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PARTRIDGES, SALMI OF (a la Francaise)

Roast a brace of well-hung young partridges, baste them liberally, and take them down when they are only three-parts cooked. Let them get cold; then cut them into neat joints, remove the skin, fat, and sinew, and put the good parts aside, being careful to cover them, and keep them in a cool place to prevent their becoming hard. Melt three ounces of fresh butter in a saucepan. Put with it a dozen small mushrooms, a scraped carrot, two sliced shallots, half a blade of mace, a bay-leaf, a handful of parsley-leaves, a medium-sized onion, stuck with two cloves, a small sprig of thyme, and four ounces of uncooked lean ham, cut into small pieces. Stir these over a gentle fire until they are lightly browned, sprinkle over them a table-spoonful of flour, let it brown slightly, and then stir in, very gradually, a pint of good veal gravy and a glassful of sherry. Add the bones and trimmings of the birds, and boil the sauce gently until it is considerably reduced; then strain it, let it boil up once more, put in the pieces of partridge, and when they are quite hot, dish the salmi, and serve immediately. Garnish the dish with toasted sippets. When mushrooms cannot be obtained, their place may be supplied by a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup. Time, an hour and a half to simmer the sauce. Probable cost, 1s. 6d., exclusive of the partridges. Sufficient for half a dozen persons.