Puree of Wild Ducks, [canvasback, Redhead or Mallard] a la Van Buren

Roast two ducks for eighteen or twenty minutes, remove the fillets, and break up the bones, putting them into a saucepan with a split knuckle of veal and a quarter of a pound of ham, also two cut up tomatoes, and one onion with four cloves in it. Moisten with four quarts of broth, cook for two hours and strain the broth; pound the fillets after removing all the skin, with the same quantity of cooked hominy, and two ounces of butter, dilute this with the broth, season with salt and nutmeg, and heat it up without boiling. Just when ready to serve incorporate into it, four ounces of good butter, and beat the broth up well with a spoon, until all the butter is melted; then pour it into a soup tureen with a garnishing of celery cut in dice, and blanched and cooked in some consomme, also quarter inch squares of brioche dried in the oven.