The home cook book

Boil a fowl till the meat is ready to fall from the bones. Salt while boiling. Take from its liquor, and while you are picking out the bones let the liquor boil down so that it measures not more than three cups. To this add quarter of a box of gelatine which you have already soaked and softened. Round the bottom of a mold or bowl lay two hard-boiled eggs sliced in circles. Upon this put a layer of dark meat, then a layer of light meat, and so alternate till you have used up the chicken. Do not pack the meat tight, but leave space for the liquor to fill in. See that the seasoning is right, add pepper if wished, and then pour the liquor over the meat, seeing first that the gelatine is well dissolved. Set away to chill, and the liquor will harden to a jelly. Tip on a platter when served. A nice dish for Sunday evening supper. CHICKEN AND MUSHROOMS In a saucepan melt two tablespoons of butter, and when hot add two tablespoons of minced onion and half a can of mushrooms chopped. Let cook for five minutes, and add a cup of milk into which a tablespoon and a half of flour has been stirred. Cook all together, and when thick and smooth add a cup of chicken meat cut into small pieces or dice. Heat through, season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve all together in a hot dish, or on pieces of toast of a golden brown, or in shells of pastry of the individual patty-pan size. AUNT NANCY'S SMOTHERED CHICKEN Have tender chicken for this dish, and cut in pieces as for fricassee. Roll the chicken in flour in which is mixed salt and pepper needful for seasoning, and put in a skillet (saucepan) in which is a little cream. Cover close. Turn the chicken often and add cream or milk when necessary to keep from burning. Cook sloivly one hour, and just before it is done add a little butter. PANNED BREAST OF CHICKEN Place the breast in a small baking dish with a little boiling water. Cook till brown, basting frequently. Season nicely and serve on a hot plate with a border of rice and olives. [illustration: Panned Breast of Chicken, Plate XII] CHICKEN PIE Take two fat young fowls, cut them in pieces, put in a pot, nearly cover with boiling water, and cook slowly. After they have cooked three-quarters of an hour add a pint of raw potatoes cut in slices, and cook ten minutes from the time they began again to simmer. Salt to taste. Have a deep pan lined with a biscuit crust, that is a dough made after baking powder biscuit receipt. The dough should be rolled thicker than the common fruit-pie crust. Lay cooked chicken in the pan, then put in a layer of potato, and so alternate till you have used your material. Thicken the water in which the chickens cooked by stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour dissolved in a little cold water and boiling up the liquor. Pour this over the chicken and potato in the deep pan, add a tablespoon or two of butter — more or less, according to the fatness of your chickens — two or three hard-boiled eggs, sliced, and taste again to see that salt and pepper are right. Cover with a top crust, score the centre of the top so that steam may escape, pinch down the edges tight, and bake two hours in a moderate oven.