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Pigeons, Stuffed with Chestnuts, and Roasted

Take a dozen sound chestnuts. Peel off the brown skin, throw them into boiling water, and let them remain for two minutes, then blanch them like almonds. Weigh them, and mix with every three ounces an equal weight of fat bacon, minced as finely as possible, an ounce of finely-grated bread-crumbs, and a little salt, cayenne, and grated nutmeg. Pound the mixture thoroughly, and moisten with beaten yolk of egg. Stuff two pigeons with this forcemeat, truss them firmly, cover their breasts with a slice of fat bacon and a vine-leaf, and roast them before a clear fire. Serve on a hot dish, with the bacon and vine-leaves over them, and send nicely-seasoned brown gravy to table in a tureen. Time to roast the pigeons, twenty minutes. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for two persons.