Woodcock on Strings (“A la Ficelle”)

Attach a steel cord to each woodcock beak and hang the birds over hot coals. Cover the legs with aluminium foil to prevent burning. The birds must continually rotate as they cook to ensure that all the sides are equally exposed to the heat.

Put a piece of bread in a small blini pan (one per bird) and place them beneath the woodcocks. When the birds are cooked and have released their innards and juices on the bread, add a dash of oil to the saucepans and toast the bread.

Meanwhile, slice the foie gras in 50 g pieces and cook in a very hot saucepan for a few minutes. Set aside the foie gras and cooking fat for the final dressing.

Sweat the shallots in butter over very low heat. Add the woodcock innards, the foie gras and a few slices of truffles. Cook for 3 minutes. Add the cognac, the woodcock stock, the Dijon mustard and the cream. Stir.

Remove the innards and the cooked foie gras pieces. Reduce the sauce for 3 to 5 minutes. Turn off the heat. Return the foie gras and the innards to the sauce. Crush with a fork and set aside.

Make the dressing. Leave the toasts in the blini pans and dress with the tapenade. Cut up the pieces of foie gras and add to the tapenade. Grate a few light slices of Italian truffles (3 to 6 g per portion) and pour a dash of warm foie gras fat on the truffles. Add the woodcocks and serve.

Pluck the woodcocks without removing the skin. Burn the down and residues with a torch.

If you cannot cook the woodcock over hot coals, brown and cook in the oven at 400F without cover for 10 minutes. Make the toasts, add the tapenade and serve with the roasted woodcocks.