Capon a la Regence

Singe, draw, and remove the breast bones from two capons; fill the breasts with seasoned butter, then truss as for an entree (No. 178); lard the breasts with fine lardons (No. 3, Fig. 52), and cover the unlarded parts with slices of fat pork. Put the capons in a covered braziere (Fig. 134), and moisten them with mirepoix (No. 419), to a little above their wings; cover over with buttered paper, and leave to simmer slowly for one hour. Uncover the braziere, take off the paper, and glaze all the larded parts. Have four larded sweetbreads, ten large truffles, twelve fine cocks'-combs, and eight big crawfish. Make a garnishing with chicken quenelles and mushrooms, combining these with some regence sauce (No. 532). Cut a piece of bread-crumb ten and a half inches long by four and a quarter wide, and three and a half inches high, it to be conical-formed; fry this, then attach it to the center of a dish with repere paste (No. 142), so that it can support the two capons; have these well drained and arrange them to rest against the bread, the rump parts uppermost. Pour the prepared garnishing into the bottom of the dish; place two large sweetbreads below the two breasts, and two more in the middle intersections, then two crawfish on each side of the sweetbreads; glaze the sweetbreads and the larded parts of the capon and serve with a regence sauce apart. Make six hatelets with the cocks'-combs and the truffles (Fig. 11), and fasten them in tastefully.