Home › The Principles of Cookery › SNIPES (a la Minute)

SNIPES (a la Minute)

Pluck three snipes carefully, and truss them for roasting. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter in a saucepan, lay the snipes in it side by side and breast downwards, and add two finely-minced shallots, or small onions, a dessert-spoonful of chopped parsley, and a little pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg. Move the saucepan about over a sharp fire till the birds are lightly browned, pour over them as much good stock and sherry mixed as will barely cover them, and add the strained juice of half a lemon and a small piece of crust of bread finely grated. Simmer all gently together till the birds are done enough. Lift them out, and put them on a hot dish. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of Bovril in the sauce, stir it over the fire for a minute, and pour it over the birds. Serve immediately. Time, seven to ten minutes to fry the birds; seven to ten minutes to stew them. Probable cost of snipes, very variable. Sufficient for three or four persons.