The practical cookbook

Source. Flesh of domestic birds. Food Vabie. For protein. Cost. Variable. General Directions. Fresh poultry should be of firm texture and moderately fat, with a yellowish tinge to the skin. A. bluish color shows cold-storage birds. A pliable breastbone., few scales on the legs, and small pinfeathers characterize young birds, while many scales and hairs on the skin denote age. Poultry should be picked and cleaned at the market, but thv body cavity should be examined and cleaned again when ready to cook. Never wash poultry before placing in refrigerator ; it may cause it to spoil quickly. Singe the bird, remove pinfeathers with a sharp knife, cut off the neck, leaving the skin, and remove oil-bag in tail ; then wash thoroughly and proceed as directed. To truss a fowl, run a skewer through each leg and wing, pinning it close to the body. Then tie a piece of twine to the ■ end of one wing skewer, run it across back of fowl to the skewer diagonally opposite ; connect this with skewer in other leg, then back to the other wing. This will hold fowl in shape without marking the breast. Remove skewers and string before serving. Boiled fowl. Dress, clean, and truss a 4-pound fowl ; tie in a piece of cheesecloth, place on a trivet in a kettle, half surround with boiling water, cover, and cook slowly till tender, turning occasionally. Add salt last hour of cooking. A piece of salt pork boiled with the fowl gives a good flavor and may be sliced and served with it. Serve with Drawn-butter sauce (p. 29), or with White sauce (p. 30), or with chopped celeiy, sliced eggs, or cooked oysters added to either sauce. Roast chicken. Clean, singe, and wash a 4-pound chicken, removing pinfeathers if necessary. Dry well and stuff, using recipe for Stuffing (below). Sew up openings and skewer into shape. Sprinkle with salt. Try out chicken fat, measure 3 tb., and mix with 2 tb. fiour. Spread breast and legs of chicken with this mixture. Roast 1 1/2 hr., reducing heat of oven after 15 min, and basting, chicken every 10 min. with chicken fat and hot water (2 tb. chicken fat to 1 c. water). Put more water in pan if chicken browns too fast, and use for basting if necessary. ■. Ingredients : 2 c. soft bread crumbs Onion juice 4 tb. melted butter Salt I tb. poultry seasoning Paprika ...t, Google Mix ingredients in the order given, seasoning to taste and using enough hot water to make of the desired consistency. Giblet gravy. Ingredients : Chicken giblets 4 tb. flour 3 tb. fat 2 c. cold water Salt and pepper Cook cleaned giblets in the water till tender. Skim fat from liquid in roasting-pan and brown with the flour. Add liquid strained from giblets, boil 5 min., strain, season, and add giblets (chopped fine). (Giblets include heart, liver, and gizzard.) Chicken fricassee. Dress, clean, and cut up a fowl. Put in a kettle, cover with boiling water, and cook slowly until tender, adding salt to the water when chicken is about half done. Remove from water, dry well, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and saute in butter or pork fat. Arrange chicken on pieces of toast, and pour around it 2 c. white sauce, or reduce stock to 2 c, strain, and remove fat ; melt 3 tb. butter, add 4 tb. flour, and gradually pour on the stock ; cook until smooth and season. Brown fricassee. Make like Chicken fricassee, but serve with a sauce made by browning butter and flour before adding stock. Chicken pie. Ingredients : 4-pound fowl 3 c. stock I rule Quick paste (p. loz) 8 tb. flour 1 slice onion 4 tb. chicken fat I bay leaf Bit of parsley Salt and pepper