HOW TO PREPARE AND CLEAN

To transport poultry, _see_ Game.

Poulterers are of the opinion that the best and quickest way of killing poultry is by cutting the throat or the tongue. Tie the legs of the bird, hang it by the legs, then kill and let bleed. Some cut the head off and throw it away on the ground, but the poor things do not die so fast, and therefore suffer more.

As soon as the throat or tongue is cut, if the head is held down the bird dies sooner, as it allows the blood to run more freely, preventing the bird from bending and twisting its neck, and also from swallowing its blood.

It is much better to pick the bird dry. By scalding, the skin is spoiled, and very often the flesh of a young and tender chicken is spoiled also, being blanched. When picked, singe the bird carefully, in order not to burn the skin.

Split the skin on the back of the neck, from the body to near the head; then detach the skin from the neck by pulling it downward and the neck upward; it gives you plenty of room to pull the crop out, which you do. Cut the skin off at about the middle of the neck, and the neck close to the body; that part of the skin of the neck is left to cover the place where the neck was cut off, by turning it on the back of the bird, and holding it with twine in trussing.

Make an incision under the rump, lengthwise, and large enough to draw the bird easily.

When drawn, wipe the inside of the bird with a towel, but do not wash it, except when you have broken the gall-bladder. If that should happen, cut the bird in pieces immediately and wash well in lukewarm water; never roast or prepare whole a bird that has had the gall-bladder broken in it in drawing it. _Saute_ it or prepare it in fricassee.

If there should be any thing unclean on the outside, wipe it off, if possible, or otherwise cut the place off, or wash only the unclean place. A washed bird is a very inferior article. If you see that a bird cannot be cleansed properly except by washing it, do not buy it.

_To select._--Buy a chicken with white flesh and pale-yellow fat. If young, the cock has small spurs, the hen has the lower part of the legs and feet rather soft and smooth; those parts are rough in old ones.

If the rump is hard and stiff, they are fresh enough; but if soft, it is necessary to examine the bird carefully; it might be tainted.

_To truss._--When prepared as directed for poultry, put the bird on the table on its back, and with a chopper or with a round stick flatten the breast-bone, which you break at a single blow if possible; the bird is much more sightly when served. Cut the legs off just above the first joint, or cut off only half of the claws and trim off the ends of the wings. Place the bird on a table, the breast up and the rump toward you. Push the legs under the skin, so that, by holding them perpendicularly and pressing on them, the part from the second to the third joint is alongside the chicken, or horizontally. Then run a trussing-needle, with twine attached to it, just above the bone of the leg, as near the second joint as possible, on the side (toward you) of the bone of the leg that is perpendicular, through the leg (which leg is the left one of the bird), body, and also through the bird, and at the same place, that is, as near the second joint as possible. Turn the bird upside down and the neck toward you; turn the ends of the wings on the back, as seen in the cut (p. 240), turn the skin of the neck on the back also, between or under the wings and in order to cover the place where the neck has been cut off, then run the needle again through the right wing, the skin of the neck and part of the body, and through the other wing. Tie the ends of the twine fast together.

As it is, the legs of the bird, when on its back, are pointing upward. Bend them gently down till they are perpendicular and as seen in the cut, run the trussing-needle through both and also through the body, above the bones of the legs and under the end of the breast-bone; run it again the other way, but under the bones of the legs, tie the two ends of the twine together, and you have a bird trussed exactly like the one represented in the cut on next page.

Another way to truss is, to cut only half of the claws, instead of cutting the legs at the first joint; but, to truss thus, the first joint must be partly cut as represented below. If the nerve were not cut, it would contract in cooking, and instead of being straight, the legs would point upward.

A bird stuffed is trussed exactly in the same way as above, with the exception that the skin of the neck must be sewed up with a trussing-needle before commencing to truss the legs, and the incision must also be sewed up as soon as filled and before trussing.

The twine used to sew and truss the bird is removed just before dishing it.

Some experiments have been made lately, in France, to find out the best way to kill chickens and make them tender. Those killed by electricity were more tender than any other, but they must be cooked immediately, as they become tainted in a very short time.

_To blanch._--When cut in pieces as directed, throw it in boiling water to which a little salt has been added; boil two minutes and drain.

_To cut._--To make a chicken _saute_ or in fricassee, it is generally cut into eight pieces; the two legs, the wings, one piece of the breast-bone, and three pieces of the back-bone. The ends of the wings, the lower part of the legs after being skinned by warming them, the neck, gizzard, heart, kidneys, and head, are put in the soup-kettle. Generally the bones of the legs above the second joint are removed by breaking them with the back of a knife just above the second joint. The ends of the small bones of the three pieces of the back-bone are trimmed off also.

_To dish and serve._--Dish the pieces in the following order: the neck, gizzard, the fore part of the back and the low part of the legs in the middle; then one leg on each side of the dish, with one wing beside each, then the breast and hind part of the back, and lastly the ends of the wings at the top. If cut in eight pieces only, place the breast-bone on the middle of the dish, the hind part of the back-bone at one end of it and the two others at the other end; the legs and wings on each side.

_Boiled._--A chicken is boiled only when it is an old one, whose tenderness is doubtful, and which is not needed to make broth or _consomme_.

Clean, prepare, and truss it as directed for poultry. Brown the bird in a saucepan with about one ounce of butter, then half cover it with cold water; season with a few slices of onion, same of carrot, two cloves, two stalks of parsley, salt and pepper. Boil gently about one hour and a half, and when done, dish the bird, strain the sauce over it, and serve warm.

If the sauce boils away, add a little cold water; and if there is any fat on it, skim it off.

An old chicken may be cooked especially to make a salad.

_Boned._--Pick, bone, fill, cook, and serve a boned chicken exactly like a boned turkey; the only difference is, that it requires less filling, being smaller.

For an extra, legs of large chickens may be boned and filled like the chicken, the rest being used for a fricassee.

_Broiled._--Young, or what are called _spring chickens_, are broiled; an old one would not be as good.

To broil, a chicken is split in two lengthwise, or the back only is split, so as to open it. Salt both sides and butter them slightly, then broil on a good but not sharp fire. Serve with a _maitre-d'hotel_, _piquante_, or _ravigote_ sauce.

_Broiled hunter-like._--When cleaned and prepared, split the chicken in two lengthwise and place it in a crockery dish with the following seasonings: a teaspoonful of parsley chopped fine, a middling-sized onion in slices, two cloves, salt, pepper, a tablespoonful of sweet-oil, and the juice of half a lemon. Half an hour after turn the chicken over, and after another half hour place the above seasonings all around the chicken, fasten them with paper, tie the paper with twine, and broil carefully on a rather slow fire, and turning over two or three times. When done, remove the paper in which they are enveloped, scrape off the slices without scratching the meat, and serve as warm as possible with a _maitre-d'hotel_, _ravigote_, or _Madeira_ sauce.

When an older chicken is prepared hunter-like, it is generally served with a _Tartar_ sauce.

_Another way._--Clean and prepare a chicken as directed. Cut the neck off, also the legs at the first joint, split the breast in two so as to open the chicken, and flatten it with a chopper. Put about two ounces of butter in a saucepan and set it on the fire; when melted, add a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, stir for half a minute with a wooden spoon, then put the chicken in with salt and pepper; when about half fried on one side, turn it over and half fry the other side; then take off the chicken, roll it in chopped parsley and bread-crumbs mixed together, broil it properly and serve on a _Tartar_ sauce.

A chicken broiled either way above described may also be served on a _Bechamel_ or on a _cream_ sauce.

_Croquettes._--The proportions that we give below are for half a middling-sized chicken.

A chicken may be cooked especially to make _croquettes_, but it is generally made with cold meat.

Chop the meat fine. Chop fine also half a middling-sized onion; fry it with one ounce of butter, then add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir for half a minute, then add also the chopped meat and a little over a gill of broth, salt, pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, stir for about two minutes, take from the fire, mix two yolks of eggs with it, put back on the fire for one minute, stirring the while; lastly you add four mushrooms chopped, or two truffles, chopped also, or both, according to taste; do not put back on the fire, but turn the mixture into a dish, spread it and put it away to cool.

When perfectly cold, mix it well, as the upper part is more dry than the rest; put it in parts on the paste-board, about a tablespoonful for each part. Have bread-crumbs on the paste-board, roll each part of the shape you wish; either round like a small sausage, or flat, or of a chop-shape; then dip each _croquette_ or part in beaten egg, roll in bread-crumbs again, and fry in hot fat. (_See_ Frying.)

The best way to shape them, is to roll each part round first with a few bread-crumbs, then with a knife smooth both ends, while with the left hand you roll them gently, and if wanted flat, strike gently on them with the blade of a knife. If wanted of a chop-shape, when flat, shape with the hands and strike again to flatten them.

_Croquettes_ are made with any kind of cold meat.

_In Fricassee._--Clean, prepare, and cut as directed. If the flesh is not white, blanch it. Put it in a saucepan, cover it with broth or cold water (broth is better than water), set it on the fire, and add one onion whole, and if covered with water, add also a bunch of seasonings, composed of three stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and one clove, boil gently till done. Put about two ounces of butter in a saucepan with one tablespoonful of flour, set on the fire, stir and mix while the butter is melting; then turn the broth or water in which the chicken has been cooked into this pan through a strainer, add salt, six mushrooms sliced, then the pieces of chicken; give one boil, dish the pieces as directed, mix a yolk of egg in the sauce, turn it over the chicken, and serve with or without a border of paste.

_Border of Paste._--Knead well together, so as to make a rather thick paste, two whites of eggs with flour; spread it with a rolling-pin in a long strip about two inches and a half broad and one-fifth of an inch thick. Trim the sides if not straight; cut three rows of holes in the middle with a fruit-corer, then cut the strip of paste in two, lengthwise and in the middle of the middle row of holes. Cut it again across in pieces about three or four inches long. Put it in a warm place to dry till hard enough to keep in shape and still be pliable; warm the dish on which you wish to place it; beat the white of an egg just a little with a pinch of sugar, glaze the straight side of the paste with it; place it all around and on the border of the dish with the dentilated side up. Place the pieces of chicken inside of the border as directed above, and serve.

The cut below represents the border. One, _a_, is the border before being cut in two, and _b_ when cut.

It may seem difficult to place the border at first, but it will be easily done after having tried once or twice, and following the directions previously given. It is better to try when not in a hurry and before being wanted; that is, before you wish to serve it. The border may be made and placed on a dish without a chicken, it will be better for an experiment.

_In Fricassee a la chevaliere or Parisienne._--While the chicken is cooking as directed for _fricassee_, prepare a garniture of _chicken-combs_, and, when the chicken is dished, place the garniture all around it, and serve warm.

_A la Francaise._--While the _fricassee_ is being made, prepare a _garniture_ of mushrooms or one of truffles, or both.

Dish the chicken as directed, place a garniture of _mushrooms_ or one of _truffles_, or both, tastefully all around, and serve warm.

When a _fricassee_ is made for several persons, with two, three, four, or more chickens, three garnitures may be placed around the same dish, and, when carefully and tastefully arranged, it makes a sightly one.

The three garnitures are, generally, of _chicken-combs_, _mushrooms_, and _truffles_; they may be also of _chicken-combs_, _quenelles_ of chicken, and _croutons_; or, of _financiere_, _truffles_, and _chicken-combs_; or a boiled _craw-fish_ here and there, and two of any of the above-mentioned garnitures.

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

_A la financiere._--This is a _fricassee_ of chicken served with a _financiere_ garniture.

_Au supreme._--Chicken, or rather chickens, _au supreme_ is a _fricassee_ made with the breasts 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 breasts or fillets are thus detached, prepare them as chicken in _fricassee_, 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 breasts 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 breasts 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 _fricassee_ also, but instead of covering the chicken with broth or water, it is covered with white wine.

Proceed, for the rest, and serve as _fricassee_.

_With Carrots._--While you are cooking a chicken in _fricassee_, 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 _fricassee_. 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 butter, 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 butter 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 buttered all around, or envelop it in buttered paper, or merely cover the breast with thin slices of salt pork tied with twine. Baste often, at first with melted butter, 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 Butter._--It may be served with its gravy and craw-fish or lobster-butter.

_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 butter the breast, which must be upward, place a piece of buttered 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 _fricassee_. Put it in a saucepan with about an ounce of butter; 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 _fricassee_, 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 _fricassee_. 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 butter 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 _fricassee_. Put it in a saucepan with about an ounce of butter, 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 _fricassee_.

_Stewed._--Clean, prepare, and cut the chicken in pieces as for _fricassee_. Brown them in a saucepan with about one ounce of butter, then take the pieces off, add half a tablespoonful of flour to the butter, 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 _fricassee_.

_Stuffed with Bread._--Soak stale bread in cold water, and then squeeze the water out of it. Put one ounce of butter 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 butter 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 butter, 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.

_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 butter 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 butter 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 butter; 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 cucumbers may be used.

_Another way._--Cut up the chicken or part of it as for _fricassee_. Put a little butter 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 Fricassee._--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 _fricassee_.

_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.

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 glass 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.

Tame and wild are prepared and served alike.

The legs of a young hen-turkey are black; the cock 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 cock 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 butter 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 butter 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 glass 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 butter at first, and then with the drippings. It may be enveloped in buttered 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 butter 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 buttered 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 butter; 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.

_With Salt Pork._--Place thin slices of salt pork on the breast of a prepared turkey, covering it entirely, and fastening the slices with twine; then the turkey is roasted or baked, and served with the gravy. The slices may be removed a little before taking from the fire, in order to color the meat.

_Boned._--Buy a good turkey, neither too old nor too fat, and picked dry. Singe the bird, but do not draw it. Cut the neck off about one inch and a half from the body. Cut also the wings off just above the second joint, and the legs just above the first joint; the third joint is the one nearest the body. Split the skin from the end of the neck to the rump; use a small sharp-pointed knife; commence to run the knife between the bones and flesh, on one side, till you come to the third joint of the wings and legs. By twisting and raising both wings and leg, but one at a time, you easily crack the joint, and then separate it from the body with the knife. Continue to run the knife between the bones and flesh, on the same side, till you come to the breast-bone. Do the same on the other side. Pull out the crop and cut off the rump from the body, but without touching the skin, as the rump must come off with the skin and flesh. Then by taking hold of the bird by the neck with the left hand, and pulling the skin gently down with the right, you partly uncover the upper part of the breast-bone; then again run the knife between that bone and the flesh, on both sides, till you come nearly to the end or edge of the bone. Then lay the bird on its back, have somebody to take hold of it by the neck, having the breast of the bird toward you. All along the edge of the breast-bone there is no flesh between the bone and the skin. The bird being held as described above, take hold of the skin of the neck with your left hand, pulling gently downward, and with the knife detaching the skin carefully from the bone, the carcass coming off whole. Place the bird on the table, the inside up, pull out the bones of the wings and legs, scraping the flesh an around so as to leave it attached to the rest; pull or scrape off all the tendons of the legs; push legs and wings inside the bird; see that the rump is clean; cut off the ring under it if necessary. We warrant that anybody, with an ordinary amount

_How to decorate with Jelly._--When the jelly is congealed and can be cut with a knife, chop some of it on a coarse towel and put it all around the bird, about half an inch thick; cut some in slices about a quarter of an inch in thickness; cut these again with paste-cutters in different shapes, according to fancy, and place it over the bird, also according to fancy; again cut some of it in slices about one inch broad, a quarter of an inch thick and of any length, and cut out of these last ones pieces of a triangular shape, which put all around the border of the dish, placed so that one point of each piece is turned toward the edge of the dish and the two other points touch the other pieces on both sides; then you have an indented border of jelly. When the jelly is fancifully and tastefully arranged, it makes a sightly dish.

It is always served cold for breakfast, lunch, or supper.

In summer the jelly melts, and cannot be used as a decoration. A boned bird is then served without jelly. The bird is cut in slices, and some jelly is served with each slice.

_Cold._--A turkey, being a large bird, is seldom entirely eaten the day it is served, and very often more than half of it is left for the next day. What is left may be prepared in different ways.

_In Vinaigrette._--Cut the flesh in slices and serve them with a _vinaigrette_. It is not understood here for a boned turkey, which is always eaten cold, but either a roasted, baked, stewed, or stuffed turkey.

_In Croquettes._--Proceed in every particular as for chicken _croquettes_.

_In Salad._--A salad of turkey is made also exactly the same as a salad of chicken, with cold meat. It is covered with a Mayonnaise-sauce and decorated in the same way.

Besides the above ways of preparing cold turkey, it may also be prepared as directed for cold chicken in general.

A caponed turkey is prepared as a caponed chicken, boiled or with rice; and also like a turkey, as described in the above receipts. They are generally larger, fatter, and more tender and juicy than others. They are very much appreciated here, and every year more and more are supplied, and, as in Europe, the greater the supply the better the quality. There is a ready market for caponed turkeys in all the large cities of the United States, and they command a high price.

Ducks and ducklings, tame and wild, are prepared alike. To be good, a duck must be fat, be it a _canvasback_, _gadwell_, _black-duck_, _garganey_, _poachard_, _wood-duck_, _pintail_, _shoveller_, _spirit-duck_, _summer-duck_, _teal_, _widgeon_, _shelldrake_, or any other.

_How to select._--A young duck has the lower part of the legs soft, and the skin between the claws soft also; you will also know if it is young by taking hold of it by the bill (the under bill only), if it breaks or bends, the duck is young.

If the breast of the duck is hard and thick, it is fresh enough.

_How to prepare._--A duck is cleaned and prepared as directed for poultry.

_Roasted._--Clean, prepare, and truss the duck as a chicken, with the exception that the rump is pushed inside; the duck being much longer than a chicken, it is more sightly when so trussed.

Place inside of the duck two sage-leaves, two bay-leaves, and two sprigs of thyme, and leave it thus in a cool place for two or three hours, and then roast it as directed for chicken.

When roasted, serve it with any of the following garnitures: cabbage, cauliflower, _Macedoine_, onion, or truffles.

The fatty part of the gravy or drippings must be carefully and totally removed before turning it over the duck and garniture. It takes from thirty to forty minutes to roast.

_Baked._--When cleaned, prepared, and trussed as directed for turkeys and chickens, put the duck in a bakepan, salt and pepper it, cover the bottom of the pan with cold water, and place it in a rather quick oven.

A duck, being generally very fat, requires to be turned over and over several times and to be basted very often. It is not necessary to cover it with buttered paper. In case there is much fat in the pan, remove it while it is cooking.

It is served as directed for roast duck, with garnitures.

When roasted or baked, it is also served with apple or cranberry-sauce, or with currant-jelly.

_With Peas._--Cut in dice about one ounce of salt pork and put it in a saucepan; set it on the fire, and, as soon as the butter is melted, brown in it a duck trussed as directed and take from the fire. Put one ounce of butter in a saucepan and mix it cold with a tablespoonful of flour, set it on the fire, and, when the butter is melted, put the duck in with about a quart of green peas, blanched for one or two minutes only; add about a pint of water or of broth, a bunch of seasonings composed of three or four stalks of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and one clove, salt, and pepper; boil gently till the whole is cooked, and serve warm.

Remove all the fat carefully before serving.

If the water should boil away while it is cooking, add a little more.

_With Oranges._--Roast or bake a young duck as directed, and serve it with carpels of orange all around; and sprinkle some orange-juice all over just before serving it.

_With Olives._--Roast or bake the duck as directed. When done, turn the gravy into a small saucepan with about two dozen olives; stir gently, and keep on the fire for about five minutes. Dish the duck, place the olives all around; turn the gravy over the whole, and serve warm.

_Saute, served with a Border._--When cleaned and cut in eight pieces as directed, set it on the fire with one ounce of butter, stir occasionally till turning brown, then pour off the fat from the saucepan, add broth enough just to cover the pieces of duck; also one onion with a clove stuck in it, a bunch of seasonings tied with twine and composed of four stalks of parsley, one of thyme, and a bay-leaf, salt, and pepper; boil gently till done. Place the pieces of duck inside of a border of rice, strain the sauce over the duck only, and serve hot.

The rice must be cooked, moulded, and placed on the dish while the duck is cooking, so as to serve the whole warm. (_See_ Rice in Border.)

_To cut._--A duck is generally cut in eight pieces, the two legs and wings, the breast in two, and the back-bone in two.

_With Turnips._--Truss the duck as directed for birds. Put one ounce of butter in a saucepan, set it on the fire, and, when melted, put the duck in, turn over now and then till it is brown on every side. Then add a piece of onion chopped fine, stir, and, when turning brown also, add water enough to half cover it; also a bunch of seasonings composed of three sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a clove; boil gently till done, when add salt to taste.

While the duck is cooking, cut two turnips in dice or in round pieces with a fruit-corer, or with a vegetable spoon, set them on the fire with cold water and salt, boil till tender, and drain them.

Put them back on the fire with the sauce or gravy from the saucepan in which the duck has cooked, give one boil, dish the duck, place the turnips around, and serve.

_Another way._--Cut the duck in pieces. Set a saucepan on the fire with an ounce of butter in it, when melted, add half a tablespoonful of flour, stir, and, when turning brown, add half a dozen small turnips or two large ones, cut with a vegetable spoon; stir, and, when they are all browned, take them off and brown the pieces of duck; then put the turnips back in the pan, add broth enough just to cover the whole; also two sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, a clove, salt, and pepper; boil gently till cooked; dish the duck and turnips, turn the sauce over them through a strainer, and serve warm.

_Cold._--What is left from the preceding day's dinner is prepared in _salmis_.

Very often a duck is baked, especially to make a _salmis_ with it. (_See_ Salmis.)

_Boned._--Bone, fill, cook, and serve as turkey boned.

Cold duck may also be prepared in _croquettes_ and salad, like chicken.

_Stuffed._--It is stuffed with sausage-meat and chestnuts, also like a chicken.