VENISON STEAK

Have the venison steak one inch thick, trim off all the fat, pound a little, season with pepper and salt, have 3^our gridiron hot and broil over a quick fire. Serve with melted butter, pepper and salt, with a little jelly stirred into gravy. Have platter very hot.

Fresh, plump poultry should be chosen. The breast-bone of a young fowl is very flexible to the touch, increasing in stiffness with age. The claws of a young fowl taper neatly to a point; in an old one they are worn blunt by scratching. The skin of a young fowl, pinched between the thumb and finger nails, is easily broken; that of an old one resists like india rubber. A fowl should be dressed the day before it is to be cooked. To dress a fowl, scald thoroughly in boiling water, pluck out the feathers, singe off the down over a blaze, wash with a coarse cloth, rinse, and rub dry. Cut crosswise at the end of the breast bone and draw out the entrails ; cut a slit in the breast as far back as you can, and remove the craw; rinse in cold water. It is then ready for stuffing. When game or chickens are to be broiled, cut open at the back; for frying or stewing, cut in pieces.

CHICKEN— BAKED. Dress the chickens and cut them in two, soak for half an hour in cold water, wipe perfectly dry and put in a dripping- pan, bone side down, without any water; have a hot oven, and if the chickens are young half an hour's cooking will be suffi- cient. Take out and season with butter, salt, and pepper; pack one above another as closely as possible, and place in pan over boiling water, covering them closely — this keeps them moist until served — boil the giblets in a little water, and, after the chickens are taken from the dripping-pan, put into it the water in which the giblets were boiled, thicken it, and add the chopped giblets. This way of baking chickens is fully equal to broiling them.

CHICKEN OR QUAIL— BROILED. Cut chicken open on back, lay on the meat board and pound until it will lie flat, lay on gridiron, place over a bed of coals,

broil until a nice brown, but do not burn; it will take thirty minutes to cook thoroughly, and it will cook much better to cover it over. While the chicken is broiling, put the liver, gizzard, and heart into a stew pan; when done chop fine, add flour, butter, pepper, and salt, together making a gravy. When the chicken is done put on a hot platter, and pour gravy over, or serve in a separate dish. We like a little cream added to the gravy. Quails are done in the same way.

CHICKEN CROQUETTES. — 3Irs. Robert Saltsman.

One-half pound cold chicken chopped fine; fry quarter of a grated onion with a teaspoon of butter, stir the onion until it begins to turn yellow, add tea-spoon flour, stir a few minutes longer, add large coffee-cup of broth, then stir in chopped meat, salt to taste; cook ten minutes longer, stirring all the time; add grated nutmeg and cayenne pepper, and stir in the yolks of two eggs, give it one hard boil and put in dish to cool; form into nuts with cracker dust and the white of one egg; fry in boiling hot lard.

CHICKEN— FRICASSEED.— Pennsylvania Style.

Cut up and put on to boil in a small quantity of water one chicken ; stew until tender, season with salt and pepper, and butter and flour rubbed to a cream, thicken slowly, let boil a few moments; have ready some nice baking-powder biscuits, split open, lay on platter and pour over the gravy, lay on top the chicken ; serve hot. This is a delicious dish.