"0: dainty duck, With wings as swift as meditation"

Quails En Casserole

6 quails.

2 heaping tablespoonfuls (2 ozs.) butter 1/4 pint (1/2 cup) red currant jelly.

1/2 lemon.

1/4 lb. preserved cherries 1 wineglassful port wine 1/2 pint (1 cup) stock 1/2 orange rind Salt and pepper to season.

Prepare and truss the quails. Melt the butter in an earthenware pan; when hot, put in the birds, and brown them all over.

Cover with the lid, and put into a moderate oven till ready.

Lift out the quails and keep hot. Drain the fat from the pan, add the stock, wine, and orange rind.

Simmer for ten minutes, then stir in the jelly. Put in the quails for ten minutes; season with salt, pepper, and the strained lemon juice.

Before serving remove the orange rind and add the cherries. Serve hot.

Rabbit En Casserole

2 rabbits.

2 sliced onions.

2 celery stalks.

1 cupful chopped carrots.

1 bay leaf.

2 heaping tablespoonfuls (2 ozs.) butter 2 heaping tablespoonfuls (2 ozs.) flour.

1 pint (2 cups) hot water 1/2 pint (1 cup) cold water 1 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce 12 stoned olives.

1 tablespoonful capers.

2 tablespoonfuls dripping Salt and pepper.

Rabbit en Casserole.

Skin and joint the rabbits, then put them into an earthenware pan, add the onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, dripping, and cold water.

Simmer for thirty minutes, then remove the rabbits. Add the butter and flour to the pan, stir over the fire till brown, then add the hot water, stirring till smooth, add the salt, sauce, capers, olives, pepper, and rabbits.

Cover closely and bake for forty minutes.

Ragout Of Duck

1 cooked duck.

2 heaping tablespoonfuls (2 ozs.) butter 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) flour 1 pint (2 cups) stock.

3 shallots.

For Ragout of Duck.

A few sprigs of parsley 1 teaspoonful lemon juice Salt and pepper 1 teaspoonful red currant jelly 1/2 teaspoonful meat extract Few drops kitchen bouquet.

Cut the duck into neat joints. Melt the butter in an earthenware pan, toss the pieces of cluck in it, then sprinkle in the flour, and fry it a light brown color; then add the stock, stirring it in smoothly. Add the parsley, lemon juice, shallots, jelly, kitchen bouquet, and meat extract.

Put on the lid and let it simmer for thirty minutes. Season it nicely. Pin a napkin round the casserole and serve it hot.

Pigeons En Casserole

4 pigeons.

1 onion.

1/4 lb. raw lean bacon.

Bunch of herbs.

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley 1 bay leaf 1 blade mace.

Small piece lemon rind.

1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) flour 1 heaping tablespoonful (1 oz.) butter 1 pint (2 cups) stock 1 wineglassful Marsala wine Salt and pepper to season.

Cut each bird in four pieces. Cut the bacon into small pieces and the onion into large dice. Melt the butter in a casserole, put in the bacon, onion, herbs, mace, parsley, and bay leaf, and fry them for five minutes, or till a good brown color.

Add the stock, and bring it to boiling point. Lay in the pieces of pigeons and lemon rind, cover the casserole tightly, and allow its contents to simmer very gently for one hour. Next skim it well, remove the pigeons, and strain the stock. Put the pigeons back in the casserole. Mix the flour smoothly and thinly with a little cold water, add it to the stock, and strain both over the pigeons.

Put in the wine and a good seasoning of salt and pepper. Allow the gravy to boil for five minutes to cook the flour, and serve it in the casserole. The wine may be omitted.