Snipes in a surtout, or woodcocks.
TAKE force-meat made with veal, as much beef-suet chopped and beat in a mortar, with an equal quantity of crumbs of bread; mix in a little beaten mace, pepper and salt, some parsley, and a little sweet-herbs, mix it with the yolk of an egg, lay some of this meat round the dish, then lay in the snipes, being first drawn and half roasted. Take care of the trail; chop it, and throw it all over the dish.
Take some good gravy, according to the bigness of your surtout, some truffles and morels, a few mushrooms, a sweetbread cut into pieces, and artichoke-bottoms, cut small; let all stew together, shake them, and take the yolks of two or three eggs, according as you want them, beat them up with a spoonful or two of white wine, stir all together one way, when it is thick take it off, let it cool, and pour it into the surtout: have the yolks of a few hard eggs put in here and there, season with beaten mace, pepper and salt, to your taste; cover it with the force-meat all over, rub the yolks of eggs all over to colour it, then send it to the oven. Half an hour does it, and send it hot to table.
To boil snipes or wood cocks.
BOIL them in good strong broth, or beef gravy made thus: take a pound of beef, cut it into little pieces, put it into two quarts of water, an onion, a bundle of sweet-herbs a blade or two of mace, six cloves, and some whole pepper; cover it close, let it boil till about half wasted, then strain it off, put the gravy into the sauce-pan with salt enough to season it, take the snipes and gut them clean, (but take care of the guts) put them into the gravy and let them boil, cover them close, and ten minutes will boil them, if they keep boiling. In the mean time, chop the guts and liver small, take a little of the gravy the snipes are boiling in, and stew the guts in, with a blade of mace. Take some crumbs of bread, and have them ready fried in a little fresh butter crisp, of a fine light brown. You must take about as much bread as the inside of a stale roll, and rub then small into a clean cloth; when they are done, let then stand ready in a plate before the fire.
When your snipes are ready, take about half a pint of the liquor they are boiled in, and add to the guts two spoonfuls of red wine, and a piece of butter about as big as a walnut, rolled in a little flour; set them on the fire, shake your sauce-pan often (but do not stir it with a spoon) till the butter is all melted, then put in the crumbs, give your sauce-pan a shake, take up your birds, lay then in the dish, and pour this sauce over them. Garnish with lemon.
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