(2619). Woodcock A La Valere (Brasses A La Valere)

Roast six woodcocks; let them get cold, then raise the fillets from them all; suppress the skin and pare into the form of half-hearts, all the same size. Pound the remainder of the meats and the insides, from which the gizzard and pouches have been removed and to which half as much foies-gras has been added, the whole fried in butter. With this forcemeat mash the fillets on the side that adheres to the breast-bone. Put the broken bones into a saucepan with half a pint of white wine, a bay leaf and a minced shallot; let simmer slowly for half an hour, then run it through a tine .sieve; add this fumet to an espagnole reduced to the consistency of a sauce, then add some jelly, cool on ice, stirring continually, and when the chaudfroid is sufficiently consistent cover the woodcock fillets; after it becomes quite cold cover with half-set jelly (No. 103), pare and dress on a dish in a circle on a nicely carved rice foundation, one and a half inches high. Lay chopped jelly around and garnish the center with some salpicon tartlets made of foundation paste (No. 135), cooked white and tilled with a salpicon of game, red tongue and mushrooms, mingled with a little brown chaudfroid (No. 594). Surround with jelly croutons of two shades alternated, brown and white - the former made of brown jelly and the latter of white.