The handy dictionary of cookery

Choose a nice young fowl, pluck, draw, singe, but do not wash it. Wipe it well inside with a clean damp cloth, then take a dry one and wipe it thoroughly well ; see that it is perfectly clean. Cut off the head with a sharp knife ; take a pair of scissors and cut the skin down at the back of the neck, so as to leave enough to fold back neatly. Cut off the neck close to the body, and fold the skin back. Scald and scrape the legs ; cut off the toes at the first joint. Take a trussing needle, threaded with twine. Put the points of the wings behind the shoulders. Place the liver and gizzard in each wing. Push back the legs close to the sides of the bird, and pass the needle through the under part of first wing at the point of the joint, on through the thick part of the leg at the top, and from thence straight through the body, taking the leg and wing at the other side ; draw out the needle, then, turning back, put the needle through the upper part of the wing, through the skin of tire neck, and the upper part of remaining wing, and thick part of the top of leg ; tie the two ends of string securely. Thread the needle again ; put it through the fowl at the tail, just over the back-bone ; pass it over one leg, through the skin at the base of the breast, and over the other leg ; bring the ends of the twine together, and tie them very tightly. French Buns. Put into a pan two ounces of butter, allow it to melt. Cream one ounce of German yeast with a teaspoonful of sugar ; add to it a quarter of a pint of water, just new milk warm ; add just enough flour to set it in a sponge ; put it in a warm place to rise. When it is well risen drop in three well-beaten eggs and the two ounces of melted butter, two ounces of sugar ; beat it well with the hand, adding gradually more flour to stiffen the dough until it is the proper consistency ; beat it till air bubbles appear, set it to prove fifteen minutes, turn it out on to a floured board, roll it out to about half a yard in length, cover it over with tiny pieces of butter, fold in three, roll out again, repeat until a quarter of a pound of butter has been rolled in, then sprinkle over a handful of well-cleaned currants and a little sugar ; roll up like a roly-poly pudding ; cut into thin slices, place them on a floured baking tin ; prove them in a warm place fifteen minutes. Bake in a hot oven; when nearly done brush them over with a little milk. French Galette. Take half an ounce of common German yeast, work it smooth with a little moist sugar before adding water. Mix with about a quarter of a pint of tepid water. (Tepid is one part boiling to two parts cold.) Dissolve yeast perfectly. Put threequarters of a pound of flour in a basin with a pinch of salt. Stir in the yeast with a spoon. Cover up the mixed dough with flour, then cover the basin with a cloth, and put it near the fire for about an hour. In another basin put half a pound of flour. Add rather more than a quarter of a pint of milk gradually. Good flour takes up more liquid than the second. When the hour for the dough is over, mix it and the batter together, doing it very carefully to avoid lumps. Break in four whole eggs in succession. If galette wanted richer add cream instead of milk : also two ounces of butter (not necessary).