Woodcocks In Croustades

Singe and bone some woodcocks and sprinkle them inwardly with pepper and salt. Break the back and bones into small pieces, put them in a stewpan with a lump of butter, and fry them over a clear fire till browned, and then cover them with white wine and broth and let simmer for twenty minutes. Strain the liquor off the bones into another stewpan, boil it till reduced to half glaze, then thicken it with two or three tablespoonfuls of sauce. Put the trails of the woodcocks and five or six chickens' livers in a fryingpan with some bacon fat and fry them quickly; add salt and pepper, leave till cool, then pound them in a mortar with half their quantity of chopped bacon and the same of panada. Mix four tablespoonfuls of chopped raw truffles with the above mixture and stuff the birds with it, roll one bird to a round shape and the remainder to an oval shape, fastening them securely with twine. Place two or three rashers of bacon and some sliced vegetables, such as carrots, turnips and onions, at the bottom of a stewpan, put in the birds, sprinkle a little salt over them, pour in to half their height some white wine and broth mixed in equal quantities, put the lid on the pan and braise the birds. Cut as many small croustades of bread as there are birds, shaping one round and the rest oval, make a cut round on the upper surface with the point of a knife, and fry them in fat till nicely browned. When done, drain, scoop them out, and spread a thin layer of game quenelle forcemeat all over the insides. Put the croustades in the oven and bake them till the forcemeat has set. When done, fit the birds in the bread cases and pour the sauce over them. Arrange the croustades on an ornamental dish-paper that has been placed on a hot dish, putting the oval-shaped ones all round and the round one in the center, and serve while hot.

Woodcocks, Minute Style

Put three ounces of butter in a small fryingpan over a good fire, add some shred shallots, a little pepper and salt, and grated nutmeg; when the butter is quite hot put a brace of woodcocks into the pan, fry them for seven or eight minutes, and add a tablespoonful of white wine, the strained juice of two lemons, and some raspings of crusts of bread; let the woodcocks remain in the pan till the sauce has boiled up once, then put the birds on a hot dish, pour the sauce over them and serve at once.

Woodcocks, Perigueux

Truss some woodcocks, put them in a stewpan with thin slices of fat bacon on top, pour in one pint of mirepoix and one-half pint of Madeira, and cook over a slow fire. Boil some perigueux sauce together with the extract of woodcocks till reduced. When done, drain the birds, put them on a hot dish, strain the sauce over them, and serve.

Roasted Woodcocks

Truss the required quantity of woodcocks without drawing them, fastening the legs close to the body with an iron skewer. Toast as many slices of bread as there are woodcocks. Roast the woodcocks in a good oven. Lay a slice of toast in a drippingpan under each bird to catch the trail, and let them roast for thirty minutes. They should be rather underdone. While they are roasting baste them with butter. When sufficiently cooked lay the pieces of toast on a hot dish and put one of the birds on each, pour a little beef gravy in the dish, and serve some more in a sauce tureen. Garnish the dish with thin slices of lemon and watercress.

Salmi Of Woodcock

Split three woodcocks lengthwise down the back, then divide them into joints, and lay them aside on a dish. Bruise the livers and trails of the birds, lay them on the dish with the birds, strew two tablespoonfuls of finely-minced lemon peel over, and dust with salt, white pepper, a little cayenne, grated nutmeg, and two teaspoonfuls of French mustard; moisten with a wineglassful of white wine and the strained juice of four lemons. Put the dish in the oven, and turn the contents about occasionally so that they may be well seasoned. When very hot take the dish (which should be of silver) out of the oven, pour a few drops of olive oil over the salmis, stir it about a little, and serve while very hot.