Croustades of Thrushes

Bone five or six thrushes, leaving on the thighs and two-thirds of the stumps: season them on the opened side and fill with baking forcemeat (No. 81), mingled with a spoonful of plain, raw pork forcemeat (No. 73); bestrew this dressing with a pinch of chopped truffles, and lay in the center a small slice of cooked foies-gras of half a good pullet's liver, seasoned and partly cooked with melted fat pork. Reconstruct the birds to their original shape, but do not sew them, only uphold the legs with a slender wooden skewer; cover over with a small band of buttered paper, and range them in a narrow sautoir lined with fat pork, moistening to half their height with good unskimmed fat. Boil for two minutes, salt over, and remove the sautoir on one side, keeping them for ten to twelve minutes without boiling. These thrushes should merely poach; leave them till partly cold in their liquid, then drain off to pare. Cut six hollow crusts (Fig. 42), slit them around, and fry lightly in butter, then empty out the centers and c ver the hollow with a layer of forcemeat. In the middle of each of these crusts lay one thrush, cover over with a very thin slice of fat pork, and place these on a small, lightly buttered baking sheet and put this one inside another, so as not to have the crusts brown too rapidly. Cook the thrushes in a slack oven for ten to twelve minutes, and as soon as they are nicely done remove and cover them at once with a thin coating of brown sauce (No. 414) reduced with game fumet (No. 397) and Madeira. Glaze the surface of the sauce to let it acquire a brilliancy and luster, then dress and serve.