Prep time: 1 hour Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes, in stages

(8 servings)

1 lb homemade or thawed frozen puff pastry
1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water
8 quails, boned (except for legs and wings), with bones reserved
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons Cognac
2 ounces black truffles, minced
8 ounces goose foie gras, preferably fresh (but not raw)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 shallots, minced
1 cup dry white wine
4 cups homemade or good quality frozen brown stock
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons white wine
8 perfect large mushroom caps
1 teaspoon peanut oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil.
2. Roll pastry on a lightly floured board to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut 8 ovals, 4 inches wide and 5 inches long. Prick with tines of a fork. Brush with egg yolk and water mixture.
3. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until nicely browned. Remove from oven and set aside on a rack to cool. When ovals have cooled, use a sharp knife to cut down into the pastry, within a half inch of the edge. Do not cut through to the bottom. Lift out the inner layers of pastry and discarde [sic]
, leaving an oval pastry case.
4. Rinse and dry quails. Sprinkle the cavities with salt, pepper and a little of the Cognac. Spread half the minced truffles into the cavities of the quails. Divide foie gras into 8 equal portions and place a portion inside each quail, then close up the quails. Tie a piece of butcher's twine around each quail if necessary. Refrigerate quails until ready to cook.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the reserved quail bones and saute until lightly browned. Stir in shallots, lower hat and saute shallots, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add 3 tablespoons of the Cognac, and stir to deglaze the pan. Add wine and stock and simer until the sauce is reduced by half, 30 to 40 minutes. Strain sauce and return it to a clean saucepan. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a simmer, stirring until sauce has thickened. Add the rest of the minced truffles. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside until ready to serve.
6. Saute mushroom caps in 2 tablespoons of butter. Set aside.
7. About 20 minutes before quails are to be served, preheat oven to 375 degrees.
8. Heat remaining butter with oil in a large heavy skillet. Over medium high heat, brown quails, rolling them around to brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Place quails in the oven for 10 minutes.
9. While quails are baking, deglaze skillet with remaining Cognac, about 2 tablespoons, and add this to the sauce.
10. Remove quails from oven, remove any string and cover them to keep warm.
11. To serve, reheat sauce. Place pastry ovals on a baking sheet. Place a quail on each oval. Reheat in oven about 5 minutes. Transfer quails and pastry to each of 8 plates or to a large serving platter. Spoon a little of the sauce over each quail and top with a mushroom cap. Spoon more of the sauce on each plateor, if using a large serving platter, pass it alongside. Serve at once.