The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1908-01-04
.ren BIRDS GOOD EATING.
..eoicure Tells How Best to Prepare
Them for the Table.

..roieure Tells How Best to Prepare
Them for the Table.
uhe nthe bob-olink, weary of the
y...bern summer, deserts the fields in
rs;ch il has sung SO cheerily, it begins
:" .esume some Importance in the eye
:, nc epicure. As long as it stayed in
~. North, pursuing the existence Of az
a.d,nary insectivorous bird, it present
n few points of attraction to the lover
= mod food Now that it is on its
-.v to the Southern rice fields to feed
:, the ripening grain, it will not be
n.nv weeks before the One-time bob
LINZ will return in the guise of that
most dainty of morsels, the rice bird
or reed bird
while there are cooks who prepare
,.ed birds for the table by roasting
Them. and a few who even 60 so far as
n an them with stuffing much as they
vmld stuff a turkey, small birds that
have been subjected to such treatment
~ not nearly so good to eat as those
Aat have been cooked by more simple
Methods Thus, If you are to broil rice
birds, SINCE them and wipe them dry;
,ulit them through the centre. cleanse
them, and after wiping them dry again
and hattening them BY pounding them
lkhtly. season with butter, pepper, and
nit rubbing the seasoning we'll into the
flesh. To complete the process sue
cesaully, however, there must be a
hot fire. for if the fire is not a very
kisht one it will require too long
for the birds to broil. The smaller the
bird the brighter the fire." is a good
rule to remember il you want to avoid
the humiliation Of serving dry, taste
less birds to your guests
In fact, the surest way to escape this
diihculty is to saute small birds in
stead OF broiling them, and no process
Of cooking them could be simpler, for
after they have once been cleaned and
the head and feet removed they are
merely put into deep frying pan with
generous quantity Of very hot butter.
and are left to cook for about ten min
utes. In this time they should be
tossed about occasionally. and when
done should be served on thin slices
Of toasted bread, mixture of melted
butter, salt. and pepper being poured
over them.
A more elaborate and perhaps more
delicate method of cooking these very
small birds is to bake them in shells.
To do this take as many empty hens
egg shells as there are birds, and after
the bird has been cleaned and its head
has been removed put one in each shell,
the end Of which must previously have
been opened sufficiently to permit CT the
of the bird In the mean
time melt some butter in a saucepan.
add an equal quantity of hot water.
and season to taste with pepper and
salt, and when the mixture is COM
plete pour two teaspoonfuls of the Ii
quid into each shell SO that it will flow
directly over the body OF the bird.
When thus prepared send the birds to
the oven, standing the shell in the
baking pan in such way that none
Of the liquid can escape, and when
cooked they may either be
removed from the shells and served on
small slices of toast or they may be
lent to the table in the shells, reposing
o bed Of watercress. In either case,
however, when the shells are opened
one must be careful to pour all the Ii
guild they contain over the birds, for
This will be found to be the richest
md juciest OF gravies.-New York
Times.