Woodcocks Stuffed
Bone three woodcocks, remove the best part of their breast meat and cut these into large dice; lay them in a vessel and add an equal quantity of truffles and as much foies-gras; season these meats, and pour over two tablespoonfuls of Madeira. Pound the leg meats with those of three wild pigeons or as much of rabbit, adding a third as much panada (No. 121), and four egg-yolks; season and strain this forcemeat. Melt four tablespoonfuls of grated fat pork, add to it the woodcock intestines, also five or six good chicken livers, season highly and leave stand till cold, then strain and mix the forcemeat with this, also the meats and truffles laid away in the vessel. Fill the woodcock with this preparation, shaping each one to resemble a boned turkey, and wrap a piece of fat pork around; attach them firmly in separate pieces of thin muslin, tying it on tight to keep them in proper shape, then cook in some good stock on a moderate fire for one hour; leave them in this partly cold, then drain, unwrap, and tie them up again tight until thoroughly cold, keeping them in shape, but not under the pressure of any weight. Unwrap them half an hour before serving, stand them upright in a saucepan with a little of their own stock, reduced to a half-glaze; heat them in a very slack oven, basting over frequently, then dress them in a triangle on a forcemeat border, poached in the oven and turned out on a dish, having fastened to the center a portion of bread covered with some of the forcemeat. Place in the angles the three birds' heads, slightly cooked and glazed over with a brush; fasten three skewers garnished with truffles in the summit of the pad and cover the woodcock, and border lightly over with a brown sauce (No. 414) prepared with the stock and the truffle parings.