CHAPTER XVII

POULTRY AND GAME Poultry includes all domestic birds suitable for food except pigeon and squab. Examples: chicken, fowl, turkey, duck, goose, etc. Game includes such birds and animals suitable for food as are pursued and taken in field and forest. Examples: quail, partridge, wild duck, plover, deer, etc. The flesh of chicken, fowl, and turkey has much shorter fibre than that of ruminating animals, and is not intermingled with fat,—the fat always being found in layers directly under the skin, and surrounding the intestines. Chicken, fowl, and turkey are nutritious, and chicken is specially easy of digestion. The white meat found on breast and wing is more readily digested than the dark meat. The legs, on account of constant motion, are of a coarser fibre and darker color. Since incubators have been so much used for hatching chickens, small birds suitable for broiling may be always found in market. Chickens which appear in market during January weighing about one and one-half pounds are called _spring chickens_. Fowl is found in market throughout the year, but is at its best from March until June. Philadelphia, until recently, furnished our market with Philadelphia chickens and _capons_, but now Massachusetts furnishes equally good ones, which are found in market from December to June. They are very large, plump, and superior eating. At an early age they are deprived of the organs of reproduction, penned, and specially fatted for killing. They are recognized by the presence of head, tail, and wing feathers. Turkeys are found in market throughout the year, but are best during the winter months. Tame ducks and geese are very indigestible on account of the large quantity of fat they contain. Goose meat is thoroughly infiltrated with fat, containing sometimes forty to forty-five per cent. Pigeons, being old birds, need long, slow cooking to make them tender. Squabs (young pigeons) make a delicious tidbit for the convalescent, and are often the first meat allowed a patient by the physician. The flesh of game, with the exception of wild duck and wild geese, is tender, contains less fat than poultry, is of fine though strong flavor, and easy of digestion. Game meat is usually of dark color, partridge and quail being exceptions, and is usually cooked rare. Venison, the flesh of deer, is short-fibred, dark-colored, highly savored, tender, and easy of digestion; being highly savored, it often disagrees with those of weak digestion. Geese are in market throughout the year; Massachusetts and Rhode Island furnishing specially good ones. A goose twelve weeks old is known as a _green goose_. They may be found in market from May to September. Young geese which appear in market September first and continue through December are called _goslings_. They have been hatched during May and June, and then fatted for market. Young ducks, found in market about March first, are called _ducklings_. Canvasback Ducks have gained a fine reputation throughout the country, and are found in market from the last of November until March. Redhead Ducks are in season two weeks earlier, and are about as good eating as Canvasback Ducks, and much less in price. The distinctive flavor of both is due to the wild celery on which they feed. Many other kinds of ducks are found in market during the fall and winter. Examples: Widgeon, Mallard, Lake Erie Teal, Black Ducks, and Butterballs. Fresh quail are in market from October fifteenth to January first, the law forbidding their being killed at any other time in the year. The same is true of partridge, but both are frozen and kept in cold storage several months. California sends frozen quail in large numbers to Eastern markets. Grouse (_prairie chicken_) are always obtainable,—fresh ones in the fall; later, those kept in cold storage. Plover may be bought from April until December. =To Select Poultry and Game.= A _chicken_ is known by soft feet, smooth skin, and soft cartilage at end of breastbone. An abundance of pinfeathers always indicates a young bird, while the presence of long hairs denotes age. In a _fowl_ the feet have become hard and dry with coarse scales, and cartilage at end of breastbone has ossified. _Cock turkeys_ are usually better eating than hen turkeys, unless hen turkey is young, small, and plump. A good turkey should be plump, have smooth dark legs, and cartilage at end of breastbone soft and pliable. Good geese abound in pinfeathers. Small birds should be plump, have soft feet and pliable bills. =To Dress and Clean Poultry.= Remove hairs and down by holding the bird over a flame (from gas, alcohol, or burning paper) and constantly changing position until all parts of surface have been exposed to flame; this is known as _singeing_. Cut off the head and draw out pinfeathers, using a small pointed knife. Cut through the skin around the leg one and one-half inches below the leg joint, care being taken not to cut tendons; place leg at this cut over edge of board, press downward to snap the bone, then take foot in right hand, holding bird firmly in left hand, and pull off foot, and with it the tendons. In old birds the tendons must be drawn separately, which is best accomplished by using a steel skewer. Make an incision through skin below breastbone, just large enough to admit the hand. With the hand remove entrails, gizzard, heart, and liver; the last three named constitute what is known as _giblets_. The gall-bladder, lying on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver, is removed with liver, and great care must be taken that it is not broken, as a small quantity of the bile which it contains would impart a bitter flavor to the parts with which it came in contact. Enclosed by the ribs, on either side of backbone, may be found the lungs, of spongy consistency and red color. Care must be taken that every part of them is removed. Kidneys, lying in the hollow near end of backbone, must also be removed. By introducing first two fingers under skin close to neck, the windpipe may be easily found and withdrawn; also the crop, which will be found adhering to skin close to breast. Draw down neck skin, and cut off neck close to body, leaving skin long enough to fasten under the back. Remove oil bag, and wash bird by allowing cold water to run through it, not allowing bird to soak in cold water. Wipe inside and outside, looking carefully to see that everything has been withdrawn. If there is disagreeable odor, suggesting that fowl may have been kept too long, clean at once, wash inside and out with soda water, and sprinkle inside with charcoal and place some under wings. Poultry dressed at market seldom have tendons removed unless so ordered. It is always desirable to have them withdrawn, as they become hard and bony during cooking. It is the practice of market-men to cut a gash through the skin, to easier reach crop and windpipe. This gash must be sewed before stuffing, and causes the bird to look less attractive when cooked. =To Cut up a Fowl.= Singe, draw out pinfeathers, cut off head, remove tendons and oil bag. Cut through skin between leg and body close to body, bend back leg (thus breaking ligaments), cut through flesh, and separate at joint. Separate the upper part of leg, _second joint_, from lower part of leg, _drumstick_, as leg is separated from body. Remove wing by cutting through skin and flesh around upper wing joint which lies next to body, then disjoint from body. Cut off tip of wing and separate wing at middle joint. Remove leg and wing from other side. Separate breast from back by cutting through skin, beginning two inches below breastbone and passing knife between terminus of small ribs on either side and extending cut to collar-bone. Before removing entrails, gizzard, heart, liver, lungs, kidneys, crop, and windpipe, observe their position, that the anatomy of the bird may be understood. The back is sometimes divided by cutting through the middle crosswise. The wishbone, with adjoining meat, is frequently removed, and the breast meat may be separated in two parts by cutting through flesh close to breastbone with cleaver. Wipe pieces, excepting back, with cheese-cloth wrung out of cold water. Back piece needs thorough washing. =To Clean Giblets.= Remove thin membrane, arteries, veins, and clotted blood around heart. Separate gall-bladder from liver, cutting off any of liver that may have a greenish tinge. Cut fat and membranes from gizzard. Make a gash through thickest part of gizzard, and cut as far as inner lining, being careful not to pierce it. Remove the inner sack and discard. Wash giblets and cook until tender, with neck and tips of wings, putting them in cold water and heating water quickly that some of the flavor may be drawn out into stock, which is to be used for making gravy. =To Stuff Poultry.= Put stuffing by spoonfuls in neck end, using enough to sufficiently fill the skin, that bird may look plump when served. Where cracker stuffing is used, allowance must be made for the swelling of crackers, otherwise skin may burst during cooking. Put remaining stuffing in body; if the body is full, sew skin; if not full, bring skin together with a skewer. =To Truss Fowl.= Draw thighs close to body and hold by inserting a steel skewer under middle joint running it through body, coming out under middle joint on other side. Cut piece three-fourths inch wide from neck skin, and with it fasten legs together at ends; or cross drumsticks, tie securely with a long string, and fasten to tail. Place wings close to body and hold them by inserting a second skewer through wing, body, and wing on opposite side. Draw neck skin under back and fasten with a small wooden skewer. Turn bird on its breast. Cross string attached to tail piece and draw it around each end of lower skewer; again cross string and draw around each end of upper skewer; fasten string in a knot and cut off ends. In birds that are not stuffed legs are often passed through incisions cut in body under bones near tail. =To Dress Birds for Broiling.= Singe, wipe, and with a sharp-pointed knife, beginning at back of neck, make a cut through backbone the entire length of bird. Lay open the bird and remove contents from inside. Cut out rib bones on either side of backbone, remove from breastbone, then cut through tendons at joints. =To Fillet a Chicken.= Remove skin from breast, and with a small sharp knife begin at end of collar-bone and cut through flesh, following close to wish and breast bones the entire length of meat. Raise flesh with fingers, and with knife free the piece of meat from bones which lie under it. Cut meat away from wing joint; this solid piece of breast is meat known as a _fillet_. This meat is easily separated in two parts. The upper, larger part is called the _large fillet_; the lower part the _mignon fillet_. The tough skin on the outside of large fillet should be removed, also the sinew from mignon fillet. To remove tough skin, place large fillet on a board, upper side down, make an incision through flesh at top of fillet, and cut entire length of fillet, holding knife as close to skin as possible. Trim edges, that fillet may look shapely. Broiled Chicken Dress for broiling, following directions on page 244. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and place in a well-greased broiler. Broil twenty minutes over a clear fire, watching carefully and turning broiler so that all parts may be equally browned. The flesh side must be exposed to the fire the greater part of time, as the skin side will brown quickly. Remove to a hot platter, spread with soft butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Chickens are so apt to burn while broiling that many prefer to partially cook in oven. Place chicken in dripping-pan, skin side down, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot over with butter, and bake fifteen minutes in hot oven; then broil to finish cooking. _Guinea chickens_ are becoming popular cooked in this way. Boiled Fowl Dress, clean, and truss a four-pound fowl, tie in cheese-cloth, place on trivet in a kettle, half surround with boiling water, cover, and cook slowly until tender, turning occasionally. Add salt the last hour of cooking. Serve with Egg, Oyster, or Celery Sauce. It is not desirable to stuff a boiled fowl. Boiled Capon with Cauliflower Sauce Prepare and cook a capon same as Boiled Fowl, and serve surrounded with Cauliflower Sauce and garnished with parsley. Chicken à la Providence Prepare and boil a chicken, following recipe for Boiled Fowl. The liquor should be reduced to two cups, and used for making sauce, with two tablespoons each butter and flour cooked together. Add to sauce one-half cup each of cooked carrot (cut in fancy shapes) and green peas, one teaspoon lemon juice, yolks two eggs, salt and pepper. Place chicken on hot platter, surround with sauce, and sprinkle chicken and sauce with one-half tablespoon finely chopped parsley. Stewed Chicken with Onions Dress, clean, and cut in pieces for serving, two chickens. Cook in a small quantity of water with eighteen tiny young onions. Remove chicken to serving dish as soon as tender, and when onions are soft drain from stock and reduce stock to one and one-half cups. Make sauce of three tablespoons butter, four tablespoons flour, stock, and one-half cup heavy cream; then add yolks three eggs, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste. Pour sauce over chicken and onions. Chicken à la Stanley Melt one-fourth cup butter, add one large onion thinly sliced, and two broilers cut in pieces for serving; cover, and cook slowly ten minutes; then add one cup Chicken Stock, and cook until meat is tender. Remove chickens, rub stock and onions through a sieve, and add one and one-half tablespoons each butter and flour cooked together. Add cream to make sauce of the right consistency. Season with salt and pepper. Arrange chicken on serving dish, pour around sauce, and garnish dish with bananas cut in diagonal slices dipped in flour and sautéd in butter. Chili Con Carni Clean, singe, and cut in pieces for serving, two young chickens. Season with salt and pepper, and sauté in butter. Remove seeds and veins from eight red peppers, cover with boiling water, and cook until soft; mash, and rub through a sieve. Add one teaspoon salt, one onion finely chopped, two cloves of garlic finely chopped, the chicken, and boiling water to cover. Cook until chicken is tender. Remove to serving dish, and thicken sauce with three tablespoons each butter and flour cooked together; there should be one and one-half cups sauce. Canned pimentoes may be used in place of red peppers. Roast Chicken Dress, clean, stuff, and truss a chicken. Place on its back on rack in a dripping-pan, rub entire surface with salt, and spread breast and legs with three tablespoons butter, rubbed until creamy and mixed with two tablespoons flour. Dredge bottom of pan with flour. Place in a hot oven, and when flour is well browned, reduce the heat, then baste. Continue basting every ten minutes until chicken is cooked. For basting, use one-fourth cup butter, melted in two-thirds cup boiling water, and after this is gone, use fat in pan, and when necessary to prevent flour burning, add one cup boiling water. During cooking, turn chicken frequently, that it may brown evenly. If a thick crust is desired, dredge bird with flour two or three times during cooking. If a glazed surface is preferred, spread bird with butter, omitting flour, and do not dredge during baking. When breast meat is tender, bird is sufficiently cooked. A four-pound chicken requires about one and one-half hours. Stuffing I 1 cup cracker crumbs ⅓ cup butter ⅓ cup boiling water Salt and Pepper Powdered sage, summer savory, or marjoram Melt butter in water, and pour over crackers, to which seasonings have been added. Stuffing II 1 cup cracker crumbs ¼ cup melted butter Sage of Poultry Seasoning Salt Pepper ⅔ cup scalded milk Make same as Stuffing I. Gravy Pour off liquid in pan in which chicken has been roasted. From liquid skim off four tablespoons fat; return fat to pan, and brown with four tablespoons flour; add two cups stock in which giblets, neck, and tips of wings have been cooked. Cook five minutes, season with salt and pepper, then strain. The remaining fat may be used, in place of butter, for frying potatoes, or for basting when roasting another chicken. For =Giblet Gravy=, add to the above, giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) finely chopped. Braised Chicken Dress, clean, and truss a four-pound fowl. Try out two slices fat salt pork cut one-fourth inch thick; remove scraps, and add to fat five slices carrot cut in small cubes, one-half sliced onion, two sprigs thyme, one sprig parsley, and one bay leaf, then cook ten minutes; add two tablespoons butter, and fry fowl, turning often until surface is well browned. Place on trivet in a deep pan, pour over fat, and add two cups boiling water or Chicken Stock. Cover, and bake in slow oven until tender, basting often, and adding more water if needed. Serve with a sauce made from stock in pan, first straining and removing the fat. Chicken Fricassee Dress, clean, and cut up a fowl. Put in a kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until tender, adding salt to water when chicken is about half done. Remove from water, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in butter or pork fat. Arrange chicken on pieces of dry toast placed on a hot platter, having wings and second joints opposite each other, breast in centre of platter, and drumsticks crossed just below second joints. Pour around White or Brown Sauce. Reduce stock to two cups, strain, and remove the fat. Melt three tablespoons butter, add four tablespoons flour, and pour on gradually one and one-half cups stock. Just before serving, add one-half cup cream, and salt and pepper to taste; or make a sauce by browning butter and flour and adding two cups stock, then seasoning with salt and pepper. Fowls, which are always made tender by long cooking, are frequently utilized in this way. If chickens are employed, they are sautéd without previous boiling, and allowed to simmer fifteen to twenty minutes in the sauce. Fried Chicken Fried chicken is prepared and cooked same as Chicken Fricassee, with Brown Sauce, chicken always being used, never fowl. Fried Chicken (Southern Style) Clean, singe, and cut in pieces for serving, two young chickens. Plunge in cold water, drain but do not wipe. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and coat thickly with flour, having as much flour adhere to chicken as possible. Try out one pound fat salt pork cut in pieces, and cook chicken slowly in fat until tender and well browned. Serve with White Sauce made of half milk and half cream. Maryland Chicken Dress, clean, and cut up two chickens. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dip in flour, egg, and crumbs, place in a well-greased dripping-pan, and bake thirty minutes in a hot oven, basting after first five minutes of cooking with one-third cup melted butter. Arrange on platter and pour over two cups Cream Sauce. Blanketed Chicken Split and clean two broilers. Place in dripping-pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, two tablespoons green pepper finely chopped, and one tablespoon chives finely cut. Cover with strips of bacon thinly cut, and bake in a hot oven until chicken is tender. Remove to serving dish and pour around the following sauce: To three tablespoons fat, taken from dripping-pan, add four tablespoons flour and one and one-half cups thin cream, or half chicken stock and half cream may be used. Season with salt and pepper. Chicken à la Merango Dress, clean, and cut up a chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in salt pork fat. Put in a stewpan, cover with sauce, and cook slowly until chicken is tender. Add one-half can mushrooms cut in quarters, and cook five minutes. Arrange chicken on serving dish and pour around sauce; garnish with parsley. Sauce ¼ cup butter 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1 slice carrot, cut in cubes 1 slice turnip, cut in cubes ¼ cup flour 2 cups boiling water ½ cup stewed and strained tomato 1 teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper Few grains cayenne Cook butter five minutes with vegetables. Add flour, with salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook until flour is well browned. Add gradually water and tomato; cook five minutes, then strain. Baked Chicken Dress, clean, and cut up two chickens. Place in a dripping-pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and dot over with one-fourth cup butter. Bake thirty minutes in a hot oven, basting every five minutes with one-fourth cup butter melted in one-fourth cup boiling water. Serve with gravy made by using fat in pan, one-fourth cup flour, one cup each Chicken Stock and cream, salt and pepper. Planked Chicken ¼ cup butter ────────────┬───────────────────────────────── Red pepper │¼ tablespoon each, finely chopped Green pepper│ Parsley │ ────────────┴───────────────────────────────── Duchess potatoes 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion ½ clove garlic, finely chopped 1 teaspoon lemon juice 8 mushroom caps Cream the butter, add pepper, parsley, onion, garlic, and lemon juice. Split a young chicken as for broiling, place in dripping-pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dot over with butter, and bake in a hot oven until nearly cooked. Butter plank, arrange a border of Duchess Potatoes (see p. 312) close to edge of plank, and remove chicken to plank. Clean, peel, and sauté mushroom caps, place on chicken, spread over prepared butter, and put in a very hot oven to brown potatoes and finish cooking chicken. Serve on the plank. Chicken Gumbo Dress, clean, and cut up a chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in pork fat. Fry one-half finely chopped onion in fat remaining in frying-pan. Add four cups sliced okra, sprig of parsley, and one-fourth red pepper finely chopped, and cook slowly fifteen minutes. Add to chicken, with one and one-half cups tomato, three cups boiling water, and one and one-half teaspoons salt. Cook slowly until chicken is tender, then add one cup boiled rice. Chicken Stew Dress, clean, and cut up a fowl. Put in a stewpan, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until tender, adding one-half tablespoon salt and one-eighth teaspoon pepper when fowl is about half cooked. Thicken stock with one-third cup flour diluted with enough cold water to pour easily. Serve with Dumplings. If desired richer, butter may be added. Chicken Pie Dress, clean, and cut up two fowls or chickens. Put in a stewpan with one-half onion, sprig of parsley, and bit of bay leaf; cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until tender. When chicken is half cooked, add one-half tablespoon salt and one-eighth teaspoon pepper. Remove chicken, strain stock, skim off fat, and then cook until reduced to four cups. Thicken stock with one-third cup flour diluted with enough cold water to pour easily. Place a small cup in centre of baking-dish, arrange around it pieces of chicken, removing some of the larger bones; pour over gravy, and cool. Cover with pie-crust in which several incisions have been made, that there may be an outlet for escape of steam and gases. Wet edge of crust and put around a rim, having rim come close to edge. Bake in a moderate oven until crust is well risen and browned. Roll remnants of pastry and cut in diamond-shaped pieces, bake, and serve with pie when reheated. If puff paste is used, it is best to bake top separately. Chicken Curry 3 lb. chicken ⅓ cup butter 2 onions 1 tablespoon curry powder 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon vinegar Clean, dress, and cut chicken in pieces for serving. Put butter in a hot frying-pan, add chicken, and cook ten minutes; then add liver and gizzard and cook ten minutes longer. Cut onions in thin slices, and add to chicken with curry powder and salt. Add enough boiling water to cover, and simmer until chicken is tender. Remove chicken; strain, and thicken liquor with flour diluted with enough cold water to pour easily. Pour gravy over chicken, and serve with a border of rice or Turkish Pilaf. Chicken en Casserole Cut two small, young chickens in pieces for serving. Season with salt and pepper, brush over with melted butter, and bake in a casserole dish twelve minutes. Parboil one-third cup carrots cut in strips five minutes, drain, and fry with one tablespoon finely chopped onion and four thin slices bacon cut in narrow strips. Add one and one-third cups Brown Sauce and two-thirds cup potato balls. Add to chicken, with three tablespoons Sherry wine, salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a moderate oven twenty minutes, or until chicken is tender. If small casserole dishes are used allow but one chicken to each dish. Breslin Potted Chicken Dress, clean, and truss a broiler. Put in a casserole dish, brush over with two and one-half tablespoons melted butter, put on cover, and bake twenty minutes; then add one cup stock and cook until chicken is tender. Thicken stock with one tablespoon, each, butter and flour cooked together, and add one-half cup cooked potato balls, one-third cup canned string beans, cut in small pieces, one-third cup cooked carrot, cut in fancy shapes, and six sautéd mushroom caps. Jellied Chicken Dress, clean, and cut up a four-pound fowl. Put in a stewpan with two slices onion, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until meat falls from bones. When half cooked, add one-half tablespoon salt. Remove chicken; reduce stock to three-fourths cup, strain, and skim off fat. Decorate bottom of a mould with parsley and slices of hard-boiled eggs. Pack in meat freed from skin and bone and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Pour on stock and place mould under heavy weight. Keep in a cold place until firm. In summer it is necessary to add one teaspoon dissolved granulated gelatine to stock. Chickens’ Livers with Madeira Sauce Clean and separate livers, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and sauté in butter. Brown two tablespoons butter, add two and one-half tablespoons flour, and when well browned add gradually one cup Brown Stock; then add two tablespoons Madeira wine, and reheat livers in sauce. Chickens’ Livers with Bacon Clean livers and cut each liver in six pieces. Wrap a thin slice of bacon around each piece and fasten with a small skewer. Put in a broiler, place over a dripping-pan, and bake in a hot oven until bacon is crisp, turning once during cooking. Sautéd Chickens’ Livers Cut one slice bacon in small pieces and cook five minutes with two tablespoons butter. Remove bacon, add one finely chopped shallot, and fry two minutes; then add six chickens’ livers cleaned and separated, and cook two minutes. Add two tablespoons flour, one cup Brown Stock, one teaspoon lemon juice, and one-fourth cup sliced mushrooms. Cook two minutes, turn into a serving dish, and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley. Chickens’ Livers with Curry Clean and separate livers. Dip in seasoned crumbs, egg, and crumbs, and sauté in butter. Remove livers, and to fat in pan add two tablespoons butter, one-half tablespoon finely chopped onion, and cook five minutes. Add two tablespoons flour mixed with one-half teaspoon curry powder and one cup stock. Strain sauce over livers, and serve around livers Rice Timbales. Boiled Turkey Prepare and cook same as Boiled Fowl. Serve with Oyster or Celery Sauce. Roast Turkey Dress, clean, stuff, and truss a ten-pound turkey (see pages 242–244). Place on its side on rack in a dripping-pan, rub entire surface with salt, and spread breast, legs, and wings with one-third cup butter, rubbed until creamy and mixed with one-fourth cup flour. Dredge bottom of pan with flour. Place in a hot oven, and when flour on turkey begins to brown, reduce heat, baste with fat in pan, and add two cups boiling water. Continue basting every fifteen minutes until turkey is cooked, which will require about three hours. For basting, use one-half cup butter melted in one-half cup boiling water, and after this is used baste with fat in pan. During cooking turn turkey frequently, that it may brown evenly. If turkey is browning too fast, cover with buttered paper to prevent burning. Remove string and skewers before serving. Garnish with parsley, or celery tips, or curled celery and rings and discs of carrots strung on fine wire. For stuffing, use double the quantities given in recipes under Roast Chicken. If stuffing is to be served cold, add one beaten egg. Turkey is often roasted with Chestnut Stuffing, Oyster Stuffing, or Turkey Stuffing (Swedish Style). Chestnut Stuffing 3 cups French chestnuts ½ cup butter 1 teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper ¼ cup cream 1 cup cracker crumbs Shell and blanch chestnuts. Cook in boiling salted water until soft. Drain and mash, using a potato ricer. Add one-half the butter, salt, pepper, and cream. Melt remaining butter, mix with cracker crumbs, then combine mixtures. Oyster Stuffing 3 cups stale bread crumbs ½ cup melted butter Salt and pepper Few drops onion juice 1 pint oysters Mix ingredients in the order given, add oysters, cleaned and drained from their liquor. Turkey Stuffing (Swedish Style) 2 cups stale bread crumbs ⅔ cup melted butter ½ cup raisins, seeded and cut in pieces ½ cup English walnut meats, broken in pieces Salt and pepper Sage Mix ingredients in the order given. Gravy Pour off liquid in pan in which turkey has been roasted. From liquid skim off six tablespoons fat; return fat to pan and brown with six tablespoons flour; pour on gradually three cups stock in which giblets, neck, and tips of wings have been cooked, or use liquor left in pan. Cook five minutes, season with salt and pepper; strain. For Giblet Gravy add to the above, giblets (heart, liver, and gizzard) finely chopped. Chestnut Gravy To two cups thin Turkey Gravy add three-fourths cup cooked and mashed chestnuts. To Carve Turkey Bird should be placed on back, with legs at right of platter for carving. Introduce carving fork across breastbone, hold firmly in left hand, and with carving knife in right hand cut through skin between leg and body, close to body. With knife pull back leg and disjoint from body. Then cut off wing. Remove leg and wing from other side. Separate second joints from drumsticks and divide wings at joints. Carve breast meat in thin crosswise slices. Under back on either side of backbone may be found two small, oyster-shaped pieces of dark meat, which are dainty tidbits. Chicken and fowl are carved in the same way. For a small family carve but one side of a turkey, that remainder may be left in better condition for second serving. Roast Goose with Potato Stuffing Singe, remove pinfeathers, wash and scrub a goose in hot soapsuds; then draw (which is removing inside contents). Wash in cold water and wipe. Stuff, truss, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lay six thin strips fat salt pork over breast. Place on rack in dripping-pan, put in hot oven, and bake two hours. Baste every fifteen minutes with fat in pan. Remove pork last half-hour of cooking. Place on platter, cut string, and remove string and skewers. Garnish with watercress and bright red cranberries. Serve with Apple Sauce. Potato Stuffing 2 cups hot mashed potato 1¼ cups soft stale bread crumbs ¼ cup finely chopped fat salt pork 1 finely chopped onion ⅓ cup butter 1 egg 1½ teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon sage Add to potato, bread crumbs, butter, egg, salt, and sage; then add pork and onion. Goose Stuffing (Chestnut) ½ tablespoon finely chopped shallot 3 tablespoons butter ¼ lb. sausage meat 12 canned mushrooms, finely chopped 1 cup chestnut purée ⅓ cup stale bread crumbs ½ tablespoon finely chopped parsley 24 French chestnuts cooked and left whole Salt and pepper Cook shallot with butter five minutes, add sausage meat, and cook two minutes, then add mushrooms, chestnut purée, parsley, and salt and pepper. Heat to boiling-point, add bread crumbs and whole chestnuts. Cool mixture before stuffing goose. [Illustration: ROAST TURKEY GARNISHED FOR SERVING.—_Page 254._ ] [Illustration: DUCK STUFFED AND TRUSSED FOR ROASTING.—_Page 257._ ] [Illustration: STUFFED EGG PLANT.—_Page 293._ ] [Illustration: PURÉE OF SPINACH.—_Page 300._ ] To Truss a Goose A goose, having short legs, is trussed differently from chicken, fowl, and turkey. After inserting skewers, wind string twice around one leg bone, then around other leg bone, having one inch space of string between legs. Draw legs with both ends of string close to back, cross string under back, then fasten around skewers and tie in a knot. Roast Wild Duck Dress and clean a wild duck and truss as goose. Place on rack in dripping-pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cover breast with two very thin slices fat salt pork. Bake twenty to thirty minutes in a very hot oven, basting every five minutes with fat in pan; cut string and remove string and skewers. Serve with Orange or Olive Sauce. Currant jelly should accompany a duck course. Domestic ducks should always be well cooked, requiring little more than twice the time allowed for wild ducks. Ducks are sometimes stuffed with apples, pared, cored, and cut in quarters, or three small onions may be put in body of duck to improve flavor. Neither apples nor onions are to be served. If a stuffing to be eaten is desired, cover pieces of dry bread with boiling water; as soon as bread has absorbed water, press out the water; season bread with salt, pepper, melted butter, finely chopped onion, or use Duck Stuffing (Peanut) ¾ cup cracker crumbs ½ cup shelled peanuts, finely chopped ½ cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons butter Few drops onion juice Salt and pepper Cayenne Mix ingredients in the order given. Braised Duck Tough ducks are sometimes steamed one hour, and then braised in same manner as chicken. Broiled Quail Follow recipe for Broiling Chicken, allowing eight minutes for cooking. Serve on pieces of toast, and garnish with parsley and thin slices of lemon. Currant jelly or Rice Croquettes with Jelly should accompany this course. Roast Quail Dress, clean, lard, and truss a quail. Bake same as Larded Grouse, allowing fifteen to twenty minutes for cooking. Larded Grouse Clean, remove pinions, and if it be tough the skin covering breast. Lard breast and insert two lardoons in each leg. Truss, and place on trivet in small shallow pan; rub with salt, brush over with melted butter, dredge with flour, and surround with trimmings of fat salt pork. Bake twenty to twenty-five minutes in a hot oven, basting three times. Arrange on platter, remove string and skewers, pour around Bread Sauce, and sprinkle bird and sauce with coarse brown bread crumbs. Garnish with parsley. Breast of Grouse Sauté Chasseur Remove breasts from pair of grouse, and sauté in butter. When partially cooked, season with salt and pepper. Break carcasses in pieces, cover with cold water, add carrot, celery, onion, parsley, and bay leaf, and cook until stock is reduced to three-fourths cup. Arrange grouse on a serving dish, and pour around a sauce made of three tablespoons butter, four and one-half tablespoons flour, stock made from grouse, and three-fourths cup stewed and strained tomatoes. Season with salt, cayenne, and lemon juice, and add one teaspoon finely chopped parsley, and one-half cup canned mushrooms cut in slices. Broiled or Roasted Plover Plover is broiled or roasted same as quail. Potted Pigeons Clean, stuff, and truss six pigeons, place upright in a stewpan, and add one quart boiling water in which celery has been cooked. Cover, and cook slowly three hours or until tender; or cook in oven in a covered earthen dish. Remove from water, cool slightly, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and brown entire surface in pork fat. Make a sauce with one-fourth cup, each, butter and flour cooked together and stock remaining in pan; there should be two cups. Place each bird on a slice of dry toast, and pour gravy over all. Garnish with parsley. Stuffing 1 cup hot riced potatoes ¼ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper ¼ teaspoon marjoram or summer savory Few drops onion juice 1 tablespoon butter ¼ cup soft stale bread crumbs soaked in some of the celery water and wrung in cheese-cloth Yolk 1 egg Mix ingredients in order given. Broiled Venison Steak Follow recipe for Broiled Beefsteak. Serve with Maître d’Hôtel Butter. Venison should always be cooked rare. Venison Steaks, Sautéd, Cumberland Sauce Cut venison steaks in circular pieces and use trimmings for the making of stock. Sauté steaks in hot buttered frying-pan and serve with =Cumberland Sauce.= Soak two tablespoons citron, cut in julienne-shaped pieces, two tablespoons glacéd cherries, and one tablespoon Sultana raisins, in Port wine for several hours. Drain and cook fruit five minutes in one-third cup Port wine. Add one-half tumbler currant jelly, and, as soon as jelly is dissolved, add one and one-third cups Brown Sauce, and two tablespoons shredded almonds. Venison Steak, Chestnut Sauce Wipe steak, sprinkle with salt and pepper, place on a greased broiler, and broil five minutes. Remove to hot platter and pour over =Chestnut Sauce.= Fry one-half onion and six slices carrot, cut in small pieces, in two tablespoons butter, five minutes, add three tablespoons flour, and stir until well browned; then add one and one-half cups Brown Stock, a sprig of parsley, a bit of bay leaf, eight peppercorns, and one teaspoon salt. Let simmer twenty minutes, strain, then add three tablespoons Madeira wine, one cup boiled French chestnuts, and one tablespoon butter. Venison Cutlets Clean and trim slices of venison cut from loin. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, brush over with melted butter or olive oil, and roll in soft stale bread crumbs. Place in a broiler and broil five minutes, or sauté in butter. Serve with Port Wine Sauce. Roast Leg of Venison Prepare and cook as Roast Lamb, allowing less time that it may be cooked rare. Saddle of Venison Clean and lard a saddle of venison. Cook same as Saddle of Mutton. Serve with Currant Jelly Sauce. Belgian Hare à la Maryland Follow directions for Chicken à la Maryland (see p. 249). Bake forty minutes, basting with bacon fat in place of butter. Belgian Hare, Sour Cream Sauce Clean and split a hare. Lard back and hind legs, and season with salt and pepper. Cook eight slices carrot cut in small pieces and one-half small onion in two tablespoons bacon fat five minutes. Add one cup Brown Stock, and pour around hare in pan. Bake forty-five minutes, basting often. Add one cup heavy cream and the juice of one lemon. Cook fifteen minutes longer, and baste every five minutes. Remove to serving dish, strain sauce, thicken, season with salt and pepper, and pour around hare. WAYS OF WARMING OVER POULTRY AND GAME Creamed Chicken 1½ cups cold cooked chicken, cut in dice 1 cup White Sauce II ⅛ teaspoon celery salt Heat chicken dice in sauce, to which celery salt has been added. Creamed Chicken with Mushrooms Add to Creamed Chicken one-fourth cup mushrooms cut in slices. Chicken with Potato Border Serve Creamed Chicken in Potato Border. Chicken in Baskets To three cups hot mashed potatoes add three tablespoons butter, one teaspoon salt, yolks of three eggs slightly beaten, and enough milk to moisten. Shape in form of small baskets, using a pastry bag and tube. Brush over with white of egg slightly beaten, and brown in oven. Fill with Creamed Chicken. Form handles for baskets of parsley. Chicken and Oysters à la Métropole ¼ cup butter ¼ cup flour ½ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper 2 cups cream 2 cups cold cooked chicken, cut in dice 1 pint oysters, cleaned and rained ⅓ cup finely chopped celery Make a sauce of first five ingredients, add chicken dice and oysters; cook until oysters are plump. Serve sprinkled with celery. Luncheon Chicken 1½ cups cold cooked chicken, cut in small dice 2 tablespoons butter 1 slice carrot, cut in small cubes 1 slice onion 2 tablespoons flour 1 cup Chicken Stock Salt Pepper ⅔ cup buttered cracker crumbs 4 eggs Cook butter five minutes with vegetables, add flour, and gradually the stock. Strain, add chicken dice, and season with salt and pepper. Turn on a slightly buttered platter and sprinkle with cracker crumbs. Make four nests, and in each nest slip an egg; cover eggs with crumbs, and bake in a moderate oven until whites of eggs are firm. Blanquette of Chicken 2 cups cold cooked chicken, cut in strips 1 cup White Sauce II 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley Yolks 2 eggs 2 tablespoons milk Add chicken to sauce; when well heated, add yolks of eggs slightly beaten, diluted with milk. Cook two minutes, then add parsley. Scalloped Chicken Butter a baking-dish. Arrange alternate layers of cold, cooked sliced chicken and boiled macaroni or rice. Pour over White, Brown, or Tomato Sauce, cover with buttered cracker crumbs, and bake in a hot oven until crumbs are brown. Mock Terrapin 1½ cups cold cooked chicken or veal, cut in dice 1 cup White Sauce I Yolks 2 “hard-boiled” eggs, finely chopped Whites 2 “hard-boiled” eggs, chopped 3 tablespoons Sherry wine ¼ teaspoon salt Few grains cayenne Add to sauce, chicken, yolks and whites of eggs, salt, and cayenne; cook two minutes, and add wine. Chicken Soufflé 2 cups scalded milk ⅛ cup butter ⅛ cup flour 1 teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper ½ cup stale soft bread crumbs 2 cups cold cooked chicken, finely chopped Yolks 3 eggs, well beaten 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley Whites 3 eggs, beaten stiff Make a sauce of first five ingredients, add bread crumbs, and cook two minutes; remove from fire, add chicken, yolks of eggs, and parsley, then fold in whites of eggs. Turn in a buttered pudding-dish, and bake thirty-five minutes in a slow oven. Serve with White Mushroom Sauce. Veal may be used in place of chicken. Chicken Hollandaise 1½ tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon finely chopped onion 2 tablespoons corn-starch 1 cup chicken stock 1 teaspoon lemon juice ⅓ cup finely chopped celery ¼ teaspoon salt Few grains paprika 1 cup cold cooked chicken, cut in small cubes Yolk 1 egg Cook butter and onion five minutes, add corn-starch and stock gradually. Add lemon juice, celery, salt, paprika, and chicken; when well heated, add yolk of egg slightly beaten, and cook one minute. Serve with buttered Graham toast. Chicken Chartreuse Prepare and cook same as Casserole of Rice and Meat, using chicken in place of lamb or veal. Season chicken with salt, pepper, celery salt, onion juice, and one-half teaspoon finely chopped parsley. Scalloped Turkey Make one cup of sauce, using two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, one-fourth teaspoon salt, few grains of pepper, and one cup stock (obtained by cooking in water bones and skin of a roast turkey). Cut remnants of cold roast turkey in small pieces; there should be one and one-half cups. Sprinkle bottom of buttered baking-dish with seasoned cracker crumbs, add turkey meat, pour over sauce, and sprinkle with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake in a hot oven until crumbs are brown. Turkey, chicken, or veal may be used separately or in combination. Minced Turkey To one cup cold roast turkey, cut in small dice, add one-third cup soft stale bread crumbs. Make one cup sauce, using two tablespoons butter, two tablespoons flour, and one cup stock (obtained by cooking bones and skin of a roast turkey). Season with salt, pepper, and onion juice. Heat turkey and bread crumbs in sauce. Serve on small pieces of toast, and garnish with poached eggs and toast points. Salmi of Duck Cut cold roast duck in pieces for serving. Reheat in Spanish Sauce. =Spanish Sauce.= Melt one-fourth cup butter, add one tablespoon finely chopped onion, a stalk of celery, two slices carrot cut in pieces, and two tablespoons finely chopped lean raw ham. Cook until butter is brown, then add one-fourth cup flour, and when well browned add two cups Consommé, bit of bay leaf, sprig of parsley, blade of mace, two cloves, one-half teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon pepper; cook five minutes. Strain, add duck, and when reheated add Sherry wine, stoned olives, and mushrooms cut in quarters. Arrange on dish for serving, and garnish with olives and mushrooms. Grouse may be used in place of duck.