—Singe, draw, and wipe well, a tender fowl of three pounds; truss it from the wing to the leg, then put it into a saucepan covering it with water; add two pinches of salt, half a pinch of pepper, one carrot cut into four pieces, one whole onion stuck with three cloves, and a bouquet ([No. 254]). Cook for about twenty-five minutes, or until half done, then add half a pint of well-picked, raw rice; cook again for twenty minutes, and when finished, dish up the chicken, suppressing the bouquet, onion, and carrot; arrange the rice nicely around it, and serve.
785. Chicken à la Maryland.
—Procure two small, tender spring chickens, leave the half of one aside for other use, and detach the legs and the wings; lay them on a plate, season with a good pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper, then dip them in beaten egg, and afterward roll them in fresh bread-crumbs. Place them in a buttered pan, pour an ounce of clarified butter over, and roast in the oven for eighteen minutes. Pour half a pint of cream sauce. ([No. 181]) onto a hot serving-dish, arrange the chicken nicely on top, and decorate with six thin slices of broiled bacon ([No. 754]), also six small corn-fritters ([No. 965]). Serve as hot as possible.
786. Suprême of Chicken à la Toulouse.
—Singe, draw, and wipe neatly three fine, tender spring chickens. Remove the skin from the breasts. Make an incision on top of the breast-bone from end to end, then with a small sharp knife, carefully cut off the entire breast on each side, including the small wing-bone, which should not be separated from the breast, and seeing that the entire breasts are cleverly cut away, without a particle of it on the carcasses.
Under each breast will be found a small fillet, which you carefully remove, and place on a dish for further action. With a small sharp knife make an incision in each breast—at their thinner side—three inches in length by one inch in depth. Season the inside of each breast with a pinch of salt and half a pinch of pepper, equally divided. Stuff the breasts with two ounces of chicken forcemeat ([No. 226]), mixed with two fine, sound truffles finely sliced, and four mushrooms, also finely sliced. Butter well a well-tinned copper sautoire. Gently lay in the six breasts; then take each small fillet, press gently with the fingers, and give each a boatlike shape. Make six slanting, small incisions on top of each, insert in each incision a small slice of truffle, cut with a tube half an inch in diameter. Slightly wet the top of each breast with water; carefully arrange one fillet on top of each breast lengthwise. Sprinkle a little clarified butter over all with a feather brush. Pour into the pan, but not over the suprême, a quarter of a glassful of Madeira wine and two tablespoonfuls of mushroom liquor; tightly cover the pan with the lid, then place in the hot oven for ten minutes. Pour on a hot serving-dish one pint of hot Toulouse garnishing ([No. 176]). Remove the suprêmes from the oven, neatly dress them over the garnishing, adjust paper ruffles on each wing-bone, and immediately send to the table.
787. Suprême of Chicken à la Bayard.
—Proceed as for [No. 786], only serving with one pint of garnishing Bayard ([No. 231]).
788. Suprême of Chicken à la Reine.
—Exactly the same as for [No. 786], only substituting one pint of hot sauce à la reine ([No. 780]) for the other garnishing.