POULTRY

To choose Poultry.

A Turkey.—If young it has a smooth, black leg, with a short spur, and the eyes are full and bright; if fresh, the feet are supple and moist; if stale, the eyes will be sunk and the feet dry.

Chickens.—If a rooster is young, his spurs will be short; but take care to see they have not been pared or cut—a trick often practised. If fresh, the vent will be close and dark. Pullets are best just before laying eggs; they are old if full of eggs. If hens are old, their legs will be rough; if young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick and large belly. There is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very pale. Black legged fowls are best if for roasting.

Geese.—The bill and feet of a young goose will be yellow, and there will be few hairs upon them; if old, they will be red; if fresh, the feet will be pliable; if stale, dry and stiff. Geese are called green until three or four months old.

Ducks.—Choose by the same rules of having supple feet, and by being hard and thick on the breast and belly.

Directions for Dressing Poultry.

All poultry should be very carefully picked, every plug removed, and the hair singed. You must be careful, in drawing the poultry, not to break the gallbag, for no washing will take off the bitterness where it has once touched. Be sure to baste well and often, as that will improve the flavor. Do not cook them too much, just enough to look a nice brown, as they will lose their flavor if too much done. A large chicken will take an hour in a quick oven; a goose an hour and a half to two hours gentle cooking.

TO BOIL A TURKEY.—Make a stuffing of bread crumbs, salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg, a little mace, some chopped suet, parsley, and an egg. Mix all together, and put it in the crop, fasten up the skin; boil the turkey in a floured cloth, to make it white. Have ready some of the liver, chopped up fine, and the juice of two lemons, strained, with two eggs, beaten. Take some of the gravy from the turkey soup and add it to the lemon juice. Do not boil the egg with the gravy, thicken the gravy with a tablespoonful of flour; when done add the gravy to the uncooked egg and stir it all together; dish up in a gravy boat.

TO ROAST TURKEY.—The sinews of the leg should be drawn, whichever way it is dressed. Put a filling of sausage meat in the breast, or stuff, as for roast. A piece of white paper should be put on the bone to prevent scorching while the other parts roast. Baste it well, and dredge with flour while basting. Serve it up with nice gravy. Garnish with veal sausage.

TO BOIL FOWLS.—For boiling do not choose those that are black legged. Flour them and put them into boiling water for an hour and a half. Serve with chopped parsley, the same as turkey, or celery sauce. Smoked beef is generally eaten with it, or smoked tongue.

TO BOIL A FOWL WITH RICE.—Stew it in some good beef broth, well skimmed, seasoned with onion, mace, pepper, ginger, and salt. About half an hour before it is cooked, put in a quarter of a pound of rice, well washed and picked; simmer till tender; then strain the rice from the broth, and put the rice on a sieve before the fire. Keep the fowl hot; lay it in the dish, and the rice around it, with the gravy; the broth will be nice to drink, with some griebs made from an egg and flour, rubbed fine; a little saffron may be added to color. The less gravy the fowl is cooked in the better.

ROAST DUCKS.—Chop up some sage and onions; put the onions in an oven; let them cook to take the strength out of them, and chop them very fine, with some grated bread crumbs, cayenne pepper, salt, and a little chopped suet; put this in the breast of the duck, rub some flour, pepper, and salt over it, and set it in the pan to bake, with plenty of fat to baste with. When done, pour off the fat, and add half a pint of hot water and flour to the pan; let it boil up for a minute; then dish up. Be sure to have all the plates and dishes made warm, in the screen, half an hour before dinner.

Geese can be dressed the same way, and eaten with apple sauce; gooseberry sauce for a green goose.

GERMAN CHICKEN STEW.—Cut up a good sized chicken in small pieces, and put them in a saucepan, with a quart of water. Let it stew till tender; season with pepper, ginger, salt, chopped parsley, sweet herbs, and a little garlic; thicken with a tablespoonful of flour. Dish up, and garnish with lemon, parsley, and boiled carrots.

TO ROAST A CHICKEN.—Cosher () and prepare a chicken, and put it into the pan, floured with a little ginger and salt, and put some melted fat on the top of the chicken; baste frequently while roasting. Take a good portion of the fat off, and add a little water, thickened with flour; return the chicken to the oven, and baste well for ten minutes before dishing. Make the seasoning as follows: take half a pound of bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, and marjoram, half a teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, ginger, and salt, some melted fat, and one egg. Mix all together, and fill the chicken with it. Make your stuffing as large as will do for a family. Some persons like reished onions in the seasoning, they will improve the flavor.

GIBLET PIE.—Take two pounds of beef, and cut it small. Set it on in a stewpan with some onions, parsley, marjoram, thyme, pepper, mace, salt, ginger, and a little nutmeg, and let it all stew till tender. Then make a light crust, with three-quarters of a pound of flour, half a pound of fat, melted, and a little salt, in the following manner: take a portion of the fat and rub it in the flour very fine, and a half pint of water, and mix, not too stiff nor too soft, and roll out thin; add the remainder of the fat by laying it on the dough, in layers, and dust it well with flour, roll out several times; then line the dish with some of the paste, rolled very thin, place the meat and giblets inside with the gravy, leaving out a portion to add when the pie is baked a nice brown color. Put on the top three or four hard boiled eggs, cut in slices, and some potatoes, thinly sliced. When the pie is nearly done, take the yolk of an egg well beaten, and with a feather spread the egg over the top, to glaze it. Keep out some of the gravy to add to the pie when baked, pour it in by lifting the crust a little.

GIBLET STEW.—Take a piece of beef of three pounds, and cut it small. Wash the giblets of some ducks, geese, or turkey, such as gizzard, liver, wings, neck, etc., and cut them quite small; fry some onions in suet; then fry the meat and giblets, and put all in a saucepan with a pint of water; add ginger, pepper, salt, a little cayenne pepper, mace, and parsley. Stew until tender. Mix a tablespoonful of browned flour with a little mushroom ketchup, and some forcemeat balls. Dish up hot, with some hard boiled eggs round the dish.

GIBLET PUDDING.—Make your pastry as follows: three quarters of a pound of suet chopped very fine, rub this smoothly into one pound of flour, add a teaspoonful of salt, one of ginger, and mixed with sufficient water to make a paste, strew with flour and pound well with the rolling-pin, then roll out very thin, repeating this three times, line the pudding bowl with this pastry, which should be about one-quarter of an inch in thickness; put in the following giblets: two pounds of meat, cut very small, the necks, wings, gizzards, livers, and head, that has been split open and the skin taken off the brain, and the feet skinned and the claws chopped off; all to be cut up small. Season with marjoram, thyme, parsley, onions, pepper, salt, mace, ginger, and a few potatoes cut in very thin slices, with hard boiled eggs. Then cover the top of the basin with the above paste, and tie tightly in a cloth, put in boiling water and boil for three hours.

COOGLE, OR PUDDING, AND PEAS AND BEANS.—Take a shin bone and a piece of bola, about three pounds; get a pint of Spanish beans, others will serve the same, and a pint of Spanish peas; put them in a brown pan, one that will fit the oven, and put the beef, peas, and beans in it, and cover it over with water; add pepper, ginger, salt, and a little cayenne pepper. Make the coogle in the following manner: a quarter of a pound of currants, a quarter of a pound of raisins, a quarter of a pound of sugar, the same quantity of bread crumbs and suet, chopped fine, four eggs, a quarter of a pound of flour, some spices and a small piece of citron. Mix well together; put the coogle (or pudding) in a basin, place it in the pan with the peas and beans, and cover the pudding basin with a plate. Let it cook a day and night, and dish up the soup without the meat. Some persons like the meat, others do not. Turn out the pudding and eat with a sauce. Be sure while cooking this dish, to see there is sufficient water on it; if plenty is put on at first, it will not require much when cooking.

FOWLS, BROILED.—Half roast the fowl whole, and then split it and finish on the gridiron, which will make it less dry than if it was wholly broiled. When done, season it with some pepper and salt.

TO FRICASSEE CHICKEN.—Cut the chicken up, and lay the pieces in a saucepan, with enough water to cover them; season it well; after it has boiled a few minutes, skim the surface, and add pepper. When the chicken is boiled tender, take the pieces out, and pour off the water, if there is too much for gravy. When the chickens are fat, they require no suet. Lay the chicken back in the saucepan, and thicken with flour, and see it is seasoned sufficient.

POACHED EGGS.—Set a stewpan on the fire with water. When boiling, slip an egg, previously broken, into a cup in the water. When the white looks done enough, slide an egg-slice under the egg, and lay it on toast or spinach. Serve hot; trim the ragged part off the whites, and make them look round.

BUTTERED EGGS.—Beat four or five eggs, yolks and whites together. Put a quarter of a pound of butter in a basin, and then put that in boiling water; stir it till melted; then pour the butter and the eggs into a saucepan. Keep a basin in one hand, and hold the saucepan in the other hand, over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way. As it begins to warm, pour it into a basin and back; then hold it again over the fire, stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it in the basin to mix the egg and butter more perfectly, until they shall be hot, without boiling. Serve hot, on toasted bread, or in a basin. To be eaten with salt fish or herring.

CHICKEN SALAD.—Cut up some cold fowl, and make a sauce as for herbs, or lettuce; chopped parsley, onions, celery, and hardboiled eggs. Cover over with the sauce, as directed for herb sauce. The onions may be left out, if not liked.

CUCUMBER SALAD.—Pare and cut the cucumbers in very thin slices, and some onions. Let them stand for one hour before they are wanted, and then pour off the water quite dry; then mix together, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, a teaspoonful of salad oil, pepper and salt, and throw over them. Any string beans or cold cabbage can be made into very nice salads.

SALADS.—The herbs should be nice and fresh. They will improve in flavor by laying in spring water an hour or two. It is very important that they should be carefully washed, picked, and dried, before using. Prepare them in this way: boil two eggs for twelve minutes, and then put them in cold water for a few minutes, so that the yolks may become quite cold and hard; rub the yolks quite fine with a wooden spoon. If for supper, mix them with a tablespoonful of cream, and then add one or two tablespoonfuls of the best flask oil; add, by degrees, a tablespoonful of salt, and the same quantity of mustard; mix till smooth. When well mixed with the other ingredients, add about three tablespoonfuls of vinegar; then pour this sauce in a salad bowl, but do not stir up the salad until wanted to be eaten. Garnish with slices of bread, boiled eggs, slices of beet root, and chopped white of eggs; then cut in quarters, and put on top.

SALAD OF POTATOES.—Take some cold potatoes, and slice them very fine; add some chopped parsley and onions. Prepare the same sauce as for herb salad.

SWEET OMELET, No. 1.—Take four eggs, well beaten, two tablespoonfuls of milk, and a pinch of salt. Have ready a small piece of butter in a frying pan, and fry it a nice brown; hold it over a salamander to brown the top. Fold it up, and send it quite hot to table.

SWEET OMELET, No. 2.—(Mix as No. 1.) Add to it a little chopped parsley and green onions, a little pepper salt, and a little smoked beef, or sausage, fried in fat instead of butter. If for dinner, water may be substituted for milk. Four eggs will make a good sized omelet. Extravagant cooks will use eight or ten. Plenty of parsley may be used in this omelet.

OMELET.—Beat up four eggs with two tablespoonfuls of sweet milk and a little salt and pepper; beat whites and yolks separately; put a small piece of butter into the frying pan, let it get very hot, pour in the mixture, move the pan to and fro; then hold the pan still a minute or two to give the omelet a nice color, then turn it into a dish for table.

EGGS AND CHEESE.—Spread the bottom of a dish with two ounces of fresh butter, cover this with rather thin slices of fresh Parmesan cheese, break eight eggs upon the cheese without disturbing the yolks; season with grated nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt; pour two tablespoonfuls of cream on the top; strew the top with about two ounces of the cheese, grated, and set the eggs in the oven to bake for a quarter of an hour; press the salamander over the top, and serve it with thin toast separately on a plate.

WELSH RABBIT OR WELSH RARE BIT—Toast a slice of bread on both sides and butter it; toast a slice of English cheese on one side, lay it next to the bread, and toast the other with a salamander; rub mustard over and serve very hot.

A NICE SUPPER DISH.—Equal quantities of Parmesan cheese and English cheese, and double the weight of these in beaten yolks of eggs and melted butter; beat all together well. Add pepper and salt; then put in the whites of the eggs, which have been beaten to a thick, snow, separately; stir them lightly.

ANCHOVY TOAST.—Bone and skin six or eight anchovies, pound them with an ounce of butter until the color is equal, and then spread it on fresh made thin toast or rusk.

HOW TO FATTEN POULTRY in four or five days.—Boil some rice with skimmed milk, only as much as will serve one day; let it boil, with a teaspoonful of sugar, until the rice is swelled out. Feed them three times a day, in common pans, giving them as much as will quite fill them at one time. Before putting fresh food into the pans wash them clean, so that no sour food may be given to the poultry, as it will prevent them getting fat. Give them clean water, or the milk off the rice to drink, but the less water the better; by this method the flesh will have a clear whiteness, which no other food gives it. The pen should always be kept clean, and no food given them for sixteen hours before killing.

MACARONI.—Boil the macaroni in milk well flavored with salt; when it is tender put it in a dish without the liquor, and add to it some pieces of butter and grated cheese, and over the top put a little more cheese and butter; set the dish in a Dutch oven for a quarter of an hour, but do not let the top become hard.