Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 41

_The same, stewed._--When stuffed, put four ounces of salt pork cut in dice in a saucepan, with slices of onion and carrot, place the chicken on them, season with four stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and one clove tied together; half cover it with broth and white wine, of equal parts, set on the fire, boil gently till done, turning it over several times. Dish the bird, strain the sauce over it, and serve warm.

After being stuffed with truffles, it may be kept two days before cooking.

_Cold._--What is left from the previous day's dinner is known under the name of cold meat.

For about half a chicken put one ounce of b.u.t.ter in a saucepan, and, when melted, turn into it a _financiere_ garniture, and half a pint of Madeira wine, boil gently about eight minutes, put the cold chicken cut in pieces in it; leave just long enough on the fire to warm it, and serve.

If not a roasted or broiled chicken, or part of either, you merely warm it in the _bain-marie_ if possible, or on the fire, and serve as it is.

If roasted or broiled, it is served in _blanquette_, thus:

Cut up the meat in slices, have in a stewpan and on a good fire a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of two walnuts; when melted, sprinkle in it a pinch of flour, stirring with a wooden spoon the while; then pour in also, little by little, two gills of warm broth, same of boiling water, half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and two or three small onions fried in b.u.t.ter; boil fifteen minutes. After that time subdue the fire, place the slices of chicken in the pan, and serve as it is when well warmed.

Instead of onions, slices of pickled cuc.u.mbers may be used.

_Another way._--Cut up the chicken or part of it as for _frica.s.see_. Put a little b.u.t.ter in a stewpan and set on the fire; when melted, sprinkle in it a little flour, half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, same of chopped mushrooms, stir with a wooden spoon the while, two or three minutes after which add two gills of white wine, boil the whole fifteen minutes; then subdue the fire, put the pieces of chicken in the pan, and serve as it is when warm.

It may also, after it is cut up, be served cold, with an oil, _piquante_, or _poivrade_ sauce.

_The same, in Frica.s.see._--An old chicken that has been used to make broth, either alone or with beef, when cool, or the next day, may be prepared just as a spring chicken in _frica.s.see_.

_In Salad._--It is made with cold chicken, roasted or baked, with a whole one or part of it.

Cut all the meat in dice and put it in a bowl.

Cut just as much roasted or baked veal in dice also, and put with the chicken.

Cut also about as much table celery as chicken, which put with the meat also. Season with salt, pepper, vinegar, and very little oil; stir and mix the whole well. Add also some lettuce, and mix again gently. Put the mixture then on a platter, making a small mound with it; spread a Mayonnaise-sauce all over it; decorate with hard-boiled eggs, cut in four or eight pieces, lengthwise; also with centre leaves of lettuce, capers, boiled beets, and even slices of lemon.

A bard-boiled egg is cut across in two, then with a sharp knife scallop each half, invert them and run a small skewer through both, so as to leave the smaller end of both halves in the middle and touching; place the egg right in the middle of the dish, when the Mayonnaise is spread all over; plant the centre leaves of a head of lettuce in the middle of the upper half of the egg, with a few capers in it, and serve.

Some use mustard with a chicken salad; it is really wrong, because chickens and Mayonnaise-sauce are too delicate to use mustard with them.

CAPON.

A caponed chicken is cleaned, prepared, cooked, and served in the same and every way as a common chicken.

A capon is almost always fat, larger than an ordinary chicken, and has a more delicate and tender flesh.

_Roasted_ and served in the different ways described for chicken, it makes a _recherche_ dish, also when stuffed with chestnuts or truffles, as a common chicken.

_Boiled._--Clean and prepare as directed above; rub the fleshy part with lemon, envelop it with slices of bacon, place it in a stewpan with one sprig of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, one clove, a small carrot, two onions, salt, and pepper; cover with half water and half broth, and set on a moderate fire. When cooked, take the capon off, place it on a dish, and set it in a warm place; then boil the sauce till it is rather thick, when strain it on the capon, and serve.

_The same, with Rice._--When cleaned and prepared as above, you place the capon in a stewpan, cover it with water, add one gla.s.s of broth, a bay-leaf, one clove, a sprig of parsley, one of thyme, a small carrot, two onions, salt, and pepper; boil ten minutes, then add also about four ounces of rice, soaked in lukewarm water before using it, and let simmer for two hours. Take the capon off, and in case the rice should not be found to be cooked enough, finish the cooking of it; then take off clove, parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, carrot and onions, pour the remainder on the capon, and serve.

TURKEY.

Tame and wild are prepared and served alike.

The legs of a young hen-turkey are black; the c.o.c.k has small spurs, and also black legs.

The shorter the neck the better and fatter the bird.

An old hen has red and rough legs; the c.o.c.k also has long spurs.

The fatter they are the better; they cannot be too fat. The broader the breast the better; the skin must be white.

It is fresh enough as long as the legs are not stiff.

_Boiled._--Clean and prepare turkey as directed for poultry.

Put in a stewpan, large enough to hold a turkey, a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a duck's egg, also a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, same of green onions, and four or five mushrooms; set it on a good fire, and, as soon as the b.u.t.ter is hot, lay the turkey in; turn over now and then till of a fine golden color, then take it from the pan, cover the breast with slices of bacon tied with twine, and put it back in the pan; add a pinch of allspice, six small onions, salt, pepper, a gla.s.s of white wine, and a pint of broth; simmer till cooked, dish it, strain the sauce on it, and serve. It takes about two hours to cook a turkey of middling size. A little warm broth should be added, in case the sauce boils away during the cooking.

_Roasted._--Clean, prepare, and truss a turkey as directed for poultry, and, if the turkey is not fat, the breast may be larded with salt pork.

Place it on the spit before a sharp fire, basting often with melted b.u.t.ter at first, and then with the drippings. It may be enveloped in b.u.t.tered paper and tied with twine before placing it on the spit; the paper is removed ten or fifteen minutes before taking from the fire; serve with the gravy, after having skimmed the fat off.

Some fresh water-cress is placed all around it, and on which you sprinkle vinegar or lemon-juice.

A turkey may be served in every way as a roasted chicken--with sauces, garnitures, and decorated with skewers.

_Baked._--When cleaned, prepared, and trussed, put the turkey in a baking-pan, spread a little b.u.t.ter on it, put a little cold water in the pan, the depth of about two-eighths of an inch, sprinkle salt all over, place a piece of b.u.t.tered paper on it, and put in a quick oven. Baste often and turn the bird over and round, if necessary. It takes from one hour and a half to two hours to cook a turkey, according to size, quality, and also according to the degree of heat.

It is served with the gravy only, after having removed the fat, or with sauces, garnitures, and decorations, described for roasted chicken.

_Oyster-Sauce._--When roasted or baked as directed, serve warm with an oyster-sauce.

_With Currant Jelly._--Roast or bake it, and then serve it with currant-jelly.

It is also served with a cranberry-sauce.

_Stewed._--An old turkey is more tender stewed than cooked in any other way.

The fleshy parts may be larded with salt pork, if found too lean.

Put in a large stew-kettle half a pound of bacon cut in slices, four ounces of knuckle of veal, three sprigs of parsley, two of thyme, a bay-leaf, six small onions, one carrot, cut in four pieces, three cloves, one clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and then the turkey; wet with a pint of white wine, same of broth, cover as nearly air-tight as you can, place in a moderately heated oven or on a moderate fire, let simmer (not boil) about two hours and a half, then turn it over, put back on the fire or in the oven for another two hours and a half, after which dish the turkey; strain the sauce and put it back on the fire to reduce it to a jelly, which you spread on it, and serve.

Many _connoisseurs_ prefer the turkey served thus when cold; it does not cost any thing to try it, and it is very handy for a grand dinner, as it may be prepared one or two days in advance, and is just as good, if kept in a refrigerator.

_Stuffed with Chestnuts._--Roast chestnuts enough to fill the bird.

Skin them and remove also the white skin under the outer one. Fill the turkey with them, after having cleaned and prepared it; when about half full, put in it also from four to six ounces of b.u.t.ter; finish the filling with chestnuts; sew it up, truss it as directed, and roast or bake it. Serve with the gravy only.

_Stuffed with Truffles._--Chop fine about four ounces of truffles, and put them in a stewpan with about a pound of salt pork cut in dice; set it on a moderate fire; add salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, a bay-leaf, a pinch of allspice, and a pinch of dried thyme; when hot, add also about two pounds of truffles, boil fifteen minutes, tossing now and then, and take from the fire. When nearly cool, put the whole in the turkey and sew it up; leave it thus, if fresh, four days in winter and one or two in summer; if not fresh, leave it a shorter time.

_Roast_ or _bake_ it as directed above, and serve with the gravy, freed from the fat part. This dish is considered exquisite by epicures.

_Stuffed with Sausage-meat._--Proceed as for chicken stuffed, in every particular.