The complete cook book

Six fat, nice quail; singe and wipe carefully; divide down the back; brush them with olive oil, dust very lightly with salt and pepper, and broil them over a charcoal fire. Have in a cup some melted butter, salt and pepper, and as they broil baste them with it. Serve on toast and garnish with slices of broiled bacon or currant jelly. They are also nice stuffed with stewed prunes, stewed apples, or mashed and seasoned Irish potatoes, and baked with a piece of breakfast bacon pinned over each breast. QUAIL PIES. Pick, clean, wash and dry the birds, place in a double boiler and steam for twenty-five minutes over a brisk fire; while the quail are steaming make the gravy as follows : Take the liquor in a half-pound can of mushrooms, one-quarter pint of oyster liquor, one-quarter cup of cream or milk, thicken with three tablespoonfuls of browned flour rubbed with three tablespoonfuls of butter; put in a thin slice of breakfast bacon, two stalks of celery cut fine, salt and cayenne to taste ; boil all together about fifteen minutes and strain; then add a well-beaten egg. Have a dozen individual stone China dishes lined with short pie crust, lay a bird in each dish with a slice of lemon, a sprig of parsley, three mushrooms and two oytters. Now, pour in your gravy and bake in an oven from ten to fifteen minutes. Serve smoking hot in the same dish in which they are baked ; salt and pepper to taste. The crust is shortened by cooking equal quantities of butter and oil. This same recipe is also nice baked in one large pie. QUAILS ROASTED— PLAIN. Pick six fine, tender, fat quails, singe, draw and wipe them well; truss them, laying a thin layer of lard on The Complete Cook Book. 85 the breasts. Put them in a roasting pan, spreading a very little butter on top of each quail ; then pour half a cupful of water in the pan. Season with a pinch of salt, and let cook in the oven for eighteen minutes. Place on a hot dish sis heart-shaped pieces of toast; untruss the quails, and arrange them on top, decorating with a little watercress. Strain the gravy into a sauce bowl and serve it separately. QUAILS BROILED WITH BACON. Have six fine fat quails. Singe, draw and wipe them well. Split them through the back without separating the parts, and break the two leg bones. Put them on a dish ; season with a pinch of salt, half a pinch of pepper, and a tablespoonful of sweet oil, mixing them in well, and put them to broil on a moderate fire for six minutes on each side. Arrange six toasts on a hot dish, lay the quails on top, and pour a gill of maitre d'hotel butter over, decorating with six slices of broiled bacon, and serve. PHEASANTS. Now we come to the king of English game, the pheasani. The difference between the old and the young cock pheasant is easily seen; the former has long sharp spurs, and those of the latter are short and blunt. They are roasted precisely in the manner like partridges, except that they ought to be larded on the breast and legs, as they require a little more in doing. TO BROIL PARTRIDGES. Place them in salt and water, an hour or two before broiling. When taken out, wipe them dry, and rub them all over with fresh butter, pepper and salt. First broil the under or split side on the gridiron, over bright, clear coals, turning until the upper side is of a fine, light brown. It must be cooked principally from the under side. When done, rub well again with fresh butter, and if not ready to serve them immediately, put them in a large shallow tin bucket, cover it and set it 86 The Complete Cook Book. over a pot or kettle of boiling water, which will keep them hot without making them hard or dry, and will give time for the many "last things" to be done before serving a meal. When served, sift over them powdered cracker, first browned. EOASTED PARTRIDGES.