Shaped and Stuffed

Hannah Glasse Everlasting Syllabub and the Art of Carving [Penguin Great Food Series] excerpts from The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy (1797) on the various ways to prepare stuffed pigeons (Pigeons au Poire):

Or thus: bone your pigeons, and stuff them with force-meat; make them in the shape of a pear, with one foot stuck at the small end to appear like the stalk of a pear […]

The stuffing with force-meat reminds me of a recipe given by Ed Baines in Entertain for whole roast quail stuffed with thyme, garlic and lemon which uses sausage meat. Baines writes

Quails have very little fat, so it's a good idea to add a stuffing to keep the meat tender, especially if your are going to cook and chill them for a picnic.

Plain and easy. And note no pears in Pigeons au Poire.

And so for day 1518
08.02.2011