It makes them nicer to butter them well just before you take them off
the spit, and sprinkle them with nicely pounded bread or cracker. All
poultry should be basted and floured a few minutes before it is taken up.
The age of pigeons can be judged by the color of the legs. When
young, they are of a pale, delicate brown ; as they grow older, the color
is deeper and redder.
If the wild flavor of larger birds, such as prairie chickens, is disliked,
they may be soaked over night in salt water, or two or three hours in
soda and water, or parboiled with an onion or two in the water, and
then cooked as desired. Geese, ducks, etc., may lie in salt water for
several hours, or a fresh lemon, stripped of the outer skin, may be put
inside the game for a day or two, renewing the lemon every ten hours.
This will absorb unpleasant flavors from nearly all game. Squirrels
should be carefully skinned and laid in salt water a short time before
cooking ; if old, parboil. They are very savory if broiled, and are
excellent made into a stew, or cooked with thin slices of bacon.
Venison is considered by many a very fine dish. The haunch, neck,
shoulder and saddle should be roasted ; the breast roasted or broiled,
and the steaks broiled or fried with slices of bacon or salt pork. Veni-
son requires more time for cooking than beefsteak.
The garnishes for small game are dried or roasted bread, slices of
lemon, parsley and currant jelly; for larger game, such as wild ducks,
cranberry sauce, apple sauce, sliced lemons, or sliced oranges and
parsley.
ROAST DUCKS.
Wipe dry inside and out, and stuff with a dressing of bread-crumbs,
seasoned with pepper and salt, a very little powdered sage and a sus-
picion of minced onion. Sew up, dash a cup of boiling water over them
GROUSE, RABBIT AND PIGEONS. 503
as they lie in the dripping-pan, and roast covered for the first half-hour ;
remove the cover and baste freely — three times with butter and water,
four or five times with the gravy from the pan✪ Roast Ducks. Stew the giblets in a
little salted water and make into a gravy. Dish ducks upon a hot
platter.
BRAISED GROUSE.
Clean thoroughly, washing out the inside in soda and water, and
then rinsing and wiping. Truss, but do not stuff the birds ; tie them
in shape. Cover the bottom of a saucepan with slices of fat salt pork ;
lay the grouse upon these ; sprinkle minced onion and parsley over
them, with pepper, salt and a little sugar. Cover them with more pork,
and pour in a large cup of soup stock✪ Braised Grouse, or other broth. Cover very
closely ; simmer one hour ; turn the birds and cook — always covered —
until tender. Dish the grouse, strain the gravy, thicken with browned
flour, boil up and pour into a gravy boat. Partridges and wild pigeons
may also be cooked in this way.
ROAST HARE OR RABBIT. ✪ Roast Hare or Rabbit
Page 421 · 3 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It makes them nicer to butter them well just before you take them off the spit, and sprinkle them with nicely pounded bread or cracker. All poultry should be basted and floured a few minutes before it is taken up.
The age of pigeons can be judged by the color of the legs. When young, they are of a pale, delicate brown ; as they grow older, the color is deeper and redder.
If the wild flavor of larger birds, such as prairie chickens, is disliked, they may be soaked over night in salt water, or two or three hours in soda and water, or parboiled with an onion or two in the water, and then cooked as desired. Geese, ducks, etc., may lie in salt water for several hours, or a fresh lemon, stripped of the outer skin, may be put inside the game for a day or two, renewing the lemon every ten hours. This will absorb unpleasant flavors from nearly all game. Squirrels should be carefully skinned and laid in salt water a short time before cooking ; if old, parboil. They are very savory if broiled, and are excellent made into a stew, or cooked with thin slices of bacon.
Venison is considered by many a very fine dish. The haunch, neck, shoulder and saddle should be roasted ; the breast roasted or broiled, and the steaks broiled or fried with slices of bacon or salt pork. Venison requires more time for cooking than beefsteak.
The garnishes for small game are dried or roasted bread, slices of lemon, parsley and currant jelly; for larger game, such as wild ducks, cranberry sauce, apple sauce, sliced lemons, or sliced oranges and parsley.
ROAST DUCKS.
Wipe dry inside and out, and stuff with a dressing of bread-crumbs, seasoned with pepper and salt, a very little powdered sage and a suspicion of minced onion. Sew up, dash a cup of boiling water over them
GROUSE, RABBIT AND PIGEONS. 503
as they lie in the dripping-pan, and roast covered for the first half-hour ; remove the cover and baste freely — three times with butter and water, four or five times with the gravy from the pan. Stew the giblets in a little salted water and make into a gravy. Dish ducks upon a hot platter.
BRAISED GROUSE.
Clean thoroughly, washing out the inside in soda and water, and then rinsing and wiping. Truss, but do not stuff the birds ; tie them in shape. Cover the bottom of a saucepan with slices of fat salt pork ; lay the grouse upon these ; sprinkle minced onion and parsley over them, with pepper, salt and a little sugar. Cover them with more pork, and pour in a large cup of soup stock, or other broth. Cover very closely ; simmer one hour ; turn the birds and cook — always covered — until tender. Dish the grouse, strain the gravy, thicken with browned flour, boil up and pour into a gravy boat. Partridges and wild pigeons may also be cooked in this way.
ROAST HARE OR RABBIT.
Records on this page
Roast DucksBraised GrouseRoast Hare or Rabbit