1278.—BLACKBIRD PIE. (Fr.—Pâté de Merle.)
Ingredients.—Blackbirds, rump steak, veal forcemeat (see "Forcemeats"), good stock, salt and pepper, paste.
Method.—Pick and draw the birds, and stuff them with veal forcemeat. Line the bottom and sides of a piedish with rather thin slices of steak, put in the birds cut in halves, season them with salt and pepper and intersperse sections or slices of hard-boiled eggs. Half fill the dish with good stock, cover with paste (see "Veal and Ham Pie"), and bake in a moderately hot oven. Add more stock before serving.
Time.—To bake the pie, from 1¼ to 1¾ hours, according to size. Average Cost, uncertain, blackbirds being seldom sold. Seasonable from November to the end of January.
1279.—BLACK COCK, FILLETS OF, À LA FINANCIÈRE. (Fr.—Filets de Coq de Bruyère à la Finançière.)
Ingredients.—2 black cocks, 3 slices of bacon, ½ a pint of brown sauce (see Sauces), ¼ of a pint of stock, 1 glass of sherry or Maderia, 12 button mushrooms, 1 medium-sized onion, 1 small carrot, ½ a turnip, salt and pepper.
Method.—Cut the birds into neat fillets, slice the vegetables, place them in a sauté-pan with the stock, add the slices of bacon, lay the fillet on top of them, cover closely with a well-buttered paper, and cook gently for about 30 minutes. Make the brown sauce as directed, add to it the mushrooms (fresh ones must be previously fired in a little butter), and the wine, season to taste, and keep hot until required. When the fillets are done, arrange them on a hot dish, strain the sauce over, and garnish with the mushrooms, and, if liked, the bacon cut into dice and grouped round the base.
Time.—From 30 to 35 minutes. Average Cost, from 3s. 6d. to 4s. 6d. per brace. Seasonable from the middle of August to the end of November.
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