Puree of English Snipe, Plover or Woodcock a la Theo

Remove the fillets from eight English snipe; with half of them make a quenelle forcemeat the same as explained for game forcemeat (No. 62), let the quenelles be made either with a teaspoon or else pushed through a pocket on a buttered sheet, in shapes of oval olives, and then poach them in boiling salted water; these quenelles are to be used for the garnishing. Put two ounces of butter into a saucepan with two ounces of chopped onions; fry them colorless, add the remaining fillets and carcasses, and when all is well browned, moisten with three quarts of broth and a quart of espagnole sauce (No. 414), let cook for thirty minutes, and despumate, which means to boil only on one side of the saucepan, and remove with a spoon all the fat and scum arising to the surface; then drain and remove most of the bones. Pound the carcasses and meats, dilute them with the broth, season and strain through a colander and afterward through a tammy; thicken when ready to serve with four ounces of butter divided into small pats, incorporating them in with a whip, until they are entirely melted; lay the quenelles in a soup tureen, and pour the very hot puree over.