Snipe Pie
From Culinary jottings, 1885
Birds that are damaged can be used for gravy.
Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation below, not the original instructions.
A modern interpretation · AI-generated from the original record
Ingredients
Method
As published
This recipe was extracted from Culinary jottings (1885) by A. R. Kenney-Herbert, page 159. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.
Half a glass of Madeira or any sound white wine may be mingled with the gravy, the pie- dish should be rubbed with a shallot before it is packed, finely chopped parsley should be sprinkled over the bottom of the dish before the beef 280 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS. collops are arranged upon it, and the pigeon's livers with bacon rolled round them should be arranged on the surface. I have also found that mutton collops may be used with almost as good an effect as those of beef. I used the meat of the blade-bone of a shoulder, which was cut into neat pieces ; these were rolled with a slice of bacon inside them as directed for beef. 6. " Snipe Pie.'' — When snipes are plentiful, as they often are in India, the cook ought to remember this delicacy. Supposing eight birds to be available, I would work in this way : — I would prepare six of them, as if for roasting, for the pie ; and two I would sacrifice for the gravy, which ought to be very first rate. For this pur- pose two pounds of gravy meat must be obtained, besides about a couple of pounds of the undercut, or tender rib- meat, for the pie. Having made as good a beef gravy as possible, I would throw into it the two snipe, and proceed to make a little puree (as explained in Menu No. 16) pounding the meat of the birds, after they have been slowly simmered in the gravy, to a paste, and blending it with the gravy secundum artem. After rubbing the pie-dish with a shallot, I would fill up the bottom of it with little collops of the tender beef rolled with strips of bacon, " spiced pepper" being dusted over each layer until all the beef has been used. I would lay the six snipes on the surface of the beef with slices of lean bacon, ham, tongue, or Bologna sausage, between each bird, garnish as usual, baptize the pie with the puree, saving some of it for the final process previously described, cover it with a nice light paste, and bake. Birds badly knocked about in shooting come in usefully for gravy. Partridges, and quails make good pies, but they require a sound and strong support in the way of fresh meat, and A FEW NICE PIES. 281 good gravy. Beef, — the tender undercut, or rib-meat, — forms the best basis you can devise : it should be cut up into collops, as I have frequently said before, and strips of bacon should be rolled round them. Or you can use the blade-bone collops of good mutton just described, or the neck cutlets ; each cutlet should be trimmed neatly, with a strip of bacon wrapped round it. Excellent gravy can be obtained from the scraps left after trimming the beef or the cutlets, the remnants of the birds not wanted in the pie, and a pound of gravy meat, with the usual vegetables, and other flavouring ingredients often describ- ed. A little wine is almost a sine qua non with these game birds : Madeira, sound brown sherry, or any white wine — of which a glass is quite enough. A good " Game pie'^ is a capital thing for the luncheon, or breakfast party. Snipe, quails, partridges, hares, pigeons, teal, wild duck, &c., &c., can be thus disposed of most advantageously : they must be assisted by tender beef, or good mutton collops ; slices of bacon, of ham, or of Bologna sausage must be introduced, and the gravy must be very attentively composed. A forcemeat made thus will be found undeniably valuable
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Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.