Potage Petit Duc (Woodcock Soup)

Ingredients

• 2 woodcock (bécasses)
• 1.5 liters velouté of game (velouté de gibier) with woodcock essence
• 100 grams foie gras purée
• 100 grams butter
• 2 spoonfuls fine champagne (brandy)
• 3 spoonfuls crème double (heavy cream)

Instructions

1. Roast 2 woodcocks as you would for salmis (braised game preparation), reserving the breast fillets from one bird for garnish.
2. After roasting, remove the breast fillets from the second bird and prepare them as a royale (a delicate forcemeat or mousseline bound with egg).
3. Finely pound the remaining carcass and trimmings; incorporate this purée into 1.5 liters of velouté of game (velouté de gibier) made with woodcock essence and kept clear.
4. Hold the soup in a bain-marie for 35 minutes to develop the woodcock fumet. Strain through cheesecloth (étamine). Heat without boiling.
5. At the moment of service, finish the soup with: 100 grams of foie gras purée diluted with a few spoonfuls of the potage, 100 grams of butter, 2 spoonfuls of fine champagne flambéed, and 3 spoonfuls of heavy cream.
6. Garnish with: the reserved raw breast fillets, stiffened in butter at the last instant and sliced into fine escalopes (thin slices), and the prepared royale, cut into very small dice.