Foods and home making

Put the stuffing inside the poultry. Hold the stuffing in place by sew- ing up the incision. The incision may be closed also in this way : Hold the edges of the skin together and thrust toothpicks across the opening 1 This quantity of stuffing is sufficient for a roast chicken. For a roast turkey, use at least twice this quantity. Chicken and Fish for Dinner 397 through both edges of the skin. Then wind or lace string around the toothpicks, thus closing the opening. Stuffing may be put through the incision near the leg or in the opening at the neck. The skin left at the neck may be folded over and pinned with a skewer to hold the stuffing in place as shown in Figure 122, page 398. Variation. — If moist dressing is desired, f cup of hot water may be added to the crumbs. An egg also may be added. Beat the egg and mix it with the other ingredients. Trussing Chicken or Turkey. — If a chicken or turkey is roasted with the wings and legs extending from the body, these parts are baked too hard and be- come dry. In order to prevent this, the wings and legs should be held close to the body during baking. This may be done by means of skewers and string. Fastening the legs and wings to the body by means of skewers and string is called trussing. Insert a skewer through the fowl just underneath the legs. Then thrust another skewer through the wings and breast. Continue as shown in Figures 121 and 122. Baking Chicken or Turkey. — Roast chicken or turkey need not be seared as are other meat roasts. Place the trussed poul- try in an uncovered roasting pan provided with a rack. Rub the skin of the bird with fat or vegetable oil. Flour may also be sprinkled over the surface. Figure 121. Steps in Trussing a Chicken or Turkey 1. Tie the ends of the legs together, leaving both ends of the string long. 2. Tie the legs to the tail. 3. Wind the ends of the string around the ends of the skewer beneath the legs. 4. Cross the ends of the string over the back and wind them around the ends of the skewer stuck through the wings. Tie the ends of the string together. 39* Dinner Figure 122. Back View of a Trussed Chicken Notice that the steps in trussing are in- dicated by numbers in this view also. The string is stretched across the back only. The breast is thus kept in good condition for serving the bird, breast up. Observe how the stuffing is held in the neck by pinning the neck skin to the shoulder with a small skewer. The length of time of baking depends upon the weight of the poultry. The giblets and neck should be placed in a saucepan and cooked in water until tender in the oven or on top of the stove. Bake chicken and turkey at joo° F., 25 minutes for each pound. If not browned, finish baking at 500° F. When the poultry is sufficiently cooked, put it on a hot platter, breast up. Remove the skewers and string. Serve hot with gravy. CHICKEN OR TURKEY GRAVY 4 tablespoons poultry fat or butter §■ teaspoon pepper \ cup flour 2 teaspoons salt 1| cups broth and milk If the poultry was very fat, there may be considerable fat in the broth. To make gravy, fat may be skimmed from the broth or butter may be used. It may be that chunks of fat were cut from around the gizzard when the bird was drawn. Such fat may be tried out and used in mak- ing gravy. Prepare as directed for beef gravy, page 367.