Reed Birds
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the birds
Carefully pick the birds, ensuring to keep all the fat.
Skewer the birds and fasten them to a spit.
Cook and serve
Cook the birds before a brisk fire for a few minutes.
Serve the birds on buttered toast and pour a small amount of gravy over them.
Ensure the birds are served hot.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Reed birds
- Provide the main meat, whose fat bastes the birds as they cook.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the toast beneath the birds.
- Toast
- Gives a crisp base that soaks up juices and fat.
- Gravy
- Adds moisture and savoury flavour over the served birds.
The step that matters
Cook the birds before a brisk fire for a few minutes. A brisk, hot fire cooks the small birds quickly, browning the outside while keeping the inside moist. Cooking too long dries them out, so watch them closely.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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