Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 40

Instead of a garniture, it may be served with a border of rice. (_See_ Rice in Border.)

_A la financiere._--This is a _frica.s.see_ of chicken served with a _financiere_ garniture.

_Au supreme._--Chicken, or rather chickens, _au supreme_ is a _frica.s.see_ made with the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of chickens only. Each side of the breast-bone is carefully detached in two long pieces called _fillets_; so that, with two chickens, there are eight pieces.

To detach them properly, split the skin right on the breast-bone from the neck to the rump, then pull it off on both sides so as to have the whole breast skinned. Take hold of one wing with the left hand, and, with a sharp knife in the right, split or cut the joint off carefully, we mean the third joint of the wing, or that near the body; as soon as the joint is cut, by merely raising the back of the knife, leaving the edge on the cut joint and pressing gently on the chicken, you easily pull off the larger part of the half breast; detach the end of the other half with the point of the knife and pull it off also.

Do the same for the other side.

When the b.r.e.a.s.t.s or fillets are thus detached, prepare them as chicken in _frica.s.see_, and serve with a border of paste, or with one of rice, as directed in the receipts above, and serve warm.

What is left of the chickens is put in the broth-kettle, or used to make _consomme_.

_Another supreme._--Detach the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of two chickens as above directed, then prepare the eight pieces or fillets as directed for chicken _saute_. Ten minutes before taking from the fire, add and mix with the whole two or three truffles, weighing at least six ounces, and sliced; finish the cooling, and serve.

_To serve._--Dish the pieces tastefully and according to fancy, and put the dish away in a warm place, then mix a _supreme_ sauce with what you have left in the pan, sauce, truffles, etc., boil the whole till rather thick, stirring continually while it is boiling, turn over the pieces of chicken, and serve. The _supreme_ sauce used in that case is generally made with very rich chicken gravy.

Chickens _au supreme_ is considered a very _recherche_ dish, and it is a rather expensive one. For a grand dinner, the b.r.e.a.s.t.s of six chickens are used, and all the other parts of the chicken are used to make chicken gravy with rich broth, and that gravy is, in its turn, used to make the _supreme_ sauce that is mixed with the liquor in which the chicken has cooked.

The broth used to _saute_ the chicken is generally rich, and very often two pounds of truffles are used with six chickens.

_A la Bourguignonne._--This is a _frica.s.see_ also, but instead of covering the chicken with broth or water, it is covered with white wine.

Proceed, for the rest, and serve as _frica.s.see_.

_With Carrots._--While you are cooking a chicken in _frica.s.see_, prepare a dish of carrots _au jus_ or _glazed_, for ornamenting the dish; cut the carrots with a vegetable spoon before cooking them.

Dish the chicken as directed, place the carrots tastefully all around the meat, and serve warm. This dish was devised by a monk, and is often called _a la Saint Lambert_.

_A la Royale._--This is nearly the same as _au supreme_; the only difference is, that the pieces of breast or fillets are larded with salt pork, and then cooked, served and decorated the same as described for _au supreme_.

_Marengo._--Clean, prepare, and cut up the chicken as for _frica.s.see_.

Put in a stewpan five teaspoonfuls of sweet-oil, and set on a good fire; when hot, put the chicken in with salt and pepper; turn over once in a while, till every piece is of a golden color, and nearly cooked, then add two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and one clove, tied together with twine; add also three or four mushrooms cut in slices, and if handy three or four truffles also cut in slices; when the whole is cooked, dish the pieces of chicken thus: the neck and gizzard, with the fore part of the back, and the low part of the legs in the middle, one leg on each side of the dish with one wing beside each, then the breast and hind part of the back, and the ends of the wings at the top. Have an Italian sauce ready, pour it on the chicken, place on the whole the pieces of mushrooms and truffles, also some _croutons_ fried in b.u.t.ter, and serve.

_With Green Peas._--Clean, prepare, and truss the bird as directed for poultry, then cook it whole as a stewed chicken above. When done, dish the chicken, place peas _a l'Anglaise_ all around, strain the sauce over the whole, and serve.

_Larded with Truffles._--Clean, prepare, and truss a fat chicken. Make about two dozen small pegs, with truffles, about half an inch long and one-eighth of an inch in diameter. Take a skewer, make a hole in the flesh of the breast of the chicken, and put a truffle-peg into it. Put a dozen pegs in the same way on each side of the breast-bone, and cook and serve the chicken. It is either boiled, stewed, or roasted, and served as directed for either.

_With Tarragon._--Proceed as for a stewed chicken, with the exception that it is cooked whole after being trussed as directed for poultry, and after having stuffed it with two ounces of b.u.t.ter kneaded with half a dozen stalks of tarragon chopped fine. Serve with a few stalks of tarragon around the dish.

_Roasted._--Clean, prepare, and truss the chicken as directed. Place it on the spit slightly salted and b.u.t.tered all around, or envelop it in b.u.t.tered paper, or merely cover the breast with thin slices of salt pork tied with twine. Baste often, at first with melted b.u.t.ter, and then with the drippings.

If the bird has been enveloped with paper, the latter must be removed about ten minutes before taking the chicken from the fire; do the same with the slices of salt pork.

It takes from twenty-five minutes to one hour to roast a chicken, with a good fire. The time depends as much on the quality of the bird as on the size. With a skewer or a small knife, or merely by pressing on it with the fingers, anyone can learn how to tell when done, after having roasted only two or three. Even by the look of it, many persons can tell.

_With Water-cress._--Dish the chicken when roasted, put fresh water-cress all around, remove the fat from the gravy, which you turn over the whole; add salt and pepper to taste, a little vinegar or lemon-juice, and serve warm.

_With Sauces._--When roasted, serve with the following sauces: _soubise_, _tarragon_, _oyster_, _tomato_, and _Provencale_.

_With Garnitures._--Dish the bird when roasted as directed, and place one of the following garnitures around, and serve warm: _quenelles_ of chicken or of veal, _Macedoine_, and _cauliflowers_.

_With Macaroni._--Spread four ounces of macaroni _au jus_ on a dish, place the roasted chicken on it, and serve the whole warm.

_With b.u.t.ter._--It may be served with its gravy and craw-fish or lobster-b.u.t.ter.

_With Chestnuts._--When dished, surround the chicken with chestnuts glazed, and serve.

_With Pigeons._--Dish the bird, place four roasted pigeons around, one at each end and one on each side; fill the intervals with green peas au jus, and serve warm.

All the above may be decorated with skewers. Run the skewer in a _chestnut_ and then in a _craw-fish_; or, in a _quenelle_ and then in a _chestnut_ or _craw-fish_; or, in a _chicken-comb_, and in a _quenelle_, and stick it on the chicken. Two skewers only for a chicken make a fine decoration. Slices of _truffles_, of _mushrooms_, and _chicken-combs_, make fine as well as delicious decorations.

_Baked._--Put the chicken in a baking-pan, after being cleaned, prepared, and trussed. Salt and b.u.t.ter the breast, which must be upward, place a piece of b.u.t.tered paper on it, and a little cold water in the bakepan. Set it in a warm, but not too quick oven; baste often with the liquor in the pan. If the water and juice are absorbed by the heat, add a little cold water, so as to have liquor to baste with. Remove the paper about ten minutes before taking from the oven. It takes about forty minutes to cook a chicken of middle size.

Serve a baked chicken with _sauces_ and _garnitures_, and _decorated_ the same as if it were roasted, and as described in the above receipts.

_Saute._--After being cleaned and prepared as directed, cut the chicken in pieces as for _frica.s.see_. Put it in a saucepan with about an ounce of b.u.t.ter; set on the fire, stir now and then till it is of a golden color and pour off the fat, if any is in the saucepan. Add a tablespoonful of flour and stir half a minute, then add also broth enough to nearly cover the meat, half a pint of white wine, a bunch of seasonings composed of four stalks of parsley, one of thyme, half a bay-leaf, and one clove, the four tied together with twine; add salt, and one onion whole. Boil gently till done. Ten minutes before serving, add half a dozen mushrooms.

Dish the pieces of chicken as directed for _frica.s.see_, place the mushrooms over them, strain the sauce all over, and serve warm.

If the chicken is done before the sauce is reduced or is rather thick, dish the meat and put it away in a warm place, boil the rest slowly till reduced, and then turn it over the meat. Serve with or without a border, as in a _frica.s.see_. Truffles may be used instead of mushrooms, if handy, or liked. Water may be used instead of broth, but it is inferior.

_Another._--To be good _saute_, the chicken must be young and tender.

Clean, prepare, and cut as directed. Put about one ounce and a half of b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan, set it on the fire, and when melted put the pieces of chicken in, stir now and then till all the pieces have a golden hue; add a tablespoonful of flour, stir again for about one minute; then add also salt and pepper, half a pint of broth, or one gill of broth and one gill of white wine; boil gently for five or six minutes. Add again a teaspoonful of parsley chopped fine, five or six mushrooms cut in slices, keep it boiling gently till done, and serve warm.

If the sauce is boiling away, or is found too thick, add a little broth.

Use _Champagne_, _Sauterne_, or _Catawba_ wine. It is much better with wine than without.

_Another._--Clean, prepare, and cut the chicken as for _frica.s.see_. Put it in a saucepan with about an ounce of b.u.t.ter, set on the fire, stir once in a while till all the pieces are of a fine golden color; then pour off the fat that may be in the pan. Sprinkle a tablespoonful of flour all over it, and stir for about half a minute, then add three or four shallots, or two or three small green onions, chopped fine, parsley, and three or four mushrooms, both cut in small pieces, a bunch of seasonings composed of four sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and one clove, salt, and pepper.

Stir often till cooked, and serve with a few drops of lemon-juice sprinkled on it when dished.

Dish as directed for _frica.s.see_.

_Stewed._--Clean, prepare, and cut the chicken in pieces as for _frica.s.see_. Brown them in a saucepan with about one ounce of b.u.t.ter, then take the pieces off, add half a tablespoonful of flour to the b.u.t.ter, stir for one minute, then add also three or four mushrooms in slices, a small onion, and half a dozen sprigs of parsley chopped fine, stir for two or three minutes, then cover with half a pint of white wine and the same of broth, boil for ten minutes, put the pieces of chicken back into the pan, boil gently till done, and serve warm as it is.

The pieces of chicken are dished as directed for _frica.s.see_.

_Stuffed with Bread._--Soak stale bread in cold water, and then squeeze the water out of it. Put one ounce of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan and set it on the fire; as soon as melted, add one middling-sized onion chopped fine, and stir till it turns rather yellow, then add the bread, stir two minutes; add again salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, two or three tablespoonfuls of broth; stir again two or three minutes, take from the fire, mix in it a yolk of egg, put back on the fire for half a minute, stirring the while, take off again, add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, and use. Fill the crop (we mean the place where the crop was) and also the body or inside of the bird with the above mixture, truss it as directed; roast or bake it, and serve with the gravy.

_Stuffed with Sausage-meat._--Set a saucepan on the fire with about half an ounce of b.u.t.ter in it; when melted add an onion chopped fine, stir, and, when nearly fried, add also the heart and liver of the bird, chopped fine, four, six, or eight ounces of sausage-meat (according to the size of the bird), stir for about twelve minutes, take from the fire, mix a yolk of egg with it, also four or five mushrooms chopped, or one or two truffles, chopped also, put back on the fire for five minutes, stirring the while, take from the fire again, fill the prepared bird with the mixture, and as above, roast or bake it, and serve it with its gravy.

_Stuffed with Chestnuts._--Roast chestnuts and skin them, removing also the white envelope that is under the outside skin. Fill the inside of a cleaned and prepared chicken till half full, add about one and a half ounces of b.u.t.ter, finish the filling; truss, roast or bake as directed, and serve the bird with its gravy.

_Stuffed with Truffles._--The truffles, being preserved, do not require any preparation, half a pound is enough for a middling-sized chicken; it is not necessary to put any where the crop was.

Salt and pepper the inside of the bird, and put in it also about a teaspoonful of parsley chopped fine, then the truffles; sew the incision made to draw it; truss it as directed, and roast or bake.