Broiled Snipes

Pick, singe, draw and dry eight fine snipes, remove the skin from the heads, split them into halves without detaching the parts, and place them on a dish. Season with one pinch of salt, one-half pinch of pepper and one tablespoonful of oil; put them to broil (with the bills stuck into the breasts), and allow them to cook for four minutes on either side. Put six slices of hot toast on a hot dish, arrange the snipes on them, spread one gill of maitre d'hotel butter on top, decorate the dish with watercress, and serve.

Fillets Of Snipes In Cases

Detach the fillets from the bones of some snipes, trim them neatly and lay them in a buttered stewpan. Prepare a puree with the legs of the snipes, a few poultry livers, some game giblets, boiled rice, stock and butter. Procure as many paper cases as there are fillets and brush over their interiors with oil. Fry the fillets over a brisk fire, turning them when they are cooked on one side. Fill the cases with the puree, then place a fillet of snipe in each case. Coat the top of each with some brown sauce that has been reduced with the essence of game, place the cases on a baking sheet, and place them in the oven for a few minutes to glaze. Arrange the cases piled up on a folded napkin on a hot dish, and serve.

Roasted Snipes

Pluck, singe and draw some snipes and take out the backbones. Chop fine a quantity of fresh pork and mix with it an equal amount of chopped raw mushrooms, one pinch of shallot, some parsley, salt and pepper. Fill the birds with the above mixture, sew them up and truss; fix the snipes on a spit and roast them in front of a clear fire, or, if not convenient, roast them in the oven, basting them constantly with butter. Place some slices of bread underneath the birds in the drippingpan. Put two sliced onions into a stewpan with a small lump of butter, season with salt and pepper, and fry until well browned; then dredge in a little flour, and stir in by degrees about one-half pint of stock, and boil it gently until the onions are cooked. Fry the trails of the snipes with three chickens' livers, season them, pound and pass them through a fine hair-sieve. Put the puree of trails into a saucepan with a little white wine and the onions, stir them over the fire for a few minutes, but do not allow them to boil. When cooked remove the snipes from the fire, brush them over with melted glaze, put the pieces of bread from the drippingpan on a hot dish, stand the snipes on them, pour the sauce over, and serve.

Salmis Of Snipes

Divide eight cold roasted snipes into two pieces each, trim off the necks, skin the feet and place the bodies in a sautepan; put the bones and trimmings in a mortar and pound them; then put them in a saucepan with a bunch of sweet herbs, three cloves, two shallots, and one-half pint of claret. Boil quickly till the liquor has reduced to half its original quantity, then pour in one pint of Spanish sauce and let it simmer by the side of the fire for about thirty minutes, skimming frequently. Strain the sauce through a silk sieve into another saucepan and boil it quickly until it is reduced to a thick cream. Pour a little of the sauce into the sautepan with the snipes and warm without boiling. Put the pieces of snipe on a hot dish, pour the sauce over, garnish with croutons of fried bread, and serve.