them to keep them in position. Spread a layer of forcemeat upon them, put in the rest of the birds, and put a layer of forcemeat over all. Fill the hollow in the centre of the pie with bread which has been covered with fat bacon, put the pastrycover on the top, pinch the edges of the pie securely, brush it over with egg, and bake in the oven. When done enough, take off the cover, remove the bread, and fill its place with scalloped truffles. Pour a little good brown sauce over all, pile truffles on the top, and serve. The brown sauce may be made as directed in Snipe Pudding, Superior.