TO ENJOY PICNIC IN NOVELIST'S STYLE, BEGIN WITH SIX PLUCKED PIGEONS.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Daily News Staff Writer

Sure, you know that no tea party is complete without scones and lemon curd, but the folks in Jane Austen's novels - and her lifetime - ate more than bite-size pastries and sandwiches with their Earl Grey (two lumps, hold the milk).

During her late-Georgian, pre-Victorian period in history, Austen spent a lot of time socializing over food, but she didn't cook it, nor did she bother to record recipes. She left that to her friend Martha Lloyd, who lived with the family and recorded more than 100 recipes enjoyed by the Austen family, according to food historian Maggie Black and Austenian scholar Deirdre Le Faye, who adapted several for their ``The Jane Austen Cookbook,'' (Chicago Review Press; $20).

The elegant-looking little book devotes space to social and domestic life in Austen's time, as well as recipes for a variety of dishes, including those deemed appropriate for picnics. Here are two Austen family faves from the book's picnic category:

Pigeon Pie

12 ounces puff pastry

6 pigeons, plucked and gutted

salt and pepper 

1 large carrot, thickly sliced

1 large onion, chopped

Spice bundle (a few black peppercorns, allspice and juniper berries, and 2 cloves, tied in a bit of muslin)

4 shallots, peeled and chopped

4 ounces button mushrooms, quartered

2 ounces unsalted butter

6 ounces cooked ham, cut into strips

8 ounces good steak, beaten and cut into small thin slices

Seasoned flour for sprinkling

4 hard-boiled egg yolks, quartered

Egg wash for glazing

Cold pigeon pies were popular fare for summer picnics, and indeed still are; only today we use the pinions and other oddments for gravy to moisten the meat instead of using them for show.

Roll out the pastry to fit an inverted 4 1/2-cup English pie dish. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Carefully separate the pigeon breasts from the carcasses. Season carcasses and put them into a fairly large pan with the carrot, onion and spice bundle. Cover with water. Simmer for 40 minutes, then strain the stock into a bowl and discard the bones, vegetables and spices.

Meanwhile, saute the shallots and mushrooms in about 1 ounce of butter until both are softened; use more butter if you need it. Add the ham, sprinkle the steak with seasoned flour, then layer the steak, quartered boiled egg yolks, shallots, mushrooms, ham and pigeon breasts in the pie dish with a pie funnel in the centre. Fill up the dish with the stock and leave to cool.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut off a 1-inch strip around the edge of the pastry. Moisten the rim of the pie dish and fit on the strip, sealing the join. Moisten the strip lightly and fit on the pastry cover, fluting the edge if you wish. Cut some triangular slits in the crust to let steam escape, lift the flaps slightly, then brush the crusts with egg wash.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 1 1/2 hours. Cover the pie with wetted grease-proof paper half way through to prevent the pastry from over-browning and hardening.

Preparation: Rub the pigeons with pepper and salt, inside and out; in the former put a bit of butter and, if approved, some parsley chopped with the livers, and a little of the same seasoning. Lay a beefsteak at the bottom of the dish, and the birds on it; between every two a hard-boiled egg. Put a cup of water in the dish; and if you have any ham in the house, lay a bit on each pigeon; it is a great improvement to the flavour.

Observe when ham is cut for gravy or pies, to take the under part rather than the prime.

Season the gizzards, and the two joints of the wings, and put them in the centre of the pie; and over them in a hole made in the crust, three feet nicely cleaned to show what pie it is.

Makes six servings.

Martha's Gingerbread ``Cakes''

(Actually, they're a type of gingerbread cookie.)

7 ounces all-purpose flour

-1/2 tablespoon ground ginger

-1/2 tablespoon grated nutmeg

2 ounces butter

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

4 ounces molasses 

1 tablespoon brandy

Flaked almonds

Sift together the flour, ginger and nutmeg into a bowl. Rub in the butter until crumbly. Add the seeds.

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Mix warm molasses with brandy, then slowly blend the warmed mixture into the spiced flour. It will make a soft, sticky dough. Turn it on to a flat plate and refrigerate until firm.

Roll out dough on a flour-dusted surface and cut into 2-inch rounds with cookie cutter. Arrange on baking sheet and top each with an almond flake. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on the sheet until quite cold then store in airtight tin.

Serve on doiley-lined silver tray.

Makes 14 servings.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: (Color) gingerbread snacks were common elements of p icnics such as the one in ``Emma'' attended by Mr. Elton (Alan Cumming), Mrs. Elton (Juliet Stevenson), Jane Fairfax (Polly Walker) and Mr. Churchill (Ewan McGregor).