With a sharp-pointed knife carefully cut the breasts from quails or
pigeons; or, as professional cooks say, fillet them. At the small end of
each breast stick in a bone taken from the leg, and trimmed. The breasts
should now resemble cutlets. Sprinkle a little pepper and salt over each
one, dip it in melted butter, and roll it in flour or sifted
cracker-crumbs. Put the cutlets one side until ready to cook, as they
should be cooked only just before sending them to the table. They should
then be fried in a _sauté_ pan in hot butter. They may be served without
further trouble in a circle with a centre of green pease, which makes a
most delicate dish for a company dinner course. However, there is a more
elaborate way of finishing them, as follows: Put the carcasses into some
cold water with very small pieces of pork and onion, sufficient only to
produce the slightest flavoring. Simmer this about an hour; strain,
thicken with a little browned _roux_, and season it with a little pepper
and salt. As soon as the livers are done, take them out, mash, and
moisten them with a little of the sauce. Prepare little thin pieces of
toast, one for each breast; butter, and spread them with the mashed
livers. Turn the cutlets over in this sauce, and use the little of it
that remains for dipping in the pieces of toast. Serve the cutlets on
the toast in a circle, with a centre of pease, French string-beans
(_haricots verts_), potatoes _à la Parisienne_, or mushrooms; or cut the
pieces of toast into the form of a long triangle, so that the points may
meet in the centre, and place the bones of the cutlets to meet in the
centre also. Put then a row of vegetables on the outside.
[Illustration]
SCOLLOPS OF QUAILS, WITH TRUFFLES (_Gouffé_).
Remove the fillets or breasts of six quails. Cut each fillet in two, and
trim the parts to a round shape. Cook half a pound of truffles in
Madeira, and cut them into slices. Put the scollops of quails into a
_sauté_ pan with some butter; fry them until they are done, then mix
them with the truffles. Put a nice border on a dish; pile the centre
with the scollops and truffles; pour in some Espagnole or brown sauce,
flavored with a little Madeira, and serve. Truffles can be procured
canned.