Partridges with Cabbage

Dress four partridges, truss them for an entree as in No. 178, and plunge the breasts in boiling water to stiffen the skin, then lard with medium lardons (No. 3, Fig. 52). Blanch for fifteen minutes four medium cabbages after removing the heart or core, and part of the green leaves; refresh, drain and press out every particle of water, then divide each quarter into two, remove the thick stalks, season lightly with salt and pepper, roll in thin slices of fat pork, tie with a string; put them into a braziere (Fig. 134) with the partridges and a pound of bacon cut in two equal-sized pieces and blanched for ten minutes; add also a one pound sausage, four medium carrots cut lengthwise in four, two onions, one having two cloves stuck in it, and a bunch of parsley garnished with thyme and bay leaf. Moisten with some stock (No. 194a) adding a little chicken fat; let cook, and after it comes to a boil finish in a slack oven for thirty to forty minutes. If the partridges be old ones they require one hour and a half to cook; remove them from the braziere, also the sausages and bacon which must be put under a light weight to cool off; it will take fully three hours to cook the cabbages. Have four dozen small carrots cut in pear-shapes and as many turnips of cylindrical form, two inches long by half an inch in diameter, round the ends neatly, then blanch, cook and let fall to a glaze separately. Half an hour before serving return the partridges to the cabbages and keep the whole warm. Cut the bacon into large three-fourths of an inch squares, the sausages into slices, and put both these into a sautoir with a few spoonfuls of the cabbage stock so that they keep hot until ready to serve; drain the cabbages through a colander, pressing it lightly to form into a socle on the bottom of the dish, laying the four untrussed partridges on top in a square, placing two clusters of carrots and two of turnips, alternated with the slices of sausages between the partridges, having the bacon in the center on top. Cover the partridges only with a half-glaze sauce (No. 413), and serve some of the same sauce separately.