755. Chicken Roasted, Plain.
—Singe, draw, wipe nicely, and truss a fine large chicken weighing three pounds. Cover it with a thin slice of salt fat pork, and place it in a roasting-pan with two tablespoonfuls of broth. Spread a very little butter over the breast, sprinkle on half a pinch of salt, and put it in the oven to cook for fifty minutes. Baste it frequently, and arrange it on a hot dish, untie, and decorate with a little watercress. Strain the gravy into a sauce-bowl, and send it to the table.
756. Chicken Broiled With Bacon.
—Procure two very fine, tender, spring chickens, singe, draw, wipe neatly, and cut the heads off, then split them without separating. Place them on a dish, season with one pinch of salt, half a pinch of pepper, and one tablespoonful of sweet oil; turn them well in the seasoning. Put them to broil for nine minutes on each side. Prepare six small toasts on a hot dish, arrange the two broiled chickens over, spread half a gill of maître d’hôtel butter on top ([No. 145]), and decorate with six thin slices of broiled bacon ([No. 754]); then serve.
757. Chicken Pot-pie.
—Take one fine Philadelphia chicken, from three and a half to four pounds, singe, draw, wipe well, and cut it into twelve even pieces. Put these in a saucepan, and cover them with cold water; leave them in for thirty minutes, then wash well, drain, and return them to the saucepan. Cover again with fresh water, season with two pinches of salt, one pinch of pepper, and a third of a pinch of nutmeg; add a bouquet ([No. 254]), six small onions, and four ounces of salt pork cut into square pieces. Cook for three-quarters of an hour, taking care to skim well, then add one pint of raw potatoes, Parisiennes ([No. 986]), and three tablespoonfuls of flour diluted with a cupful of cold water. Stir until it boils, then let cook for ten minutes. Remove the bouquet and transfer the whole to a deep earthen baking-dish; moisten the edges slightly with water, and cover the top with a good pie-crust ([No. 1078]). Egg the surface; make a few transverse lines on the paste with a fork, and cut a hole in the centre. Bake it in a brisk oven for fifteen minutes, then send to the table.
758. Chicken Croquettes à la Reine.
—Make a croquette preparation as for [No. 276], with chicken and mushrooms; roll it into six cork-shaped croquettes, dip each one separately in beaten egg, then in fresh or rasped bread-crumbs, fry them in very hot fat for four minutes, then drain them thoroughly, and place them on a hot dish over a folded napkin. Serve with half a pint of hot sauce à la Reine ([No. 623]) separately.
759. Chicken Croquettes à la Périgueux.
—The same as for [No. 758], serving with half a pint of hot Périgueux sauce ([No. 191]) separately.