Perdreaux aux Raisins (Young Partridges with Grapes)
Clean 6 young partridges and truss the wings and legs close to the bodies. If the birds are large, 3 may be sufficient, ' serving one-hall to each person. Cover the breasts with slices of fat salt pork or bacon and tie the slices in place. Season with Salt, place the birds on their sides in a roasting pan, and spread them with good fat or butter. Roast the birds in a hot oven (425' F.) for 15 minutes, turning them to the Other side after 7 minutes and basting frequently. Then turn the partridges on their 'backs, cover each breast with a couple of grape leaves, and continue to cook, lusting frequently, for 15 to 20 minutes longer. Remove the birds from the oven, discard the trussing strings, and place each bird on a piece of toast spread with rouennaise. Place a grape leaf on top and a slice of the pork or bacon that was used to cover the breasts.
Peel 6 to 8 dozen red or white grapes. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan but do not wash the pan. Add the grapes, ¼ cup cognac, and 1/3 cup white Burguudy wine and cook lor a few minutes, stirring in all the brown crustiness around the pan. Stir in ¼ to ½ cup veal or chicken gravy and 1 tablespoon butter. Correct the seasoning with salt and serve the sauce with the partridges.
Roucnnaise
Heat 7 tablespoons rendered salt pork fat. Add 1 cup chicken or duck livers, a pinch of thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt, a little pepper. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes over a hot fire, Add 3 tablespoons cognac or sherry. Mix all together, pounding well, and rub through a sieve to make a paste.
Brussels sprouts are the vegetable accompaniment to the partridge, This vegetable, like most members of the cabbage family, has its own strong, definite flavor, but in this case, conked with salt pork and butter, it acquires a slightly meaty flavor which both contrasts and points up the flavor of the game.
Ghoux de Bruxelles Ménagère (Brussels Sprouts)
Trim and wash 2 quarts of Brussels sprouts. Cook the sprouts in boiling, salted water for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they are done but are not soft, Drain well. Dice 2 or 3 slices of bacon or salt pork and sauté the dice in 2 tablespoons butter until golden brown. Add the sprouts and mix all together. Season with salt and popper, sprinkle with parsley, and serve with the partridge.
Lamb that has been properly fed during the summer and early fall should be very good by October. By this time, when it is six or eight months old, it will have developed its own characterise flavor. Of course you must buy the kind of lamb that is available where you live, but no Frenchman when Speaking of lamb can avoid mentioning the présaté lamb. This is an excellent type raised on the salt meadows of France and England, but as far as I know, nowhere else in the world. For a formal dinner, the choicest cut of lamb is the saddle, and for lamb roasted J point. serve a red Bordeaux, dry, fragrant, and suave, perhaps a Château Margaux.
Selle d'Aguvau Rôtie (Roast Saddle of Lamb)
Season a saddle of lamb with salt, place it in a roasting pan, and cover the meat with good fat. Roast the saddle in a hot oven (425° F.), basting frequently, until done. Allow 15 to IS minutes per pound for medium rare, or 30 minutes per pound fur well done. Place the lamb on a serving platter, Remove the fat from the pan, add to the pan a little stock or water, and cook for a few minutes, stirring in all the brown Crustiness around the pan. Finish the sauce by swirling in 1 tablespoon butler.
Many French meat dishes have their own vegetable garnish, but if they do nor, potatoes are a favorite substitute. Few foods so set off the flavor and texture of meat as the potato, and this unusual way of preparing it goes well with the lamb and its simple pan juices.
Pommel tie Terre Lorelle (Potatoes Lorette)
Mix together equal quantities of pommes dachesse and pâte à choux. Slip the baiter off a spoon into hoc deep fat (390° F.) and fry until the potatoes are puffed and brown. Remove them from the fat and drain on absorbent paper.
Pommes Duchesse
Boil and mash enough potatoes to make 2 cups. Combine the poratoes with 2 egg yolks, mix well, and season to taste with salt.
Pâle à Cboux (Cream Puff Paste)
Bring 1 cup water, or milk, or half of each, to a boil with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ cup butter. Add 1 cup flour and stir until the mixture is Smooth and rolls away from the sides of the pan. Remove the paste from the heat and add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating thoroughly after each.
A Frenchman would have to have a very good reason indeed for omitting the salad from a meal. The salad course has a definite purpose and place in the French menu: Coining after the heavy dishes of fish, game, and meat, it serves to cleanse the palate, and it contrasts both with what has preceded and with what follows. Unfortunately. in recent years, many fine restaurants have succumbed to the practice of serving salad before or after the soup or with the entrée, regarding it as a stimulant to the appetite or as an extra vegetable to the main dish.
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