Poultry, Potted.— Poultry may cither
be potted whole or cut into neat joints and
potted, or the flesh may be picked fi-om the
meat and pounded before it is put into the jars.
In any case the meat must be thickly covered
with butter, or it will not keep. When the
meat is not pounded, the joints must bo packed
"together as closely as possible, or they will
require a good deal of butter. Birds which are
boned and stuft'ed are excellent potted: they
must be quite fresh, must be carefully cleaned,
nicely seasoned, baked, and quite cold before
they are piit into the jars, and the butter must
be "clarified before it is poured over them.
If the meat is to be kept, the jar should be
covered ^vith bladder and tied down closely.
Potted chicken is improved by pounding a httle
fat and lean ham with the meat.
Poultry Prepared for Cooking.—
Pluck off the feathers of poultry as soon as
I;ossible after they arc killed. When they be-
come cold it is difficult to drav/ out the quills
without tearing the skin, and so spoiling the look
of the birds. The down that remains after the
feathers are removed is afterwards to be singed
off with hghted paper. In the case of some
birds, one must draw out the sinews of the leg :
this is done by binding the joint close to the
claw, and fastening the claw in a vice ; puU the
bird then strongly, and the sinews will give
way. The next operation is to empty the crop.
Cut a slit in the back of the neck, so as to open
into the crop. Remove the contents through
this sUt. Open the vent, and clean out the
entrails. Take care not to break the gall-
bladder ; if it is not removed carefully its
contents will give a bitterness to the flavour of
the liver which washing will hardly remove.
When the bird is di-awn, separate the liver and
gizzard from the rest of the entrails, and put
them to be cleansed in cold water. Cut off the
necks of fowls, ducks, or geese, close to the
body. Before doing this, push up the skin that
hangs loosely upon the neck above the part at
which it is to be cut oft'. After cutting off the
neck, draw the skin down, and wrap it over the
end of the neck to hide it from view. Before
fastening it down, pour cold water through the
body of the fowl. Then break the two bones
which lead to the pinions. Now truss the bird.
For roasting fowls, trussing is accomplished by
cutting oft' the first joint only of the legs, and
by turning them down close to the sides towards
the vent, and fastening them by a game-skewer
passed from one to the other. Pass another
sUght skewer through the joint of one wing,
into the body, and through to the opiJosite
wing. Place the liver and gizzard, one under
each wing. To truss fowls tor boiling, cut oft'
the whole of the leg, except the thigh, the end
bones of which tuck into the apron. Set up
the breast to look plump ; place the wings with
the liver and gizzard as if for roasting. Tie
the whole in proper foi-m with a slight string,
which before serving is to be cut and removed.
To truss a goose, cut oft" the legs, feet, and
pinions. These, with the neck, head, liver, and
gizzard, are what are called giblets. The head
of a turkey is not cut oft' in trussmg, but twisted
round one of the wings.
Page 1358
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Poultry, Potted.— Poultry may cither be potted whole or cut into neat joints and potted, or the flesh may be picked from the meat and pounded before it is put into the jars. In any case the meat must be thickly covered with butter, or it will not keep. When the meat is not pounded, the joints must bo packed "together as closely as possible, or they will require a good deal of butter. Birds which are boned and stuft'ed are excellent potted: they must be quite fresh, must be carefully cleaned, nicely seasoned, baked, and quite cold before they are piit into the jars, and the butter must be "clarified before it is poured over them. If the meat is to be kept, the jar should be covered with bladder and tied down closely. Potted chicken is improved by pounding a httle fat and lean ham with the meat.
Poultry Prepared for Cooking.—
Pluck off the feathers of poultry as soon as possible after they arc killed. When they be-
come cold it is difficult to drav/ out the quills without tearing the skin, and so spoiling the look of the birds. The down that remains after the feathers are removed is afterwards to be singed off with hghted paper. In the case of some birds, one must draw out the sinews of the leg : this is done by binding the joint close to the claw, and fastening the claw in a vice ; puU the bird then strongly, and the sinews will give way. The next operation is to empty the crop. Cut a slit in the back of the neck, so as to open into the crop. Remove the contents through this sUt. Open the vent, and clean out the entrails. Take care not to break the gallbladder ; if it is not removed carefully its contents will give a bitterness to the flavour of the liver which washing will hardly remove. When the bird is di-awn, separate the liver and gizzard from the rest of the entrails, and put them to be cleansed in cold water. Cut off the necks of fowls, ducks, or geese, close to the body. Before doing this, push up the skin that hangs loosely upon the neck above the part at which it is to be cut oft'. After cutting off the neck, draw the skin down, and wrap it over the end of the neck to hide it from view. Before fastening it down, pour cold water through the body of the fowl. Then break the two bones which lead to the pinions. Now truss the bird. For roasting fowls, trussing is accomplished by cutting oft' the first joint only of the legs, and by turning them down close to the sides towards the vent, and fastening them by a game-skewer passed from one to the other. Pass another sUght skewer through the joint of one wing, into the body, and through to the opposite wing. Place the liver and gizzard, one under each wing. To truss fowls tor boiling, cut oft' the whole of the leg, except the thigh, the end bones of which tuck into the apron. Set up the breast to look plump ; place the wings with the liver and gizzard as if for roasting. Tie the whole in proper foi-m with a slight string, which before serving is to be cut and removed. To truss a goose, cut oft" the legs, feet, and pinions. These, with the neck, head, liver, and gizzard, are what are called giblets. The head of a turkey is not cut oft' in trussing, but twisted round one of the wings.