Roasted Birds

Clean, truss and stuff the birds. Roast in an uncovered pan in a moderate oven (350° F.) until meat is tender and bird is well browned. Baste every half hour with butter or other fat and water. Thicken the gravy and pour it over the birds. Serve with bread sauce.

Larded Grouse

Grouse are rather dry birds and need to be larded to be palatable. Clean and wipe with a damp towel. On each bird lay thin slices of bacon, covering the bird entirely and keeping the bacon in place with crossings of soft twine. Place in a roasting-pan and pour over them boiling water, sufficient to use for basting the birds while cooking. Cook in a very hot oven (500° F.) fifteen to twenty-five minutes, basting three times. Reduce the heat after fifteen minutes. When done, remove the strips of bacon, brush the birds with oil, melted butter or other fat, dredge with flour and place in the oven again until a rich brown. The liquor in the pan may be thickened, seasoned, and used as a gravy. Arrange the birds on a platter and garnish with rings of sauted green peppers and the strips of bacon used to cover the birds while roasting.

Roast Quail

6 quail

6 large oysters

Strips of bacon

Flour

Salt and pepper

Butter or other fat

Dress, clean and truss the birds. Stuff each with one large oyster. Lard breast and legs with strips of bacon. Bake as directed for larded grouse, allowing fifteen to twenty minutes for cooking.

Game Pie

6 birds

Salt and pepper

1/4 cup minced parsley

1/2 chopped onion

2 whole cloves

1/4 pound diced salt pork

2 tablespoons browned flour 2 tablespoons fat 2 cups diced potatoes Rich paste for side and top crust

Clean the birds thoroughly. Halve them, put them into one quart of water and bring to boiling-point. Remove the scum, add salt, pepper, parsley, onion, cloves and salt pork. Simmer until tender, carefully keeping the birds covered with water. When the birds are done, thicken the liquid with the browned flour and let the gravy come to a boil. Add the fat, remove from the fire and cool.

Put the paste around the sides of a greased pudding-dish, lay in some of the birds, then some potatoes, and repeat until the dish is full. Pour in the gravy, put on the top crust, slashed in the center, and bake in a hot oven (450° F. to 425° F.) for thirty-five to forty-five minutes until done.

Pigeons And Squabs

Pigeons need long, slow cooking to make them tender. Squabs are tender and are usually broiled.

Broiled Squab

6 squabs

Salt and pepper

Butter Toast

Split the birds down the back, flatten the breast, wipe inside and out with a damp cloth. Put on a broiler, season with pepper and salt, and when nicely browned, pour a generous amount of melted butter over them. Serve on toast.

Pigeon And Mushroom Stew

3 pigeons

1 tablespoon fat

1 pint stock or gravy

2 tablespoons cream 1/2 cup mushrooms

2 tablespoons mushroom catchup Salt and pepper Cayenne

Clean and cut pigeons into small portions and let them cook a short time in the fat in a saucepan, being careful not to brown them. Next add to the contents of the pan the stock or gravy, the mushroom catchup, and salt, pepper and cayenne to taste. Simmer an hour, or until tender, add the mushrooms, simmer ten minutes more, and then stir in the cream. Arrange the mushrooms around the pigeons on a hot platter.