POULTRY
Chicken, which used to be America’s Sunday dinner “special,” is now a favorite daily food; and turkey, the national preference for Thanksgiving and Christmas, is available the year round. Indeed, it would be impossible to plan menus in this country if poultry were suddenly unavailable. Even the most inexperienced or part-time cook will eventually have to face up to roasting a chicken or cooking a stuffed turkey.
Both chicken and turkey are at their best fresh-killed, and naturally if you can buy directly from the farmer you can be sure of getting a fresh product. However, scientifically bred birds from enormous farms throughout the country provide fresh poultry for most of our markets nowadays. Flavor has been sacrificed to uniformity, but we have gained readily available and more economical chickens and turkeys.
Shopping for chicken means selecting the type best suited to the method of cooking you wish to use.
For broiling: Use young birds, 1½ to 2½ pounds. They should be firmly meated with a little fat on them. Avoid those that look too scrawny.
For frying or sautéing: Fryers can range up to 3½ pounds. Like broilers, they should be well meated.
For roasting: Select larger birds ranging from 3 to 5 pounds. But be sure the chicken is young, broad through the chest with a compact body. If the bird has yellowish, drawn-looking skin, or it has many long hairs, it probably is an older hen and suitable only for fricasseeing.
For fricasseeing and poaching: Use a fowl, which means an old hen. These weigh anywhere from 3 to 8 pounds. Though they are tough, unless fricasseed or poached, they do have fine flavor. They are seldom found these days, however.
For roasting for more than 4 persons: Select a capon if you are serving more than four people. These weigh up to 8 or 9 pounds and are tender and tasty.
Tiny chickens weighing only 1 pound are called squab chicken. They can be roasted whole or split and broiled. Serve 1 chicken per person.
Chicken Sauté
Many people confuse the terms “fry” and “sauté.” Fried chicken is coated heavily with flour or batter and cooked in a great deal of fat. Sautéed chicken is seldom floured and is browned lightly in a small amount of fat, usually butter or olive oil. Then it is covered and cooked gently just to the tender, done stage. Any seasonings you choose are added halfway through the cooking to blend with the chicken and juices. The result is an elegant and delicate dish. Chicken sauté can be varied in many ways by the addition of a wide range of flavorings and seasonings.
BASIC CHICKEN SAUTÉ (Serves 4)
2 2-pound frying chickens
6 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper
½ cup of dry white wine
Chopped parsley
Have the butcher disjoint the chicken. Wash it in lukewarm water and dry it on paper towels. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet or kettle with a tight-fitting lid. Brown the chicken pieces in the butter, turning them to color evenly. When they are all browned, season to taste with salt and a little freshly ground black pepper and cover tightly. Lower the flame and cook gently for about 5 to 8 minutes. Uncover and rearrange the chicken pieces, being sure they are all cooking evenly. Add half of the wine and re-cover. Cook for another 10 minutes. Uncover and move all the white meat sections to the top, balancing them on dark meat pieces. The dark meat takes longer to cook and during the last part should be at the bottom of the pan. Cover and finish cooking until the chicken is just tender, but still juicy and moist. This will take about 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove the chicken to a hot serving platter and add the rest of the white wine and 3 or 4 tablespoons of chopped parsley to the pan juices. Turn up the heat and stir the juices about until they boil up and blend. Pour over the chicken. This is particularly good served with a plain Rice Pilaf, cooked in chicken broth, and tiny green peas, French style. Serve a bottle of the same dry white wine you used in the cooking.
VARIATIONS
With broth: You may omit the wine and rinse the pan out with a little broth after the chicken is cooked.
With mushrooms: Add sliced mushrooms (about ¼ pound) to the pan when the chicken is half cooked and add more butter if necessary.
With green onions: Add chopped tiny green onions (about 6) to the pan when the chicken is half cooked.
With green pepper: Add minced green pepper and minced onion halfway through the cooking.
With chilies and olives: Add tiny canned green chilies, chopped (2 or 3), and ½ cup of green olives halfway through the cooking. Substitute a very dry Spanish sherry for the white wine.
With herbs: Add a mixture of chopped chives, chopped parsley and 1 teaspoon of thyme halfway through the cooking.
With rosemary: Add a good sprinkling of rosemary halfway through the cooking.
With garlic and tomato: Cook the chicken in olive oil and add a minced clove of garlic. Halfway through the cooking, add 6 small green onions, chopped, and 8 sliced mushrooms. Add the wine and continue cooking. Five minutes before the chicken is done, add 2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped.
With bacon and cream: Fry 6 slices of bacon until crisp. Remove them from the pan. Dust the chicken pieces lightly with flour and cook in the bacon fat. Follow directions for Chicken Sauté and halfway through the cooking add 1 onion sliced. Omit the wine. When the chicken is done, remove it to a hot platter and add ½ cup of heavy cream to the pan juices. Heat through and pour over the chicken. Top with crumbled bacon.
ITALIAN CHICKEN SAUTÉ (Serves 4)
Prepare 2 frying chickens for sautéing according to the recipe for Chicken Sauté. Heat ⅓ cup of olive oil in a heavy skillet and sauté the chicken pieces, browning them on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper, cover, reduce the heat and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add 1 minced clove of garlic, 1 minced onion and ½ cup of finely chopped prosciutto or Virginia ham. Pour ½ cup of dry red wine over the chicken, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, simmer 1 cup of Italian tomato purée with 1 teaspoon of dry basil. Cook for 5 minutes and add to the chicken sauté. Turn the chicken to bathe it in the sauce thoroughly. Cover and cook until the chicken is tender.
SAUTÉED CHICKEN, FLAMBÉ (Serves 4)
2 2-pound frying chickens
6 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper
8 small green onions, chopped
2 egg yolks
1 cup of cream
4 ounces of Cognac
Prepare the chicken as for Basic Chicken Sauté (page 297) and sauté in butter until almost done. Season to taste with salt and pepper as it cooks. A few minutes before removing the chicken from the pan, add the green onions, coarsely chopped. When the chicken is cooked remove it to a hot, flame-proof platter and keep it hot.
Continue cooking the onions until soft, adding a little more butter if necessary. Beat the egg yolks, then beat the cream into them. Place the pan with the onions over hot water and slowly stir in the egg and cream mixture. Continue cooking and stir (using a wooden spoon) until thickened and smooth. Do not let it boil or the eggs may curdle. Season to taste, if necessary.
Pour the Cognac over the chicken and carefully ignite it to blaze. When the flame dies out, pour the sauce over all.
STUFFED CHICKEN BREASTS (Serves 4 to 6)
3 whole chicken breasts, boned and skinned
6 tablespoons butter
¼ pound mushrooms, finely chopped
2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Flour
3 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
¾ cup dry white wine or vermouth
Chopped parsley
Cut the chicken breasts in half, trim off any fat or bits of bone, and flatten between sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a small skillet, add the mushrooms and shallots, and cook over medium heat until the moisture evaporates and the mushrooms darken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. (This is called “Duxelles.”)
Place a tablespoon of the mushrooms on one half of each piece of chicken, and fold over the other half. Fasten with a toothpick. Lightly flour the stuffed chicken. Heat the oil and remaining butter in a large skillet, and sauté the chicken over medium heat, turning once, about 4 minutes on a side. When done, transfer to a warm dish, and deglaze the skillet with ½ cup of the wine for a minute. Lower the heat, add the chicken breasts, and cover. Cook for another 6 minutes, turning once. Season with salt and pepper and transfer again to a warm dish while you finish off the sauce. Remove excess fat from the pan juices, add the leftover wine, and heat quickly. Pour over the chicken breasts, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
CURRY OF CHICKEN (Serves 4)
2 frying chickens
Water
Salt
1 medium eggplant
3 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium onions
2 medium apples
2 tablespoons of curry powder
Cayenne
1 teaspoon of chopped garlic
½ teaspoon of ground ginger
Broth or white wine
10 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of chutney
2 tablespoons of tomato purée
Put the neck, giblets and wing tips of the chicken in 2 cups of salted water and simmer gently for 1 hour. Peel and dice the eggplant and sauté in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add ½ cup of water and cover. Simmer gently for 40 minutes or until very soft. Peel and chop the onions and apples and sauté in 4 tablespoons of butter until soft. Add curry powder, salt to taste, a dash of cayenne, chopped garlic and ginger. Add 1 cup of the broth from the chicken giblets, cover and simmer gently for ½ hour.
Sauté the cut-up chicken according to directions for Basic Chicken Sauté (page 297), browning in 6 tablespoons of butter, seasoning to taste and then adding a bit of the chicken broth or white wine.
After the curry mixture has cooked for ½ hour, add the chutney, the tomato purée, the cooked eggplant and another cup of broth, and simmer ½ hour more. If the sauce is too thick dilute with a little broth or water. Taste for seasoning. Add the sautéed chicken pieces and heat through to blend with the sauce flavors. Let it all cook together for about 10 minutes.
Serve with chutney, grated coconut, chopped peanuts, chopped hard-cooked egg and raisins soaked in Cognac or whiskey.
Broiled Chicken
PLAIN BROILED CHICKEN
Allow ½ broiler per person. Ask your butcher to split the broilers and remove the backbones and necks. Wipe the chicken halves with a damp cloth, then rub them well with butter or oil. Preheat the broiler. Arrange the chicken bone side up on a greased rack 3 inches from the flame. Broil for 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and turn. Brush with more butter and cook skin side to the heat for another 15 minutes, or until done. Test for doneness by puncturing the thigh joint with a fork. When the juice runs clear, not red, the chicken is cooked. Do not overcook chicken or it will be dry and tasteless. Season to taste on the skin side and serve with shoestring potatoes, peas and onions mixed, and hot French bread.
VARIATIONS
Charcoal-broiled: To broil over charcoal, place the chicken halves on a rack 3 to 4 inches from the coals. Cook according to the directions above, starting bone side first and finishing on the skin side.
With tarragon butter: Rub the chickens with Tarragon Butter (see Herb Butter, page 354) and baste with more Tarragon Butter during cooking.
With parsley: Melt butter and add plenty of chopped parsley. Pour this over the chicken halves as you serve them.
With herbs: Mix ½ cup of chopped parsley, ¼ cup of chopped chives and 1 tablespoon of dried tarragon. Blend this into 4 tablespoons of softened butter. Loosen the breast skin of the chicken halves and stuff a little of this mixture between the skin and the flesh. Broil as above, basting with butter frequently after you turn to cook the skin side.
Marinated Broilers: Mix the following marinade: to 1 cup of olive oil add ½ cup of white wine vinegar, 6 chopped green onions, 1 tablespoon of dried tarragon, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Soak the chicken halves in this mixture for 2 or 3 hours, turning them frequently to be sure they are well bathed. Broil as above, basting with the sauce during cooking.
Oriental Broilers: Soak the broiler halves in the following mixture: 1 cup of soy sauce, ½ cup of dry sherry, 1-inch piece of ginger grated (or 1 tablespoon of chopped, dried ginger), and 1 minced clove of garlic. Follow directions for Marinated Broilers, above.
With fruit juice: Substitute ½ cup of fruit juice (orange, pineapple) for the sherry in Oriental Broilers, above.
Barbecued: Marinate the chicken in Barbecue Sauce (page 353) and follow directions for Marinated Broilers, above.
Fried Chicken
OLD-FASHIONED FRIED CHICKEN (Serves 4)
1 4-pound chicken or two 2-pound chickens
Flour
Salt and pepper
Bacon fat or butter and oil mixed
2 cups of milk and heavy cream mixed
Have the chicken cut into frying pieces. Wipe with a damp cloth and roll in flour seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Press the flour in firmly with your hands to be sure plenty of it clings to the chicken. Heat bacon fat or oil and butter mixed in a large heavy skillet. You will need plenty of fat; it should be about 1½ inches deep in the pan. When it is bubbly hot but not burning, add the chicken pieces and cook them on all sides until they are evenly browned.
Sprinkle with a little additional salt and pepper, cover, lower the heat and cook gently until the chicken is tender. Turn the chicken pieces several times during the cooking and at the last, move the pieces of white meat to the top. When the chicken is done, remove it to a hot platter and pour off all but 4 tablespoons of the fat. Blend 3 tablespoons of flour into the fat and slowly add the milk and cream mixed, stirring to be sure it does not lump. When the sauce is smooth and thick, season with salt and pepper and serve with the chicken. With this serve creamy mashed potatoes and buttered broccoli.
Roast Chicken
ROAST CHICKEN
When buying chicken for roasting, allow 1 pound per person. Roasting chickens generally run 3 to 4 pounds. If you want a larger bird, a wise choice is capon, which is cooked in the same way. These run 5 to 9 pounds and are delicious and tender.
Wash the bird and remove any pinfeathers. (You can use tweezers for this job.) Singe off any tiny hairs along the edges of the wings or on the legs. Rub the cavity of the chicken with the cut side of half a lemon, sprinkle it with salt and pepper, and add any flavors you wish—3 or 4 cloves of garlic, several sprigs of fresh tarragon or a handful of dry tarragon, a touch of rosemary, 2 or 3 small peeled onions, or several sprigs of parsley—plus 2 tablespoons of butter. Truss and tie the chicken.
To truss: First fold the wing tips back under the bird. Then take a long piece of white string, tie the leg tips together tightly and make a taut loop around the tail, leaving two fairly even ends of string. Now cross the string over the back of the bird, bring it over the wings to hold them firm against the body, and finally tie securely across the neck skin, which remains after the neck is removed.
Butter the chicken well, or lay strips of bacon across it. Turn on its side on a rack. (Also place giblets on rack.) Roast at 400° for 20 minutes. Turn to other side and again add bacon strips or baste with butter. Roast another 20 minutes. Place on its back and baste well. Roast for final 20 minutes. Salt and pepper. Check for doneness. (The legs should move easily.) If not sufficiently cooked to your taste, continue cooking. Do not overcook. A little pink at the joint will do no harm.
Serve chicken with degreased pan juices, crisp sautéed potatoes and a good salad.
For Cold Chicken: Allow cooked chicken to cool at room temperature. It should have just a touch of warmth and be crisp and fresh to the bite. I really prefer it this way.
VARIATIONS
With white wine: Baste with a mixture of dry white wine and melted butter.
Chicken Tarragon: Rub the chicken well with Tarragon Butter and put tarragon (at least one teaspoon) in the cavity, in place of thyme. Baste with Tarragon Butter during the roasting. Or baste with Tarragon Butter (see Herb Butter, page 354) mixed with dry white wine.
With green onions: Put 3 or 4 little green onions in the cavity with the parsley. Baste the chicken with Chive Butter (see Herb Butter, page 354) and white wine.
GIBLET SAUCE
Use the giblets and neck from the chicken to make this sauce. It is far better with chicken than the usual flour and water mixture called gravy.
Cover the giblets and the neck with ⅔ water and ⅓ dry white wine. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 3 or 4 peppercorns, a sprig of parsley, 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves and 1 carrot. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Skim off the scum, cover the pan and lower the heat. Cook gently for 1 hour. Strain the broth and cook it down to 1 cup. Taste for seasoning. When the chicken is done, add the juices in the baking dish to the giblet broth and thicken, if you like, with Beurre Manié (page 348).
ROAST SQUAB CHICKEN
These tiny birds weigh only about 1 pound each. Serve one to a person. Prepare as you do roasting chicken and roast quickly in a 450° oven for 30 to 45 minutes, or just until tender. Use any of the seasonings suggested above for Roast Chicken.
Prepare roasting or squab chicken as above. Spit the bird, running the spit through the center of the heaviest part to be sure it balances evenly. Spit larger chicken with the spit running through from head to tail. Spit tiny squab with the spit running through from side to side.
Use any of the seasonings or bastings suggested for Roast Chicken, (page 303) and cook over charcoal, allowing about 1½ hours for a 4-pound chicken, 1 hour for a 2½- to 3-pound chicken and 30 to 40 minutes for a small squab chicken. Baste during the cooking and test for doneness by moving the thigh up and down or puncturing the thigh joint with a fork. If the juice runs clear, not pink, the chicken is done.
ROAST STUFFED CHICKEN (Serves 4)
4-pound chicken
Half a lemon
Butter
1 onion, chopped
½ cup of chopped celery
¼ cup of chopped parsley
1 teaspoon of thyme
Salt and pepper
2½ cups of fine bread crumbs
Wash and clean the bird (see Roast Chicken, page 303) and rub the cavity with the cut side of a half lemon.
To prepare the stuffing: Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a skillet and add the chopped onion. Cook until just barely soft. Add the celery, parsley, thyme and 1 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix with fine dry bread crumbs and add additional melted butter (about ¼ cup). The dressing should not be too dry. It should be rather moist with butter but not soggy. Stuff the chicken lightly and fasten the vent with metal skewers, or close it by folding a piece of foil into several thicknesses and tucking into the opening. Truss the bird (see page 303) and rub well with butter. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake as for Roast Chicken, basting occasionally with melted butter or melted butter and white wine mixed.
Serve with Giblet Sauce (see page 304).
VARIATIONS
With mushrooms: Substitute chopped mushrooms for the celery and sauté them with the onion.
With nuts: Add ½ cup of chopped, blanched almonds or filberts and sauté them in the pan with the onion.
With sausage: Add 4 small link sausages, sautéed and chopped.
With ham: Add ½ cup of chopped, cooked ham.
Note: For larger or smaller chickens, allow a scant cup of stuffing for each pound the bird weighs.
Chicken Fricassee
PLAIN CHICKEN FRICASSEE (Serves 4)
For this dish, you can use a fowl. These older birds are mature and flavorful but need long cooking to tenderize. Otherwise use a roasting chicken. Have the butcher clean it and cut it into serving pieces as for frying.
4- to 5-pound fowl
1 onion stuck with 2 cloves
1 carrot
2 sprigs of parsley
2 teaspoons of salt
4 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
¾ cup of heavy cream
Lemon juice
Wash the chicken pieces and put them in a large kettle with the onion, the carrot and the parsley. Add water to cover and bring slowly to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer gently for 1 hour. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and continue cooking until the chicken is thoroughly tender but not mushy. The length of time depends on the age and toughness of the bird. It may take 15 more minutes; it may take another hour. Test at intervals with a fork. A roasting chicken will take about an hour.
When the chicken is done, remove it to a hot dish and keep warm in a very slow oven. Skim the fat from the broth and strain it. Then return it to the stove and cook down a little to make it richer. Melt the butter in a skillet, blend in the flour and gradually stir in 1½ cups of the chicken broth mixed with the cream. Add it slowly being sure the mixture does not lump. (For directions, see Roux, page 347.) Continue cooking and stirring until the sauce is thick and smooth. Arrange the chicken on a hot platter, add a dash or so of lemon juice to the sauce and pour it over the chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with rice or noodles.
Prepare a Plain Chicken Fricassee (see page 306). When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth and take it off the bones in large pieces. Arrange the meat in a casserole. Sauté ½ pound mushrooms in 4 tablespoons of butter and add these to the chicken meat. Make the sauce (see Chicken Fricassee) and pour over the chicken and mushrooms. Top with a pastry dough (see page 76) or rich biscuit dough (page 45) and bake in 450° oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top crust or biscuit is brown and cooked through.
CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
Make a Plain Chicken Fricassee (page 306) and after the sauce is thickened, put spoonfuls of dumpling dough (page 46) over the surface. Be sure you space them a few inches apart, for dumplings puff out. Cover the pan and steam gently for about 15 minutes, or until the dumplings are light and cooked through. Arrange the chicken on a platter, surround with the dumplings and cover with the sauce.
CHICKEN SHORTBREAD
Make the Plain Chicken Fricassee on page 306 and when the chicken is done take the meat from the bones. Finish the sauce and return the chicken meat to the pan with the sauce. Add ½ pound of mushrooms sautéed in butter. Serve this creamed chicken over biscuit (page 45) or cornbread.
BROWN FRICASSEE (Serves 4)
4-pound roasting chicken cut in serving pieces
Flour
Salt and pepper
6 tablespoons of butter
1 onion, chopped
Chicken stock or broth to cover
Pinch of thyme
1 bay leaf
½ to ¾ cup of cream
Use a roasting chicken for this dish and have the butcher cut it up as for frying. Wipe the chicken pieces with a damp cloth and roll in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a heavy kettle, such as a Dutch oven, and brown the chicken pieces on all sides. Add the chopped onion and let it color slightly. Pour over this enough chicken stock or broth to cover. (You can make this by cooking the chicken giblets and neck—see Giblet Sauce, page 304—and adding the giblet broth to chicken bouillon cubes dissolved in hot water.) Add a bay leaf and a pinch of thyme, cover and simmer gently until the chicken is tender. This should take about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove the chicken pieces to a hot platter and taste the sauce for seasoning. Add a little cream, about ½ to ¾ of a cup, and blend it in. If you like a thicker sauce, add pea-sized balls of butter and flour kneaded together and stir them in.
VARIATIONS
With mushrooms: You may add sautéed mushrooms (½ pound) and sautéed tiny white onions (8 to 12) to the pot for the last few minutes of cooking. Or cook them with the chicken, adding them during the last half hour.
CHICKEN IN CASSEROLE
Proceed as for Brown Fricassee, but transfer the pan to the oven after the broth is added and bake at 350° for 1 hour, or until the chicken is tender. Add any of the vegetables you like—mushrooms, carrots, tiny white onions, small potatoes—during the last half hour of cooking.
VARIATIONS
With wine: Substitute dry white wine for half of the chicken broth.
COLD CHICKEN IN ASPIC
Prepare a Plain Chicken Fricassee (page 306) and do not thicken the broth. Let the chicken cool in the stock, then remove the pieces and arrange them in a mold or large deep bowl. Strain the sauce and chill to let the fat rise to the surface and solidify. Skim off all the solid fat. If the broth has jellied, simply reheat it to melt and pour over the chicken. If it is not firm, add a little unflavored gelatin. One envelope will jelly 2 cups of liquid. If the liquid is partly firm, use half of this proportion: ½ envelope to two cups of liquid. Melt the gelatin in a few spoonfuls of cold water. Heat the broth and stir in the gelatin until it dissolves thoroughly. Pour the broth over the chicken. Place the mold or bowl in the refrigerator and chill.
Garnished: You may add any garnishes you choose to the chicken as you arrange it in the mold: olives, sliced hard-cooked egg, strips of pimiento, green pepper rings, cooked vegetables (string beans, carrot rounds, canned whole mushrooms), sliced onion or radishes.
Serve from the mold or turn out on a bed of greens and pass a bowl of well-seasoned mayonnaise.
Poached Chicken
Many people call poached chicken “boiled.” If it were actually boiled it would not be very tasty. The chicken should be gently simmered, with the broth or water barely moving on the surface. The classic poached chicken is cooked whole, stuffed or unstuffed, in seasoned water or water and wine mixed. The cooked bird is arranged on a hot platter and carved in the same way as roast chicken. Use a mature fowl for this dish.
POACHED CHICKEN (Serves 4)
4- to 5-pound fowl
Boiling water, or water and wine, to cover
1 onion
2 teaspoons of salt
Peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon of thyme or rosemary
Stuffing or 2 sprigs of parsley and 1 onion
If a fowl is not available, use a roasting chicken. Wash the chicken or wipe with a damp cloth, and if you wish to stuff it, use one of the stuffings suggested for Roast Stuffed Chicken and follow the directions for stuffing (page 305). If you do not stuff the bird, put a sprig or two of parsley and a peeled onion in the cavity. Sew up securely and truss (see page 303). Place the fowl in a deep kettle and add boiling water to cover or boiling water and dry white wine mixed. Add a few peppercorns, the onion, bay leaf and thyme or rosemary. Cover tightly and simmer—do not boil—gently for 1 hour. Add the salt and continue simmering until the fowl is tender. This may take another hour. The length of time depends on the toughness of the bird. Test for doneness with a fork. A roasting chicken will take about an hour.
Arrange the cooked bird on a platter, remove the strings and carve as you would a roast chicken. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or rice.
VARIATIONS
1. Serve the broth first as a soup course.
2. Add any vegetables you like to the hot broth during the last half hour of cooking.
3. Cook the broth down and thicken it with Beurre Manié (page 348) to serve as a sauce. Taste for seasoning and add a little heavy cream if you like.
Most of the ducks sold in this country are Long Island ducks, a strain developed as an all-purpose fowl. These ducks have a heavy layer of fat under the skin and it is better to give them long, slow cooking rather than the high-heat cooking used for wild ducks or other varieties. One Long Island duck will usually serve two persons amply and four with lighter appetites. Some of the younger and smaller ducks must be served a half to a person.
When roasting duck it is wise to use a pan with a rack or a spit. The rack or spit allows the fat to cook out into the dripping pan below and keeps the duck crisp. If duck stands in a bath of its own grease it is flabby and uninteresting. Prick the skin a few times during roasting and it will be crunchier.
BROILED DUCKLING (Serves 4)
2 small ducklings
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Split the ducklings in half with poultry shears, cutting each from the vent at the tail along the side of the breastbone to the neck opening. Then turn the duckling and cut down the center of the back until it is halved. Rub the skin of the duckling halves with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Heat the broiler until very hot and place the ducks with the bone or inside about 4 inches from the flame. Broil for 20 minutes, then turn and finish cooking until browned and crisp. Serve with wild rice or Barley Casserole.
VARIATIONS
Charcoal-broiled: Broil the duckling over charcoal on your outdoor grill. (See Charcoal-Broiling, page 183.) Place the duck halves about 6 inches from the coals.
ROAST DUCKLING (Serves 4)
1 large or 2 small ducklings
Salt and pepper
Thyme or rosemary
1 onion stuck with 2 cloves
Use a roasting pan with a rack to hold the duck out of the drippings. If your pan does not have a regular roasting rack, use a bread rack or any contrivance to keep the duck off the bottom of the pan. Rub the duck well with salt and pepper and a bit of thyme or rosemary if you like. Place in the cavity of the duck a peeled onion into which you have pushed two cloves. Stand it on the rack and roast in a 325° oven, allowing 1¼ hours for rare duck, 1½ for medium-rare and about 2 hours for very well-done duck. Most people prefer duck roasted medium-rare rather than well-done. After ½ hour prick the skin to release the fat, and prick several more times during roasting.
For crisp duck, increase the heat to 500° for the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Ducks are easier to carve by cutting them into halves or quarters with poultry shears; they do not slice well. Serve each person a half or quarter and with it, rice, wild rice or barley. Turnips are also an excellent accompaniment for duck.
VARIATIONS
À la Française: Roast the duck as above for about 1½ hours. It should be on the underdone side. Remove to a hot platter, cut into quarters and serve heaped with tiny French petits pois that have been cooked with tiny white onions, peeled and parboiled, and strips of ham. An orange and onion salad goes very well with this dish.
Au Poivre: Rub the duck with salt only, and roast as above. 30 minutes before the duck is done press coarsely ground black peppercorns into the breast. Return to the oven. Increase the heat to 500° for the last 15 minutes of cooking to crisp the skin.
ROAST DUCK WITH OLIVES (Serves 4)
1 large or 2 small ducklings
1 green pepper
1 large onion
3 stalks of celery
1 carrot
6 sprigs of parsley
Salt and pepper
1 cup of white wine
24 small green olives
Cook the giblets, wing tips and neck of the duck in 2 cups of water for 45 minutes. Strain and set the broth aside. Peel the onion and carrot and seed the pepper. Chop these and the celery and parsley all rather coarsely. Arrange the chopped vegetables on the bottom of a baking dish. Rub the duck with salt and pepper and place it on top. Add the white wine to the strained broth and pour this over all. Roast in a 325° oven for 1½ to 1¾ hours, or until the duckling is brown and crisp. Baste during the roasting with the broth in the pan.
When the duck is done, remove it to a hot platter and keep it warm. Rub the vegetables and broth through a fine sieve, or put them through a food mill, or use your food processor to liquefy the vegetables thoroughly. Reheat the sauce, skim off the excess fat and taste for seasoning. Add the olives and heat them through. Serve this sauce with the duck, and accompany it with small new potatoes cooked in their jackets and tiny green peas.
ROAST DUCK WITH CURRY AND HONEY (Serves 4)
Mix 4 tablespoons of honey with 1½ tablespoons of curry powder. Roast duck according to directions for plain Roast Duckling, page 311, and after it has cooked for 55 minutes, remove it and brush well with some of the honey-curry mixture. Repeat this every 10 minutes during the next ½ hour of cooking, or until the duck skin has a fine glaze. Serve this curried glazed duck with rice and chutney and thinly sliced bananas dressed with a sharp French oil-and-vinegar dressing.
ROAST DUCK, CHINESE STYLE (Serves 4)
1 large or 2 small ducks
Lemon juice
Soy sauce
1 teaspoon of ground ginger
4 tablespoons of honey
Rub the ducks inside and out with the lemon juice and then dry them out thoroughly by standing them in front of an electric fan for 1 hour or rubbing them well with paper towels until no dampness remains. Rub the skin and the interior with soy sauce, and rub the outside with ground ginger. Roast according to directions for Roast Duck (see page 311) in a 325° oven for 1 hour. Then brush the skin with a mixture of 1½ tablespoons of soy sauce and the ground ginger and honey. Continue cooking and brush the skin with the mixture occasionally until the duck has a nice glaze and is done.
Serve this Chinese-style duckling with steamed rice and Chinese vegetables, or with small white turnips smothered in butter and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds.
ROAST DUCK AU GRAND MARNIER (Serves 4)
1 large or 2 small ducks
1½ cups of water
1 large orange
Salt and pepper
1½ cups of orange juice
½ cup of honey
½ cup of Grand Marnier
½ cup of orange sections, peeled
Cook the giblets, wing tips and neck of the duck in 1½ cups of water for 35 minutes. Strain and reserve the broth. Rub the duck skin with salt and pepper, and put an orange, cut into slices (skin and all), in the cavity of the duck. Roast on a rack in a pan according to directions for plain Roast Duckling (see page 311), basting frequently during the cooking with a mixture of 1 cup of orange juice and the honey. Roast the duck for 1 hour and 25 minutes, then remove it to a hot platter and keep warm. Skim the fat from the pan juices and place the pan over direct heat. Add the strained broth and ½ cup of orange juice. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes and then add the Grand Marnier and taste for seasoning. Heat and blend, add the orange sections and heat them through.
Pour this rich sauce over the duck and serve with a barley and mushroom casserole and an endive salad mixed with tiny whole beets.
DUCK WITH PINEAPPLE (Serves 4)
1 large or 2 small ducks
1½ cups of water
Salt and pepper
1 can of sliced pineapple
Butter
Sugar
Make a broth, salt and pepper the duck and place it on a rack in a pan, as for Roast Duck au Grand Marnier (see page 313), omitting the sliced orange in the cavity. Baste the duck during roasting with part of the juice from a can of sliced pineapple. When the duck is done, remove it to a hot platter and keep warm. Skim the fat from the pan juices and place the pan over direct heat. Add another ½ cup of pineapple juice and the broth from the giblets, and cook down a little over high heat. Sauté the slices of pineapple in butter, and as they cook sprinkle them with a little sugar to let them candy. Arrange the pineapple slices around the duck and pour the sauce over it.
If you like a thicker sauce, mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with a little water and stir into the sauce. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened.
DUCK WITH LENTILS (Serves 4)
1 duckling
Salt and pepper
2 cups of quick-cooking lentils
1 large onion, chopped
4 tablespoons of butter
⅔ cup of water
1 pound of Italian sausages (or frankfurters)
⅔ cup of chopped parsley
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1½ cups of red wine
Buttered bread crumbs
Roast the duck according to directions for plain Roast Duckling (see page 311). While the duck is roasting, cook the lentils until tender but not mushy (see Lentils, page 456). Drain and reserve the liquid.
Peel and chop the onion. Sauté in 4 tablespoons of butter until transparent and soft. Cook the Italian sausages (or frankfurters) in ⅔ cup of water for 12 minutes. Drain and slice.
When the duck is roasted cut it into small serving pieces. Mix the lentils with the sautéed onion, the chopped parsley and the garlic, and then mix in the sausages and duck so the meat is distributed throughout. Put this mixture into a buttered casserole and pour 1½ cups of red wine over it. Add broth from the lentils if more liquid seems necessary. Cover and bake in 350° oven for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes. Then put a good layer of buttered crumbs on top and finish cooking for 5 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
This dish can be kept in the oven for some time. Simply add more liquid (lentil broth or wine) if it tends to get dry. With this casserole serve an onion and lettuce salad dressed with olive oil and lemon juice (instead of vinegar) and a good red wine. This is a hearty spread for a skiing or skating party.
COLD ROAST DUCK (Serves 4)
Roast duck according to directions for plain Roast Duckling (see page 311). After it is cooked rub the skin well with lemon or lime juice and then chill the duck. Cut it into serving-size pieces, and serve with greens, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and a green bean salad. Pass mayonnaise flavored with orange juice and a dash of lemon juice.
VARIATION
After the duck is cooked, skin it and cut into serving pieces. Dip each piece into mayonnaise and arrange on a bed of lettuce. Garnish with sliced beets and sliced onions that have marinated in a French dressing made with orange juice instead of vinegar. Surround with orange slices, and serve with heated garlic bread.
Squab are baby pigeons, tender and delicious and considered one of the greatest delicacies. They are usually expensive but they make excellent party food because they are easy to prepare and will not be ruined by a little extra cooking if guests are late. Squab is one fowl that should be rather well done.
A squab usually weighs a pound or less. Allow one per serving.
BROILED SQUAB
Split each squab and flatten it out as you treat a chicken for broiling. Or have the butcher split and flatten it with a cleaver. (When flattened with a cleaver, squab is called crapaudine, because it’s supposed to look like a frog.)
Broil under a medium flame, turning several times and brushing well with melted butter. Cook until very tender and done and browned on the outside. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve with the pan juices, sautéed potatoes and tiny French peas.
Note: Squab should be eaten with the fingers. It’s impossible to get all the tasty bits from the bones with knife and fork.
ROAST SQUAB
Allow one per serving. Bard the breast well with salt pork or fat bacon. Arrange in a baking pan and cook at 325° without basting for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until well done. Remove the barding pork or bacon during the last 15 minutes of cooking to let the breast brown. Test for doneness by puncturing the thigh joint with a fork.
Note: Squab may be seared in a hot oven and then finished off with a lower heat, but if you use this method you must watch the birds carefully and baste them often. Start them in a 450° oven and baste frequently with melted butter. After 25 minutes, reduce the heat to 350° and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, basting occasionally.
VARIATIONS
With tarragon: Add a bit of dried or fresh tarragon and a chunk of butter to the cavity of each bird. Baste with tarragon-flavored melted butter while cooking.
ROAST STUFFED SQUAB (Serves 4)
4 squab
1 onion, chopped fine
6 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of fine bread crumbs
1 cup of chopped ham
½ cup of pine nuts
¼ cup of chopped parsley
½ teaspoon of thyme
4 pieces of fat bacon
Melted butter and white wine mixed (about ¼ cup each)
Peel the onion and chop. Sauté in 6 tablespoons of butter until soft and transparent. Mix with the bread crumbs, ham, pine nuts, chopped parsley, and thyme, and stuff the birds with this mixture. Arrange the squab in a baking pan and cover the breast of each one with a piece of fat bacon. Roast in a 325° oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes, basting frequently with the mixture of melted butter and white wine. If more basting liquid is needed, add wine. Remove the barding bacon from the breast during the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Serve with wild rice or barley and small white onions steamed in butter.
SQUAB ON THE SPIT
Bard each squab with fat bacon and arrange them on a spit. The average-sized spit for an outdoor charcoal broiler will hold several squab. Spit them through from side to side, placing the head of the first forward and the tail of the second forward, so that the birds alternate on the spit, head to tail. In this way the squab will be evenly balanced on the spit.
Roast over charcoal until browned and tender. This will take 35 to 40 minutes.
COLD SQUAB
Serve plain roast squab or broiled squab cold for an elegant picnic. It is wise to allow 2 per person since outdoor eaters often have hearty appetites.
The holiday choice, turkey, used to be just that: a fall and winter specialty. Today it is available all the year round and in every size from 4-pound broilers up to toms of 30 pounds or more. The smaller birds are a recent development. They are small-boned and heavily meated, with extra breadth through the middle that provides more breast meat.
When you buy turkey, look for firm, fresh-looking skin, plump legs and thighs and a thick breast. Long, scrawny turkeys are not as tender or tasty.
ROAST STUFFED TURKEY (Serves 4 to 6)
7- to 8-pound turkey
½ lemon
6 cups of stuffing
Salt and pepper
Butter
White wine
Rub the cavity of the turkey with the cut side of the half lemon and stuff it lightly with any of the stuffings suggested for chicken (page 305) or with half the Tarragon-Bread Crumb Stuffing (page 319). Close the vent with foil or with metal skewers, or sew it up, and then truss the bird well (page 303). Rub the turkey with butter, and season with salt and pepper. Arrange in a roaster or in a large baking pan and roast, basting frequently with butter or with butter and dry white wine mixed.
There are several theories on the proper way to roast a turkey. Some people insist on starting it in a hot oven and then reducing the heat. I feel this tends to dry out the meat. Other people like to roast turkey in a parchment wrapping, browning it at the last. This, to me, reduces the crusty brown outside that is so tasty to gnaw on. I prefer to roast it uncovered, basting frequently, in a 350° oven, allowing about 15 to 18 minutes to the pound. To be sure of doneness test by moving the thigh joint up and down. If it moves easily the turkey should be done. Puncture the thigh joint with a fork. If the juice runs red, the bird needs more roasting; if it is clear the turkey is done. Also, a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh (without touching the bone) should register 170° to 175°. Do not overcook turkey. The dark meat should still have a pinkish tinge. If you overcook, the meat will be dry and half the flavor gone.
Serve Roast Stuffed Turkey with sautéed tiny white onions, mashed potatoes and Giblet Sauce made with the turkey giblets and neck (see page 304).
Note: For turkeys weighing over 16 pounds, allow 12 to 14 minutes per pound. An 18-pound turkey will take about 4 hours.
VARIATIONS
Small turkey, basted: If you buy a very small turkey of about 4 pounds to roast (one of the small broiler turkeys) baste it with butter or butter and white wine every few minutes. These smaller birds do not have the heavy layer of fat and they can be very dry. Begin testing for doneness after 1 hour of roasting. They cook quickly.
Without basting: If you wish to save yourself the trouble of basting during the first half of the roasting, fold a piece of cheesecloth into several thicknesses and saturate it with melted butter mixed with olive oil. Cover the breast of the turkey with the cloth and roast until half done. Then remove the cloth and finish roasting, basting every 15 or 20 minutes.
TARRAGON-BREAD CRUMB STUFFING (for a 20-pound turkey)
12 cups fresh bread crumbs
1½ cups finely sliced scallions or shallots
½ to ¾ pound unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1 cup chopped parsley 1 tablespoon salt
1½ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
½ cup pine nuts
Use French or Italian bread, crusts trimmed, for the bread crumbs. Melt the butter in a skillet, add the scallions or shallots, and toss to coat well. Mix with the rest of the ingredients. Taste for salt. Use to stuff the breast cavity. This amount should be more than ample for a 20-pound bird.
LEFTOVER ROAST TURKEY AND STUFFING
Breaded: Dip slices of cold turkey in lightly beaten egg and then roll in fine crumbs. Brown in plenty of butter or olive oil and serve with a hot Sauce Diable (page 351) or Tomato Sauce (page 352).
Turkey Curry: Make a Rich Cream Sauce (page 349) and blend it with any leftover Giblet Sauce (page 304). Flavor to taste with curry powder and add pieces of cold turkey. Heat and serve over rice. With this serve a good chutney, toasted buttered almonds, chopped hard-cooked egg and some crisp tiny green onions.
Heated stuffing: Moisten the stuffing with Giblet Sauce and heap it in a greased casserole. Dot liberally with butter and heat in a 350° oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until hot through. Or heat with the Giblet Sauce (page 304) in a heavy skillet.
PLAIN ROAST TURKEY
Roast turkey plain, without stuffing, in any of the ways suggested for chicken (pages 305–306) allowing 15 to 18 minutes per pound in a 350° oven for a bird up to 16 pounds. (See note for Roast Stuffed Turkey, page 317.) Baste frequently.
Small turkey broilers (about 4 pounds) may be split and broiled as suggested for chicken (pages 301–302). Cook for 25 minutes on each side and baste frequently. One broiler will serve 4 persons.
CREAMED TURKEY OR CHICKEN (Serves 4)
2 cups of leftover turkey or chicken
2 cups of Rich Cream Sauce (page 349)
Toast or biscuits
Sautéed mushrooms (optional)
Cut the turkey or chicken into small pieces. Make the Rich Cream Sauce and heat the meat in the sauce. Season to taste and serve on toast or hot biscuits. Garnish with sautéed mushrooms, if you like.