How to Choose it. — The skin of fowls and turkeys should
be clear, white, and finely grained, the breasts broad and meaty,
the legs smooth, the toes pliable and easily broken when bent back,
and the birds heavy in proportion to their size. White-legged
fowls should be chosen for boiling, but the dark-legged ones are
often the best flavour for roasting.
To Truss Poultry — This must be learnt by demonstration.
To Boil Chickens or Fowls. — White-legged fowls should
be chosen for boiling, as they are a better colour. After they are
trussed and singed and prepared for boiling, rub the breast with a
lemon cut in half, and then tie over it a piece of butter-paper. Put
them breast downwards into fast-boiling water ; boil for one
minute, then draw the saucepan back and simmer very gently for
about three quarters of an hour, or for an hour if the birds are
large, or for two hours if they are old fowls. When done,
place on a hot dish and cover with white sauce (page 91), and
garnish with yolk of egg rubbed through a sieve and sprinkled
on the breast, and rolls of fried bacon should be placed round
the dish.
To Roast a Chicken or Fowl. — After the chicken is
trussed and singed, dredge over it a little flour, rubbing it quite
smooth with the fingers. Cook in front of the fire or in the oven.
Baste frequently with bacon fat or butter. The time to cook the
fowl will depend on its size and age, and will vary from thirty-five
minutes to an hour. Serve with brown gravy and bread sauce,
and bacon fried in little rolls put round the dish.
Fowl Fricasseed.— Prepare the fowl for cooking, skin and
cut it into joints, and lay them in a stew-pan with some strips of
bacon rind scalded and scraped, two cloves, one carrot, a little
parsley, thyme, a bay-leaf and blade of mace, salt and peppen
and a small piece of lemon rind. Just cover the fowl with stock
or water and simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, then
POULTRY.
6 I
drain off the stock and leave it to get cold, and skim off the
grease. In another saucepan fry some button mushrooms, unless
you use bottled ones, when it is not necessary. Melt two ounces
of butter in the stew-pan, and mix one ounce and a half of flour
very smoothly with it, a teaspoon of lemon juice and six pepper-
corns, then add the stock the chicken was cooked in, and simmer
till it is reduced to a pint. Strain the stock and put it back into
the saucepan with the pieces of chicken and the mushrooms, add
a gill of cream and a little cayenne✪ Chicken in Cream Sauce, and let it get very hot, but it
must not boil, as the cream would curdle. Pile the chicken in a
silver dish and pour the sauce over it, and garnish with sippets of
toast. A few truffles are an addition to the gravy. Rice, boiled
as for curry, can be piled round this dish instead of having sippets
of toast, and is sometimes very much liked.
To Mince Chicken. — Cut the flesh off the bones of a cooked
chicken. Free it from skin and sinew, and mince it finely by
hand. Season with salt, pepper, a small pinch of mace, and half
a teaspoon of grated lemon rind. Put it into a stew-pan with
sufficient white sauce or cream to moisten it. Simmer gently
without boiling till it is quite hot, stirring all the time. Garnish
writh sippets of toast and little rolls of fried bacon. ✪ Mince Chicken
Page 44 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
How to Choose it. — The skin of fowls and turkeys should be clear, white, and finely grained, the breasts broad and meaty, the legs smooth, the toes pliable and easily broken when bent back, and the birds heavy in proportion to their size. White-legged fowls should be chosen for boiling, but the dark-legged ones are often the best flavour for roasting.
To Truss Poultry — This must be learnt by demonstration. To Boil Chickens or Fowls. — White-legged fowls should be chosen for boiling, as they are a better colour. After they are trussed and singed and prepared for boiling, rub the breast with a lemon cut in half, and then tie over it a piece of butter-paper. Put them breast downwards into fast-boiling water ; boil for one minute, then draw the saucepan back and simmer very gently for about three quarters of an hour, or for an hour if the birds are large, or for two hours if they are old fowls. When done, place on a hot dish and cover with white sauce (page 91), and garnish with yolk of egg rubbed through a sieve and sprinkled on the breast, and rolls of fried bacon should be placed round the dish.
To Roast a Chicken or Fowl. — After the chicken is trussed and singed, dredge over it a little flour, rubbing it quite smooth with the fingers. Cook in front of the fire or in the oven. Baste frequently with bacon fat or butter. The time to cook the fowl will depend on its size and age, and will vary from thirty-five minutes to an hour. Serve with brown gravy and bread sauce, and bacon fried in little rolls put round the dish.
Fowl Fricasseed.— Prepare the fowl for cooking, skin and cut it into joints, and lay them in a stew-pan with some strips of bacon rind scalded and scraped, two cloves, one carrot, a little parsley, thyme, a bay-leaf and blade of mace, salt and pepper and a small piece of lemon rind. Just cover the fowl with stock or water and simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, then
6 I
drain off the stock and leave it to get cold, and skim off the grease. In another saucepan fry some button mushrooms, unless you use bottled ones, when it is not necessary. Melt two ounces of butter in the stew-pan, and mix one ounce and a half of flour very smoothly with it, a teaspoon of lemon juice and six peppercorns, then add the stock the chicken was cooked in, and simmer till it is reduced to a pint. Strain the stock and put it back into the saucepan with the pieces of chicken and the mushrooms, add a gill of cream and a little cayenne, and let it get very hot, but it must not boil, as the cream would curdle. Pile the chicken in a silver dish and pour the sauce over it, and garnish with sippets of toast. A few truffles are an addition to the gravy. Rice, boiled as for curry, can be piled round this dish instead of having sippets of toast, and is sometimes very much liked.
To Mince Chicken. — Cut the flesh off the bones of a cooked chicken. Free it from skin and sinew, and mince it finely by hand. Season with salt, pepper, a small pinch of mace, and half a teaspoon of grated lemon rind. Put it into a stew-pan with sufficient white sauce or cream to moisten it. Simmer gently without boiling till it is quite hot, stirring all the time. Garnish writh sippets of toast and little rolls of fried bacon.
Records on this page
Chicken in Cream SauceMince Chicken