Marion Harland's Complete Cook Book: A Practical and Exhaustive Manual of Cookery and Housekeeping

plentifully with melted butter. Replace the cover, cook for fifteen minutes longer, uncover and brown. Woodcock May be roasted according to the foregoing recipe, but as it is a smaller bird than the partridge, less time will be required in the cooking. The fashionable way of cooking woodcock is what is known as “with the trail.” To prepare the woodcock, wash them and remove the crops. Fold the legs and wings close to the body and bend the head forward so that the long bill may be run, skewer-wise, through the legs and wings, thus holding them in place. Put two slices of toast in the bottom of a large, deep fireproof soup-plate, and place two birds, side by side, upon this; put a lump of butter upon each, and invert a large saucer or small plate over them. Over the opening left about the edge of the saucer lay a strip of pastry, that all air may be excluded. Set in the oven for seven minutes, then make an incision in the pastry and allow the steam to escape. Cover this small hole with a bit of fresh pastry, return the birds to the oven and cook for half an hour. Pour melted butter over the woodcock, serve on the toast on which they were cooked, and garnish with strips of the browned pastry. [Illustration: ROAST WOODCOCK ROAST BELGIAN HARE QUAIL ON TOAST ROAST VENISON ROAST PARTRIDGE GAME] As some persons do not like the “trail,” it may be well to remark that drawn woodcock may be cooked according to this recipe. Broiled quail Pick and draw the birds, and remove the heads and feet. Wipe out the bodies with a wet cloth, split down the back and lay open upon a gridiron. Broil on both sides, taking care that the delicate flesh is not dried into tastelessness. Lay the quail upon slices of buttered toast, put a lump of butter upon each, and sprinkle with butter and salt. Set in the oven until the butter melts, then send to the table. Roasted quail Clean and wash in two