A text-book of cooking

Dressing and Cleaning Poultry. — Singe, by holding the bird over a flame of gas, alcohol, or burning paper. Cut off the head, push back the skin, and cut off the neck close to the body. Cut through the skin around the leg one inch below the leg joint. If it is a fowl, take out the tendons ; remove them separately, using a skewer (see Fig. 69). Remove the pin feathers with the point of a knife or with a strawberry huller. Cut the oil bag from the tail. Fig. 69. — - Removing tendons from the leg of a fowl. The internal organs are not always removed before the chicken is sold. If they have not been removed, make an opening under one of the legs or at the vent, leaving a strip of skin above the vent. Remove the organs carefully, — the intestines, gizzard, heart, and liver should all be removed together. Care must be taken that the gall bladder, which lies under the liver, is not broken ; it must be cut away carefully from the liver. The lungs and kidneys, lying in the hollow of the backbone, must be carefully removed. Press the heart to extract the blood. Cut off the outer coat of the gizzard. The gizzard, heart, and liver constitute the giblets to be used in making gravy. Wash the giblets. Place all of them, with the exception of the liver, in cold water ; heat quickly and cook (at simmering temperature) until tender. Add the liver a short time before removing the other giblets from the stove, as it does not require long cooking. Clean the bird by wiping it thoroughly inside and out with a damp cloth, stuff and truss for roasting, or cut into pieces for fricassee or stew. If the bird is stuffed, the incision in the skin may be fastened together as follows: Hold the edges of the skin together and thrust toothpicks across the opening, through both edges of the skin. Then fasten the opening by " lacing " string around the toothpicks. Trussing Fowl. — Insert a skewer through the fowl just underneath the legs, then thrust another skewer through the wings and breast. With a piece of string, tie the ends of the legs together and fasten them to the tail. Then wind the ends of the string fastened to the tail, around the ends of the skewer beneath the legs. Cross the strings over the back, and wind them around the ends of the skewer through the wings ; tie the strings together at the back. If trussed in this manner, there is no string across the breast of the fowl. A fowl should be served breast side up. (See Figs. 70 and 71.) CHICKEN AND RICE 281 Fig. 70. — Fowl trussed for roasting, — breast v Fig. 71. — Fowl trussed for roasting, — back v Cutting a Fowl. — Cut off the leg, and separate it at the joint into "drumstick" and second joint. Cut off the wing and remove the tip; make an incision at the middle joint. Remove the leg and wing from the other side; separate the wishbone with the meat on it, from the breast, cut through the ribs on either side, and separate the breast from the back. Cut the breast in half lengthwise and the back through the middle crosswise. There should be twelve pieces. The neck and the tips of the wings may be cooked with the giblets for making gravy. STEWED CHICKEN Cover the pieces of chicken with boiling water, and cook at boiling temperature for 15 minutes; then add one tablespoonful of salt and cook at simmering temperature until tender. Arrange the pieces on a platter, placing the neck at one end of the platter and the " drumsticks " at the other, and the remaining pieces in order between. Cover with a sauce. The chicken may be placed on pieces of toast or served in a border of rice. SAUCE FOR CHICKEN 3 tablespoonfuls tried-out chicken fat or butter J cupful of flour 1 pint stock 1 teaspoonf ul salt 2 egg yolks or 1 egg 2 tablespoonfuls chopped parsley J teaspoonful pepper