Pigeons, Piquant

Ingredients

• two pigeons
• a large onion
• two bay-leaves
• twenty juniper berries
• half a tea-spoonful of peppercorns
• a quarter of a pint of vinegar
• an ounce of butter
• four ounces of fat bacon
• a cupful of stock or water
• the strained juice of half a lemon
• pepper
• salt
• grated nutmeg
• a spoonful of flour

Method

1. 1

   Marinate pigeons in onion, bay leaves, juniper berries, peppercorns, and vinegar for two days.

2. 2

   Dry, lard breasts, and brown in butter.

3. 3

   Stir flour into remaining butter, add bacon, livers, stock, lemon juice, and seasonings.

4. 4

   Boil, add pigeons, cover, and stew for half an hour.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 2 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Cassell's dictionary of cookery (1892) by Cassell & Company, page 1200. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Pigeons, Piquant.— Slice a large onion and put it into a shallow dish with two bay- leaves, twenty juniper berries, half a tea-spoon- ful of peppercorns, and a quarter of a pint of vinegar. Lay two pigeons in this marinade, and turn and baste them twice a day for two days. If the birds are old they will need to remain in the marinade a day or two longer. Take them up, wipe them dry, and lard the breasts evenly, then put them into a saucepan with an ounce of butter, and turn them about over a mode- rate fire until they are brightly and equally browned. Lift them out, stir a spoonful of flour in with the butter, and mix it briskly with a wooden spoon until it begins to colour, then add four ounces of fat bacon cut into small pieces, the hver of the birds, a cupful of stock or water, the strained juice of half a lemon with an inch or two of the rind, and a little pepper, salt, and gr. d nutmeg. Let this sauce boil, then put in the pigeons, cover them closely, and let them stew for half an hour. Serve the birds on a hot dish with the sauce poured round them. Time to stew, haK an hour. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for two persons. Pigeon Pudding. — Line a pudding- basin with a good suet or butter crust. FiU it ■with a pound of rump steak cut into neat pieces and nicely seasoned, and two or three pigeons divided into halves, and prepared as for a pie. Add the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, a smaU lump of butter, and a cupful of rather highly- seasoned gravy. Cover the pudding with pastry, tie it in a floured cloth, plunge it into boiling water, and let it boil quickly until done enough. Time to boil, an hour and a half. Probable cost, 4s., with pigeons at 9d. each. Sufficient for five or six persons. Pigeons, Pupton of. — Butter a pie- dish rather thickly, and line the inside with a highly-seasoned veal forcemeat about three- quarters of an inch in thickness. Lay upon this three or foitr thin slices of fat bacon, three plump young pigeons split in halves and flat- tened, a blanched sweetbread cut into slices, an ox palate boiled tender and cut up smaU, a dozen asparagus tops, as many button mush- rooms, and the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs. Cover the whole with a layer of forcemeat spread on the top like a pie-crust, and bake in a well-heated oven. Serve the pupton turned on a hi>t d^ph in a shape, with rich brown gravy poured round it. Time, one hour to bake. Probable cost, 6s. Sufficient for six or seven persons. Pigeons, Ragout of.— Pluck, singe, and draw a couple of young pigeons, cleanse and open the gizzards, and stew them with the livers in as much water as will cover them until they are done enough. Mince all finely, and mix with them their weight in finely-shred beef-suet and grated bread-crumbs. Add a table-spoonful of chopped parsley, a pinch of powdered thyme, and a little pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.