FoodNet

The housekeeper's companion

1883

Page 103 · 4 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1883. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
A Nice Way to Cook Pigeons. — Stuff the birds with a rich bread dressing; place compactly in an iron or earthen dish; season with salt, pepper, and butter (or, if you like best, thin slices of salt pork over the top), dredge thickly with flour and nearly cover them with waterA Nice Way to Cook Pigeons. Then put over a closely fitting plate or cover, and place the dish in a moderate oven, from two to four, or even five, hours, according to the age of the birds. If tho birds are old and tough, this is the best way they can be cooked, and they may be made perfectly tender and much sweeter than by any other process. If the gravy is insufficient, add a little water before dishing. To Pot Birds.- -Prepare them as for roasting. Fill each with a dressing made as follows: Allow for each bird of the size of a pigeon one-half of a hard boiled egg, chopped fine, a tablespoonful of bread crumbs, a teaspoonful of chopped pork; season the bird with pepper and salt; stuff them, lay them in a kettle that has a tight cover. Place over the birds a few slices of pork, add a pint of water, dredge over them a little flour, cover and put them in a hot oven. Let them cook until tender, then add a little cream and butter. If the sauce is too thin, thicken with flour. One pint of water is sufficient for twelve birds. Quail on Toast. — After the birds are well cleaned, cut them open on the back, salt and pepper them, and dredge them very lightly with flour. Break them down so they will lie flat, and broil them on a gridiron, or place them in a pan with a little butterTo Pot Birds and a little water in a hot oven, covering them closely for awhile, until about done. Then take them up and place in a spider on top of the stove, and let them fry a nice brown. Have ready slices of baker's bread well toasted and slightly buttered. The toast should be broken down with a carving knife to make the crust tender; on this place your quails. Make a gravy of the drippings in the pan, thickened HOUSEHOLD. 158 very lightly with browned flour, and pour over each quail. The quails should only be allowed to fry just long enough to brown nicely, and not long enough to dry out; five minutes ought to be sufficient. Fricassee Chicken. — Cut up, wash and dry a pair of chickens, put into a stewpan a tablespoonful of butter; let it boil; lay the chickens into this and shake them about, turning them and giving each piece a little glazed look; then add water enough to cover the fowls, and let stew slowly from forty min- utes to an hour. Just before serving let it come to a keen boil, and stir in a teacupful of milk or sweet cream, in which a heap- ing tablespoonful of flour has been stirred. Let it cook five minutes and pour into a dish over which some freshly baked powder biscuits have been opened and spread. Season with salt and pepperFricassee Chicken.