(2250). Croustades Of Chicken Livers With Madeira (Croustades De Foies De Volaille Au Madere)

Prepare some croustades in channeled molds, buttered while cold and lined with fine foundation paste (No. 135), fill them up with buttered paper and rice, over this a round of buttered paper, cover and fasten on a flat of the same paste; pinch the edges and lay on the center a puff paste cover made in three layers an eighth of an inch thick and two inches in diameter for the lower one, an inch and a half for the second and an inch for the upper one; egg over and bake in a hot oven, take off the lid and empty out the insides. Fry some chicken livers in a sautoir over a brisk fire, drain off the. fat and moisten with a little Madeira or Marsala wine, adding some small cooked mushroom heads and half-glaze sauce (No. 413). Fill the croustades with these livers and mushrooms, sauce over, replace the covers and serve.

(2251). Croustades Of Lamb Sweetbreads - Small (Petites Croustades De Ris D'Agneau)

Keep warm eight to ten small channeled croustades made of astruc, each to be provided with a channeled and pointed cover. Cut into dice some recently glazed lamb's sweetbreads: put this salpicon into a small saucepan with half the quantity of cooked truffles cut the same as the sweetbreads. Put a few spoonfuls of good bechamel (No. 409) on to reduce, incorporating in the truffle broth and a little melted meat glaze (No. 402;; when succulent and thick mix it with the sal-picon, then remove it at once from the fire and fill up the small croustades, smoothing the preparation to a dome; leave to cool, cover with a thin layer of raw forcemeat (No. 89;, bestrew with parmesan and bread-crumbs, pour melted butter over and warm slightly in a slow oven.

Fig 419.

(2252). Croustades Of Reedbirds (Croustades De Mauviettes)

Cut ten to twelve crusts of bread; slit them all around and simply brown the surfaces in a sautoir with clarified butter to open and empty them out. Bone ten to twelve fine reedbirds. season and fill them with a little baking forcemeat (No. 81), besprinkled with chopped truffles: lay a piece of foies-gras in the center, and return them to their original shape; run a thin skewer through the legs. After the crusts have been emptied and are nearly cold, cover them over quickly with a thin layer of the same forcemeat, and in the hollow space in each lay one of the birds, sinking it down in such a way that it will not be deformed while cooking. Butter them over with a brush, season and cover with a thin slice of fat pork. Place the crusts on a buttered baking sheet, and this on a thick baking-pan so that the heat reaches the top more than the bottom. Cook the birds for twelve to fifteen minutes in a slack oven, and after removing them cover over with a good, reduced, thick and cold brown sauce (No. 414;; let them attain a gloss at the oven door, then dress the crusts on a folded napkin.

(2253). Croustades Of Thrushes (Croustades De Grives)

Bone five or six thrushes, leaving on the thighs and two-thirds of the stumps: season them on the opened side and fill with baking forcemeat (No. 81), mingled with a spoonful of plain, raw pork forcemeat (No. 73); bestrew this dressing with a pinch of chopped truffles, and lay in the center a small slice of cooked foies-gras or half a good pullet's liver, seasoned and partly cooked with melted fat pork. Reconstruct the birds to their original shape, but do not sew them, only uphold the legs with a slender wooden skewer; cover over with a small band of buttered paper, and range them in a narrow sautoir lined with fat pork, moistening to half their height with good unskimmed fat. Boil for two minutes, salt over, and remove the sautoir on one side, keeping them for ten to twelve minutes without boiling. These thrushes should merely poach; leave them till partly cold in their liquid, then drain off to pare. Cut six hollow crusts (Fig. 42), slit them around, and fry lightly in butter, then empty out the centers and cover the hollow with a layer of forcemeat.

In the middle of each of these crusts lay one thrush, cover over with a very thin slice of fat pork, and place these on a small, lightly buttered baking sheet and put this one inside another, so as not to have the crusts brown too rapidly. Cook the thrushes in a slack oven for ten to twelve minutes, and as soon as they are nicely done remove and cover them at once with a thin coating of brown sauce (No. 414) reduced with game fumet (No. 397) and Madeira. Glaze the surface of the sauce to let it acquire a brilliancy and luster, then dress and serve.