Pour off all the oil from the pan, add 1 tablespoon butter for each serving, and cook the butter until it is hazelnut brown. Mix together 1 teaspoon each of chopped chives and parsley and ½ teaspoon each of chopped chervil and tarragon and sprinkle the herbs over the fish. Pour the butter over the fish, sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice, and garnish with lemon slices sprinkled with chopped parsley.
Suprémes de Canard des Marais à la Fine Champagne Breasts of Wild Duck in Brandy Sauce)
Clean 2 or 3 wild ducks and truss the legs and wings close to the body. Put the roasting pan in the oven and heat the oven to 450° F. Put the ducks in the hot pan and cook them for 12 to 15 minutes, depending upon the weight of the birds. (Wild ducks are always served very rare.) Let the ducks stand for about 10 minutes, then remove the breasts, and put them where they will keep warm but not cook. Save all the blood. Chop the remaining carcasses and press in a duck press or, lacking a press, break up the carcasses and put them through a meat grinder using the coarsest blade and strain the juke which is extracted through a fine sieve.
Prepare the following sauce: Saute 1 or 2 chicken or duck livers, chopped, it, hot fat or butter for 2 to 3 minutes, turning them as they cook. They should be rare. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In another pan put 1 tablespoon chopped shallot, 1 small bay leaf, a little thyme, 5 peppercorns, and 6 tablespoons red wine and cook slowly until the wine is reduced by one-third. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sauce (see January, 1953) or good gravy and bring again to a boil. Add the cooked livers, mix well, and pass through a fine sieve. Return the sauce to the pan and add very gradually the blood saved when the breasts were carved and the juice from the carcasses, having first skimmed through a meat grinder using the finest blade, and mix well. Add I teaspoon salt and a pinch of poultry seasoning, 1 pound of chestnuts, shelled and cooked, and 1 cup fresh bread crumbs. Toss all together lightly. The stuffing may be moistened with ¼ cup Madeira or sherry. Fill the cavity of the bird without packing the stuffing in too firmly. This is sufficient for a 10to 12-pound bird.
To Prepare Chestnuts for Stuffing
With a very sharp knife cut a cross in the rounded part of each chestnut. Put the chestnuts in a hot oven (450° F.) or under the broiler flame for 8 to 10 minutes. When cool enough to handle, remove the shells and the skin between shell and nut. Put the nuts in a saucepan with enough water or chicken stock to cover them well, add salt and 2 or 5 stalks of celery, and bring to a boil. Cook the nuts gently for 25 minutes and leave them in the liquid to cool.
Coeurs de Ceteris Braise's (Braised Hearts of Celery)
Cut off the green leaves and remove the coarse outside stalks from 8 to 10 heads of celery and wash the celery well. Parboil the celery in water for 10 to 15 minutes and cool in running water. Open up the stalks to let the water run through and clean the stalks thoroughly.
In a deep pan put 1 onion and 1 carrot, both sliced, and 2 or 3 slices of larding pork and arrange the Celery on top. Place slices of salt pork or beef suet on the celery and add stock or water to cover. Bring the liquid to a lx)il and cook the celery slowly in a hot oven (425° F.) or on top of the stove for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Serve the celery whole or split in any of the following ways: Arrange the celery in a shallow heatproof baking dish, pour some good meat gravy over it, and glaze in a hot oven or under the broiler flame. Or serve with pieces of poached marrow and brown sauce (see January, 1953) on top. Or spread over the celery 1 tablespoon melted butter mixed with a little chopped parsley.
Beignets de Mais (Corn Fritters)
Bring 1 cup water or half milk and half water to a boil with ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon sugar, and ¼ cup butter. Add 1 cup flour and cook, stirring rapidly, until the mixture is smooth and rolls away from the sides of the pan, Remove the batter from the heat, cool a little, and add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating each one in thoroughly before adding the next. If the eggs are small and the mixture seems quite heavy, add part of another egg. Stir in 1 cup well-drained cooked corn. Slip the batter by spoonfuls into hot deep fat (375° F.) and fry until the fritters arc puffed and brown on all sides. Drain on absorbent paper towels and serve very hot.
Terrine de Foie Gras Truffé all Porto (Pâté of Truffled Goose Liver with Port Wine Aspic)
Divide in half a firm goose liver weighing about 2 pounds and trim each half to make regular-shaped pieces. Save the trimmings. Make a hole in each half with a skewer and insert a piece of truffle. Season the liver with ½ teaspoon salt mixed with a pinch of poultry seasoning, place it in a bowl. and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons cognac. Let the liver marinate for 2 hours, turning occasionally. Meanwhile cut ¾ pound of lean fresh pork and 1 pound of fat fresh pork in pieces, mix with the trimmings of the goose liver, and run through a meat grinder, using the finest blade. Add ¼ to ½ cup truffles cut into small dice, season with ½ teaspoon salt mixed with a pinch of poultry seasoning and ½ cup Madeira or sherry. Mix well.
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