This dish is made with pheasant bones from Union Square Market. There's plenty of meat left on the bones to prepare the pheasant croquettes yielding a very low cost dish.

For the Soup

4 cups pheasant stock
4 tomatoes cored, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 crushed dried red chili pepper

For the Pheasant Croquettes

4 ounces cooked pheasant meat (from stock)
½ cup pheasant stock
1 large shallot finely chopped
½ stick sweet butter
2/3 cup less 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 whole eggs
1 egg white
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 tablespoon minced chives
1 teaspoon picked thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 quart vegetable oil

bring 1/2 cup of pheasant stock and butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Add the finely diced shallots and cook for 30 seconds. Add all the flour at once to the liquid and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Remove from heat and beat in the eggs until the pâte à choux mixture is smooth. Cover and keep warm.

Place the pheasant meat in a food processor and process until finely shredded and powdery. Add approximately an equal amount of the pâte à choux mixture to the pheasant meat and process until the mixture is creamy. Blend in all the parsley, chives, shallot and thyme. Season with salt and pepper.

Roll the mixture into small balls. Freeze any excess balls. Fill halfway a heavy tall-sided pot with oil and heat to 350 degrees. Right before serving the soup, add the ham balls (or flatten them) in small batches and fry until crisp on the exterior. Drain on a paper towel and serve immediately.