From:
The Thorough Good Cook
Entrees: 19. Gratin of Pigeon a la Paerigord
Bone six small
pigeons; cut a piece of bread about two inches high, surround it with a thin slice of fat
bacon, then cover it with
forcemeat, sloping off to the edge of the dish; season the pigeons with
pepper and
salt, fill them with the stuffing, so as to give them their original shape; place them with the
breasts upwards on the forcemeat, put a little more stuffing on the birds, so as to leave the breasts only bare; cover these with a thin slice of fat bacon, and bake in a moderately heated oven for about three-quarters of an hour. When done, take out the bread, and with a
napkin soak up all the fat; filling the cavity with whole
truffles,
mushrooms, and
Spanish sauce.