Birds With Polenta

Preparation:

Preparation: Passage fowl in Valtellina: larks, thrushes, viscardas, finches, Friesians, linnets, pipits and goldfinches. Once the birds have been plucked, pass them through the flame to singe the remaining feathers; give the legs a flick of the scissors, remove the entrails and then next to each bird place a slice of bacon and a sage leaf, trying to keep them adherent with a toothpick. Then put them in a frying pan face down, add salt and brown them with plenty of butter. Halfway through cooking, add a few juniper berries, sage and rosemary and, if necessary, half a glass of water, turn them over and over low heat let them take on a nice color in their sauce. Before removing them from the heat, put a good chunk of butter, and when this is foamy, pour the birds and sauce over the ready polenta in a deep plate. Censored by the Lipu (Italian League for the Protection of Birds), the recipe, luckily for the same League, is today just a reminder of good old cooking.