Practical household cookery

viously made for the purpose, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for an hour with the lid on, taking care to give it an occasional stir ; then sprinkle a tablespoonf ul of finely chopped and blanched parsley, and squeeze the juice of a lemon over the contents j stir the lot for half a minute ; dish it up ; pour the sauce over, and serve. 600. RABBIT A LA POULETTE. Clean and cut a rabbit in small joints, put these in a stewpan with a '^ bouquet garni," two onions esich stuck with three cloves, one head of celery, one carrot, a gill of vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, and enough stock or water to cover the whole. Simmer it for about an hour with the lid on. Meanwhile prepare some Poulette sauce (No. 179). When the meat is cooked and tender, strain the broth through a colander into a basin, to be used as soup ; put the pieces of rabbit in the stewpan with the Poulette sauce, toss these up over the fire for two minutes without boiling, then dish it up with the sauce poured over, and garnish with fried croutons before serving. 601. ROAST RABBIT. Skin, draw, and clean a rabbit ; cut the fore-legs at the first joint, and the hind-legs above the knuckle-joint ; then truss it by securing th^ head with string passed between the shoulders and the hind- legs, crossed in the same style as for roast hare. Tie with a string a slice of fat bacon on the back of the rabbit ; dish it up, and serve with Hare saoce (No. 200) apart. Note. — Rabbits, besides being prepared as in the foregoing methods, can also be dressed in almost every variety of form in which chickens cut in small quarters are prepared, and they are also made into pur6e, quenelles, croquets, and salpicons. CHAPTER XIV. REMARKS ON POULTRY. Although England is rich in poultry, the supply is far from being equal to the demand, and the quality (apart from Surrey chickens) is not what it should be ; hence the large importation of that most delicate and nutritious of all food from various foreign countries. There is no country in the world where encouragements for breeding poultry are more oflFered and better recompensed than in England, nearly every town in each county having its poultry-show, and valuable prizes are yearly given, as well as fabulous prices paid for bird winners, £100 having been paid for a game-cock a few years ago at the Crystal Palace show; but the greatest number of exhibitors are fancy breeders, whose only aim is perfect plumage and colour, instead of quality and quantity of flesh. If the authorities were to award prizes to the largest poultry breeders of their respective counties, the efiPect would be different, and the nation as well as the farmers would benefit. Several kinds or species of birds are included in poultry, such as chickens, capons, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, guinea-fowls, swans, and pea-hens, and those are of different breeds, especially the chickens, pigeons, and ducks. Dorking and game fowls are considered the best for the table ; the former are recognised by their double claws, and the latter by their slate-coloured legs. Real Surrey chickens possess a well-deserved reputation for plumpness, tenderness, and delicacy of flavour. Both knowledge and care are required to select good poultry ; old and tough fowls can easily be detected by a slight tinge of violet seen through the skin of the thigh, as well as by the thin necks and feet. A young and tender chicken has always large feet and big knee-joints, which disappear with age; the flesh of the pinion and breast should be tried, and if these are found to be tender the bird can be cooked with confidence. An old turkey has, in a similar manner, a violet tinge on the legs and back, but a young one will be recognised by the whiteness of its flesh and fat.