Cutlets of Quails or of Pigeons.
With a sharp-pointed knife carefully cut the breasts from quails or pigeons; or, as professional cooks say, fillet them. At the small end of each breast stick in a bone taken from the leg, and trimmed. The breasts should now resemble cutlets. Sprinkle a little pepper and salt over each one, dip it in melted butter, and roll it in flour or sifted cracker-crumbs. Put the cutlets one side until ready to cook, as they should be cooked only just before sending them to the table. They should then be fried in a sauté pan in hot butter. They may be served without further trouble in a circle with a centre of green pease, which makes a most delicate dish for a company dinner course. However, there is a more elaborate way of finishing them, as follows: Put the carcasses into some cold water with very small pieces of pork and onion, sufficient only to produce the slightest flavoring. Simmer this about an hour; strain, thicken with a little browned roux, and season it with a little pepper and salt. As soon as the livers are done, take them out, mash, and moisten them with a little of the sauce. Prepare little thin pieces of toast, one for each breast; butter, and spread them with the mashed livers. Turn the cutlets over in this sauce, and use the little of it that remains for dipping in the pieces of toast. Serve the cutlets on the toast in a circle, with a centre of pease, French string-beans (haricots verts), potatoes à la Parisienne, or mushrooms; or cut the pieces of toast into the form of a long triangle, so that the points may meet in the centre, and place the bones of the cutlets to meet in the centre also. Put then a row of vegetables on the outside.