Fowl Roasts
[1955—PULLETS]
Large birds, when roasted, should always be salted inside, trussed and covered with slices of bacon. They should be cooked before a concentrated and moderately fierce fire. About ten minutes before unhooking them, remove their covering of bacon, that their breasts may colour.
A bird is known to be cooked when the juice which issues from it, if it be held over a plate, is white. Having ascertained that it is cooked, set it on a very hot dish and serve it instantly.
In England it is customary to surround the fowl with grilled sausages or slices of bacon, and to send a sauceboat of bread sauce (No. [113]) at the same time as the gravy.
[1956—TRUFFLED PULLET]
Empty the pullet intended for truffling, by means of a little hole on the side of the belly, and remember to keep the skin of the neck whole. This done, remove the collar bone at the summit of the breast, and detach the skin from the whole of the breast.
For a fine pullet, there will be needed one and one-half lbs. of truffles.
After having well brushed and washed the truffles, carefully peel them; select one of the largest; cut it into slices, and put these aside.
Now quarter the other, letting each piece weigh about three oz.
Pound the truffle peel with two lbs. of very fresh pork fat, and rub the whole through a sieve. Take about one-half lb. of this fat; melt it, together with a bay-leaf; and, when it is quite [610] ]liquid, add the quartered truffles to it (seasoned with salt and pepper), and simmer the whole for about ten minutes.
This done, take it off the fire; leave to cool almost entirely under cover, and mix with what remains of the truffled fat.
Stuff the pullet with this preparation, and slip between the bird’s skin and the flesh of its breast some thin slices of bacon. Upon the slices of bacon place the reserved slice of truffle; carefully sew up all the openings in the pullet with very thin string; wrap it in one or two sheets of buttered paper; put it on the spit, and stand it before a concentrated fire which should be kept at an even heat throughout the process of roasting.
About one-quarter of an hour before serving, remove the paper and the slices of bacon, that the breast may colour. Set on a hot dish, and send the gravy, which should be kept rather fat, separately.
The time allowed for roasting a fine fowl is somewhere between one and one-quarter to one and one-half hours.
[1957—CHICKEN A LA REINE AND SPRING CHICKENS]
The directions given for the pullet also apply to other kinds of fowl, provided the difference in size be taken into account.
[1958—SPRING CHICKENS A LA RUSSE]
Truss the chicken and soak its breast for five minutes in boiling water, that the flesh and the skin may be stiff.
Lard it with thin strips of bacon and anchovy fillets; fill it with smooth, truffled sausage-meat, and roast it on the spit.
At the last moment, when the bird is cooked, baste it by means of a special paper horn, with burning melted bacon fat, which should frizzle the fowl’s skin as it falls upon it.
Serve a Rémoulade sauce separately.
[1959—ROAST CHICKS]
These birds should, if possible, be cooked “[à la casserole].”
[1960—ROAST YOUNG TURKEYS]
Before trussing the young turkey, clear its legs of all tendons; an operation effected by means of two incisions made on the inside of the legs, above and below the last joint. Seize the tendons one by one; fasten them to a braiding needle, and gently turn the latter, thus rolling the tendons round it.
Young turkey is covered with slices of bacon and roasted like the Pullet.
It may be stuffed with Sage and Onions (No. [1944]), or it may be accompanied by Veal Stuffing (No. [1945]), poached in [611] ]steam in a special mould, and cut into slices set around the bird.
It is often accompanied, also, by boiled or grilled bacon, or grilled sausages. A Bread sauce or a Cranberry sauce may be served in addition to the gravy.
[1961—TRUFFLED YOUNG TURKEY]
Proceed as for truffled pullet, after taking the difference of size into account in order to increase the quantity of truffles and fat, as also the time limit.
[1962—ROAST GOSLING]
The Gosling, in order to be roasted, should just have reached its full growth. In England the bird is stuffed with Sage and Onions (No. [1944]), and it is always accompanied by Apple Sauce (No. [112]).
This roast must not stand waiting, and ought to be served very hot.
[1963—CANETON RÔTI (Roast Duckling)]
Aylesbury duckling, which is equal to the Nantes variety, is generally stuffed with Sage and Onions before being roasted.
Its most usual adjunct is Apple Sauce, which is sometimes replaced by melted, red-currant jelly or a Cranberry Sauce.
[1964—CANETON ROUENNAIS]
See the various recipes dealing with this bird (Nos. [1761] and [1762]).
[1965—PINTADE (Guinea Fowl)]
This bird is only roasted when quite young, and it is treated like the pheasant, with which it has some points in common.
[1966—YOUNG PIGEONS (Squabs)]
Select them fresh from the nest and very plump. They must be roasted before a very fierce fire and only just done. Their skin must be kept crisp.