Duck With The Puree Of Green Peas

PrepaRe the duck as above, and send it up with a puree of green peas over it (See Puree verte) or with a hochepot. (See Hochepot.)

Ducklings A La Bigarade

This entree requires plump fleshy ducks: pick, empty, and truss them well with the legs stuck upwards. First roast them under-done, and make incisions in the breast, what the French call aiguillettes; pour the gravy that issues from the duck into the sauce, which must be ready made, in order that you may send up quickly; a thing to be parti-. cularly attended to. With respect to the appropriate sauce, see Sauces. If you are allowed to serve up fillets only, then you must have three ducklings at least. Roast them under-done; when properly done cut them into aiguillettes, that is, four out of each duck; put them into the sauce with the gravy that runs from them; and send up without loss of time, and quite hot. As soon as you have put the aiguillettet into the sauce, squeeze a little juice of bigarade (bitter orange) over the whole; keep stirring well, and serve up the fillets in the sauce. This is a dish for an epicure; for a dainty palate. Do not think of dishing it en couronne to give it a better appearance, but send it up in the sauce, and they who eat it will fare all the better. Mignonette, or coarse pepper, is required in this sauce, and the entree altogether must be highly seasoned. Before roasting the duck, blanch a handful of sage with a couple of onions cut into quarters; chop them; season them with a little salt and pepper, and stuff the duck; by so doing it will acquire additional savour.

Salmi Of Witt Duck

If you roast a duck on purpose, let it be under-done. Pare it whilst hot, and let the parings simmer in the sauce. Then strain the sauce through a tammy over the members, and let them be made hot without boiling. The sauce is made in the same manner as that of the salmi of partridges, or as follows: cut four shalots into several pieces, a small bit of ham, a few bits of carrot, some parsley roots, thyme, bay-leaf, three cloves, a few blades of mace, five allspice, and a small bit of butter; fry all this in a stew-pan fill the ham has acquired a little colour, then put a little flour to it; fry it a little more to do the flour; moisten with a glass of wine, either red or white, a ladleful of good veal gravy, and salt and pepper; put all the trimmings of the duck to boil with this sauce; skim off all the fat, reduce the sauce, and put it over the members through a tammy, to warm them only; when you send up, squeeze the juice of a lemon over. This entree must be highly seasoned; add a little Cayenne, and do not let the members boil.

How To Cook Larks

Larks Au Gratin

Take eighteen larks, as fat as possible ; pick and bone them; next season them with salt and pepper,.and stuff them with a farce fine, or a farce a quenelles; the former however is preferable. Dish them nicely, and put some of the farce into the dish. Put slices of fried bread cut whimsically between the birds. When the larks are put all round the dish, if there are any left put them into the middle ; but these latter are to be raised higher than the rest. Cover the whole with layers of bacon, and leave it in the oven for twenty minutes. Then take off the bacon, drain the fat, and serve up with an Espagnole of a nice colour, and well seasoned.

Caisses Of Larks

Bone the larks as above; and stuff them with farce fine. Have ready small paper cases dipped into warm oil. Give the larks a round shape, put into the cases some of the farce, and put the larks over. Next put them on a plafond with some buttered paper over them, for fear they should dry while baking. When baked enough, dish them. If there is room enough, pour into the cases a little Espagnole and lemon-juice ; mind to drain all the fat out.

Hot Raised Pies Of Larks

Bone the larks as above: dress the pie-crust, put the farce in the bottom and the birds over the farce: then fill the crust with farce, close the pie, but leave a little hole at the top, to prevent the crust from breaking. Let it be made of a light brown colour. When done, take it out of the oven, take off likewise the top crust, or cover, then pour a ragout & la financiere into the pie, after having drained the fat, if there is any. Do not put the top crust on again : send up hot with high seasoning, which brown entries require more than white ones.