Partridges, Giralda—Breasts or Fillets

Raise the breasts from four partridges; remove the skin and sinews and lift off the minion fillets; streak these with five slices of truffle cut the shape of a cock's-comb. Lay the large fillets in a buttered sautoir and the minion fillets formed into rings in another, filling the centers with quenelle forcemeat (No. 91) pushed through a cornet and on each one lay a small channeled mushroom (No. 118). Butter and decorate with cooked beef tongue, a plain border mold hollowed out on top (Fig. 139), fill it with partridge quenelle forcemeat (No. 91); poach in a bain-marie for half an hour first on top of the range and then in the oven. Prepare a fumet with the carcasses as in No. 397, strain and reduce with the same quantity of espagnole sauce (No. 414) and a little Madeira; skim to free it well from fat, removing all the impurities arising on the surface. Saute the fillets, poach the minion fillets, drain off the butter from the former and replace it by a few spoonfuls of Madeira to detach the glaze. Make a partridge puree with the meats picked from the birds, some rice and bechamel; rub it through a sieve and place it in a saucepan to season with salt, prepared red pepper (No. 168) and nutmeg, adding plenty of butter. Invert the mold on the center of a dish, lift it up and place the fillets on the border with a fried crouton of bread to separate each one and pour the puree in the center; serve more of the sauce separately.