Aspic of Partridge—Minion Fillets

Pare twelve partridge minion fillets; remove all sinews and thin skin and streak them with semicircles of truffles graduated in size; season and bend their thin ends in one direction; poach in a little butter and lemon juice; drain and when cold pare nicely. Incrust a plain cylindrical mold (Fig. 150) in ice. Decorate the sides on the top and bottom with an even chain of round pieces of truffle and red beef tongue, cut out with a tin tube an inch and a quarter in diameter; these pieces are to be dipped in half-set jelly and the red and black colors alternated, letting each chain be at an equal distance from the minions. Decorate the sides in the center as shown in Fig. 449, with the streaked fillets, dipping one at a time in half-set jelly and applying the streaked side to the mold; in order to succeed with this it will be found necessary to incline the mold on ice and turn it around as soon as the jelly hardens and the separate fillets are fastened on firmly. Coat this decoration with a thick layer of jelly and fill the mold with a partridge preparation a la Montgomery (No. 2548); leave it to cool on ice for one hour. When prepared to serve, dip the mold in hot water and invert the aspic on a bed of cold jelly on the bottom of a dish; fill the center with foies-gras balls three-quarters of an inch in size covered with brown chaudfroid (No. 594); on top place very white cocks'-combs brushed over with jelly and surround these with a chain of small truffles dipped in jelly; keep the aspic on ice for half an hour before serving.