Take two freshly boiled fowls’ livers—(those of a goose, a turkey, or a couple of ducks, are better still, while the remains of a pâté de foie gras are superlatively the best)—pound the liver to a paste, mixing with it a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce, or the flesh of one fish pounded, a pinch of salt, an ounce of fresh butter, a tablespoonful of dissolved glaze, and the yolk of one raw egg; dust into it a little spiced pepper, pass it through the sieve, and set it aside on a clean plate. Prepare four squares of golden-tinted, lightly-fried, bread, about half an inch thick, spread the liver paste over them, and set them in the mouth of the oven to-retain their heat, but not to burn. Now, heat up in the bain-marie a breakfast-cupful of the savoury custard already described, cover the toasts with it, and serve quickly.
The object is to hit off the flavour of the woodcock trail as nearly as possible. If, therefore, it were practicable to make a
very strong decoction of game bones, and this were reduced nearly to a glaze, and added instead of ordinary glaze, a better imitation of the real thing would be the result.
The preparation may be slightly varied as follows:—Fry the toasts, butter them, and set them in a moderate oven to keep hot. When heating the custard, sir into it the liver paste, &c., work gently over a low fire, and pour it over the toasts as soon as it is quite hot, and thickened sufficiently. Whisking the custard will in this case be unnecessary.