Pigeons, to stew. No. 1.
Truss your pigeons as for boiling. Take pepper, salt, cloves, mace, some sweet-herbs, a little grated bread, and the liver of the birds chopped very fine; roll these up in a bit of butter, put it in the stomach of the pigeons, and tie up both ends. Make some butter hot in your stewpan, fry the pigeons in it till they are brown all over, putting to them two or three blades of mace, a few peppercorns, and one shalot. Take them out of the liquor, dust a little flour into the stewpan, shaking it about till it is brown. Have ready a quart of small gravy and a glass of white wine; let it just boil up: strain out all the spice, and put the gravy and pigeons into the stewpan. Let them simmer over[168] the fire two hours; put in some pickled mushrooms, a little lemon juice, a spoonful of ketchup, a few truffles and morels. Dish and send to table with bits of bacon grilled. Some persons add forcemeat balls, but they are very rich without.