Home cookery

The time required will be three-quarters of an hour to an hour according to size. A small quantity of brown gravy should be poured into the dish, and the fowl may be garnished either with rolls of bacon or with watercress. Rolls of bacon are prepared as follows : — The bacon is cut into thin strips, the rind is removed, then they are rolled up tightly and placed upon a skewer, and are cooked in a very few minutes either in front of the fire or in the oven. Bread sauce and brown gravy should be handed in a sauce-tureen, and are in this country the almost invariable accompaniment of roast fowl. Boiled Fowl. Great care must be taken to keep the fowl as white as possible. To ensure this it should be wrapped in a buttered paper, which must be firmly tied on, and sometimes the breast is rubbed with lemon. The fowl must be put into boiling white stock, or water, and should then be simmered for from threequarters of an hour to an hour and a half according to size and age. Boiled fowls may be served with a variety of sauces ; the most usual are Bechamel (p. 172), Egg (p. 164), Celery (p. 171), Oyster (p. 161), Mushroom (p. 171), and Parsley (p. 165). The liquor in which fowls have been boiled may be used for such soups as White Soup, Jenny Lind, Celery, Tapioca, Cream, and others of which weak white stock may be the foundation. Boiled tongue, ham, sausages, or rolls of bacon are generally served with boiled fowls. The usual garnishes are the yolk of an egg rubbed through a sieve, slices of lemon, or small pieces of beetroot or tomato, or parsley. Bunches of bright red barberries make a very pretty garnish, and these can be preserved for winter use by putting bunches of freshly-gathered barberries in strong brine. Sprigs of parsley or chervil may be used instead of or in addition to the above. Braised Fowl. Truss a fowl as for boiling, and (if liked) lard the breast. Place in a pan one or two ounces of butter, then slices of carrot, turnip, onion, celery, and a bunch of herbs. On these place the fowl, and put upon it a good slice of fat bacon. Put the lid on the pan, and let all cook gently for twenty minutes ; then pour round the fowl about one pint of brown stock (second stock will do), cover with a buttered paper, cover closely to keep in the steam, and cook slowly for about one and a half hours. Baste frequently with the stock. When nearly done take out the fowl, and brown it with a salamander, in the oven, or before the fire. Strain the stock from the vegetables, and thicken it. Serve it in a sauce-tureen. If liked a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or sherry may be added to the gravy, which must be seasoned with pepper and salt. The fowl may be garnished with cooked tomatoes filled with potato puree. Poulet au-riz. This is an economical manner of cooking an old fowl, and is very common in France. The disadvantages of old fowls are that they are tough and tasteless. The first defect can be to a certain extent remedied by long, gentle stewing, and the second by the addition of suitable flavourings of herbs and vegetables. Let the fowl be killed in cold weather, so that it may hang- as long as possible before it is cooked. Some persons recommend that the fowl should be wrapped in a cloth and buried in the earth for a few hours, which is said to have the effect of making it tender.