Woodcock Almandine
Ingredients:
6 woodcock split down back
1/4 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup white table wine
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup blanched, sliced almonds
Directions:
Dust birds in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt butter in a heavy skillet or electric frying pan and saute birds until nicely browned. Add wine and lemon juice. Cover and continue cooking slowly for 15-20 minutes. Add almonds and cook for 5-10 minutes longer or until birds are fork tender. (Allow 2 woodcock per serving.)
Woodcock in wine
Ingredients:
4 woodcocks
1 small cup of butter
2 onions
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 small cup of red wine
4-5 ripe tomatoes
salt and pepper
3-4 slices of bread
extra butter for frying the bread
Directions:
Prepare the woodcocks, salt and pepper them, and secure the beaks between two legs (this is the most impressive presentation). Melt half the butter in a pan and when hot, fry the woodcocks. Remove from the pan and place in a saucepan. To the butter in the frying pan, add the finely chopped onion and sauté.
Next, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until golden. Add the wine; when it comes to a boil remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents into the saucepan containing the woodcocks. Add half a cup of water, return the saucepan to the cooker and simmer for another half hour. Finely chop the livers and sauté in the remaining butter. Add crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook the sauce for 20 minutes. Pour the sauce into the saucepan and allow the dish to cook a few more minutes.
Serve the woodcocks on a platter, garnished with bite-sized pieces of bread that have been fried in butter, and pour the sauce over.
Roast Woodcock – Method 1
Ingredients:
1 Woodcock
Fat bacon
3 sl White bread; crusts removed
1/2 oz Foie gras
S&p
1 pn Grated nutmeg
1 ts Cognac or Armagnac
8 Grapes; peeled, seeded
Directions:
Pluck the woodcock but do not gut it. Truss it, bard it with fat bacon, and spit-roast it over or next to a hot fire for 18-20 min. Remove the entrails and discard all but the intestines.
Meanwhile, fry the bread in the dripping pan or else separately in butter.
Mince the intestines with foie gras and season this with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and brandy. Spread 2 of the slices of bread, halved, with this mixture and sprinkle a little more pepper over. Gratiner this in a very hot oven for a few minutes.
Serve the woodcock atop the third piece of fried bread, with the 4 half-slices of bread around. Garnish with grapes and serve.
Roast Woodcock – Method 2
Ingredients:
4 Woodcock
Salt; to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper; to taste
4 tb Butter
4 pn Dried marjoram or thyme; (generous pinches)
4 sl Bacon
Directions:
Sprinkle birds inside and out with salt and pepper. Put 1 tablespoon butter with 1 pinch of herb in each cavity. Wrap each breast with bacon and tie it on. Put on a rack in a roaster and roast at 400 degrees, basting frequently with melted butter, until tender. If they are plump birds, it should take 20 to 25 minutes.
This recipe yields 1 serving.
Braised Woodcock
Ingredients:
4 Woodcock
Salt and pepper
4 sl Bacon
1/4 c Butter; melted
1 tb Parsley; chopped
4 sl Toast; buttered
Directions:
Sprinkle woodcocks inside and out with salt and pepper. Wrap weach with a slice of bacon and fasten with string or a wooden pick. Place woodcocks in broiler pan about 6 inches from heat. Broil 8 to 10 minutes on each side, or until tender, basting frequently with butter. Remove string or wooden pick. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve on buttered toast.
This recipe yields 2 servings
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