No. 1427 — Hazel Grouse or Quail Aspic Pâté
English historical translation of Molokhovets recipe No. 1427 from the 1901 Russian cookbook, retaining original methods and measures.
For six people lightly roast three cleaned hazel grouse or five quails, strip the meat from the bones, chop and pound with half a soaked, squeezed French roll, ¼ Russian pound butter and one or two raw eggs, then sieve.
Remove membranes from calf's liver and cut it with ⅛ Russian pound fresh bacon; fry in a spoonful of butter with bay leaf and pepper, then mince, pound and sieve.
Combine the meat mixtures, add half a glass of very thick cream, three to five eggs, four chopped truffles and half a nutmeg.
Butter a pan, fill with the forcemeat and bake for about an hour and a half, then chill.
Prepare aspic from the cookbook's general directions. Pour a little into a charlotte mould, let set and decorate the base with truffles, herbs and crayfish tails; cover with more aspic and set.
Use a rounded metal spoon warmed in water to shape the baked forcemeat into hemispheres. Arrange them in the mould, pour in more aspic and chill, repeating layers to the top.
Turn out on a dish and offer sauce No. 335 or No. 342 separately.
For seven to nine people enlarge forcemeat by one quarter, using four grouse while keeping aspic unchanged. For ten to twelve people double forcemeat and increase aspic one and a half times. For eighteen to twenty-four triple forcemeat and double aspic.
To provide
3 hazel grouse or 5 quails ½ French roll and 2 eggs ½ glass thick cream ⅛ pound bacon and ¼ pound liver ½ nutmeg and 1–2 bay leaves 3–6 allspice berries 4 truffles and ⅜ pound butter For aspic: 1 calf's head or 4 calf's feet | 1½ pounds beef 1 carrot, parsley and celery root 1 leek and 10–20 allspice berries 1–2 bay leaves ½ glass vinegar and 4–6 eggs 1 lump sugar For decoration: 1–2 truffles 10 crayfish tails and herbs |