Roast five woodcocks, cut them in halves, and dress them in crown, breasts upwards, upon a border of mashed potatoes; put a pint of demi-glace de gibier (No. 61) in a stewpan, reduce it, then add forty very fine blanched mushrooms, with two spoonfuls of thin liquor, boil two minutes, then add a little salt, sugar, the juice of half a lemon, and two pats of butter, take it off the fire, shake it round till the butter is melted, sauce over and serve.
No. 908. Salmi de Bécasses.
Roast three woodcocks underdone, and when cold cut them into neat pieces, that is, two wings, two legs, and the breasts; chop the trails from the interior very fine and spread them upon six croutons of fried bread in the shape of fillets, place them in the oven three minutes, and salamander lightly; make a game sauce with the bones as directed (No. 60), when you have reduced it to a good consistency, put in the pieces of woodcocks, cover the stewpan, stand it in the bain marie till they are quite hot, then build them up as high as possible on your dish, dress the croutons round, sauce over and serve; truffles or mushrooms may be added to the sauce.
No. 909. Salmi de Bécasses à la Joinville.
Roast two woodcocks underdone, cut them up and proceed exactly as in the last, make ten quenelles de gibier (No. 123), poach them, lay them on a cloth to drain, egg over with a paste-brush, and roll them in chopped ham and truffles, place them in a dish, which put in the hot closet with the cover over for half an hour, then put a border of mashed potatoes upon your dish, dress the quenelles in crown with the woodcocks in the centre and over, as elevated as possible, sauce over with a demi-glace de gibier, dress the croutons round and serve.
No. 910. Entrée de Bécasses à la Comtesse.
Roast your woodcocks in vegetables, separate the breasts from the legs, take off the flesh from the legs and pound it in a mortar with the trails, make a purée as for the filets à la Lucullus, then have ready a croustade of bread two inches high, rather oval, and fluted round, not too large for the dish, make an incision round the top a quarter of an inch from the edge, fry a nice colour, scoop out the top, place it on your dish, pour in the purée; you have kept the breasts hot in a stewpan in the bain marie, dress them over the purée with the points to meet in the centre, place two fine dressed cockscombs warmed in the sauce between each breast, and a quenelle upon the top, sauce over with a demi-glace de gibier (No. 61) and serve.
No. 911. Bécasses à la Périgord.
Roast three woodcocks nicely before a sharp fire, put a piece of toasted bread under them whilst roasting to catch the trails, when done cut the toast into three pieces, diamond shapes, place them in your dish and place the woodcocks upon them, their tails to meet in the centre of the dish, sauce over as for filets à la Talleyrand (No. 905) and serve.