FoodNetArchive

The household gas cookery book

1900

Page 58 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1900. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The Capon. — They are cheapest about October and November, and to be tender should be killed a day or two before dressing. In the cold weather longer time should be allowed. The bird is ready for use when the feathers can be easily plucked. They should be managed precisely in the same way as turkeys, and the same sauces used. 106 THE HOUSEHOLD t Capon, Boiled. — Truss a fine capon, tie a sheet of oiled or buttered paper over it. Lay it in a sauce¬ pan, with sufficient water or stock to cover it, and put an onion, a carrot, a bunch of sweet herbs, and a little saltCapon, Boiled. Stew it gently on the simmering burner for one hour, and when done, take it up and lay round the dish on which it is served four or five small cauli- * flowers. Pour a little bechamel over it, and serve. Capon, Roast.— Truss a capon firmly for roasting. Fasten some oiled paper over the breast, and bake in a hot oven, reducing the gas to half an inch blue flame for cooking. When sufficiently cooked, place it on a hot dish with watercress round it. Send good gravy to table with it. Time to bake, 45 to 60 minutesCapon, Roast. The Turkey. — To Truss for Baking or Roasting. Pluck and singe the bird, and in drawing it preserve the liver and gizzard; cut off the feet and draw out the strings, some five or six in each leg, to the thighs. Place a thick cloth on the breast bone and flatten it with a rolling-pin to make the bird look plump. Push back the skin of the neck so as to leave sufficient for turning over the back, and cut off the head. Hold the legs in boiling water for a minute, then peel off the rough dirty skin. Fill the breast with forcemeat, and sew the neck over the back. Press the legs close to the breast, then put a skewer through them and the body. Turn the wings over the back and skewer them. Pass a string over the back of the bird, put it round the skewers, and tie it in the middle. Tie a buttered paper over the breast. Turkey. — To Roast or Bake. — Cover the turkey with thin slices of fat bacon, tie some buttered paper round it. Bake in a hot oven, and at once reduce the gas to halffan inch blue flame, when putting in the turkey. A little before serving remove the paper and bacon. Serve some pork sausages and bread sauce with it. A turkey weighing fifteen pounds GAS COOKERY BOOK. 107 takes rather under three hours for baking. One weigh¬ ing ten pounds, about two hours. A small turkey — six pounds — about one hour and a quarter. How to Carve a Turkey. — The finest parts of the turkey are the breast, neck bones, and wings. The latter will bear some delicate slices being removed. After the four quarters are served, the thighs must be divided from the drum-sticks, which, being tough, should be reserved till the last. It is customary not to cut up more than the breast, but if any more is re¬ quired, take off one of the wings, and a thin slice of forcemeat, which is under the breast, should be given to each person, cutting lengthways from the neck down¬ wards. A turkey is usually carved in the same manner as a pheasant. It has no merrythought.