Pigeon Pie

Instructions

1. Lay a border of fine puff paste round a large dish, and cover the bottom with a veal cutlet or tender rump steak, free from fat and bone, and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg or pounded mace.
2. Prepare with great nicety as many freshly-killed young pigeons as the dish will contain in one layer.
3. Put into each a slice or ball of butter, seasoned with a little cayenne and mace, lay them into the dish with the breasts downwards, and between and over them put the yolks of half a dozen or more of hard-boiled eggs.
4. Stick plenty of butter on them, season the whole well with salt and spice, and pour in some cold water or veal broth for the gravy.
5. Roll out the cover three-quarters of an inch thick, secure it well round the edge, ornament it highly, and bake the pie for an hour or more in a well-heated oven.
6. It is a great improvement to fill the birds with small mushroom-buttons, prepared as for partridges (see Chapter XV.): their livers also may be put into them.