369. Fowl à l’Ecarlate.—Roast and braise two nice fowls, and boil a fine salted tongue, which trim so as to be able to stand it in a dish, when place it in the middle in a slanting position, place two fine heads of cauliflower at each end, and make a pint of cream sauce, pour over the fowl, and brocoli; glaze the tongue and serve. Fowls may be dressed in any of the ways before described, and dished up thus.
GEESE.—We have now arrived at your favorite dish, or, as your better half said on your return home from this, “What is better than a goose stuffed with sage and onion!” Of course many persons are of his idea, and I must say that I for one enjoy them occasionally when in season; yes, indeed I do, and with the original apple-sauce too; this last addition to our national cookery must have been conferred on it by the Germans, who eat sweets or stewed fruit with almost every dish; or, perhaps, from William the Conqueror, who left his land of apples to visit and conquer our shores; but never mind to whom we are indebted for this bizarre culinary mixture, I sincerely forgive them, and intend to have one for dinner to-day, which I shall have cooked as follows; but I must first tell you how they should be chosen. The flesh should be of a fine pink color, and the liver pale, the bill and foot yellow, and no hairs, or but few, on the body; the contrary will be observed in an old one, which will have the feet and bill red.
370. Goose (to truss).—Having well picked the goose, cut the feet off at the joint, and the pinion at the first joint; cut off the neck close to the back, leaving all the skin you can; pull out the throat, and tie a knot at the end; put your middle finger in at the breast, loosen the liver, &c., cut it close to the rump, and draw out all the inside except the soal,[6] wipe it well, and beat the breast bone flat; put a skewer in the wings, and draw the legs close up, running a skewer through the middle of both legs and body; draw the small of the leg close down to the side bone, and run a skewer through; make a hole in the skin large enough to admit the trail, which when stuffed place through it, as it holds the stuffing better.
371. Roast Goose.—Peel and cut in rather small dice six middle-sized onions, put in a pan, with two ounces of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter ditto of pepper, a little grated nutmeg and sugar, six leaves of fresh sage chopped fine, put on fire, stir with wooden spoon till in pulp, then have the goose ready trussed as under, and stuff it whilst hot, tie the skin of the neck to the back, pass the spit through and roast two hours before a moderate fire; baste the same as turkey (No. 355), give a nice yellow color, remove it from the spit, take off the string, and serve with half a pint of good brown gravy under and apple-sauce in a boat.
372. The same, with another stuffing.—I have tried it with the liver chopped and mixed it with the onions; I also at times add two cold potatoes cut in dice and a spoonful of boiled rice; it removes the richness of the fat, and renders it more palatable and digestive; and I also sometimes add twenty chestnuts cut into dice. The giblets should be stewed or made into pies. (See Receipt.) Where there is no gravy, broth, or glaze, still gravy is wanted, therefore put into the dripping-pan a teaspoonful of salt, half a pint of water, and dredge a little flour on it; when the bird is done, pour the contents of the pan into a cup, remove the fat, pour over the back of the bird, which serve on a very hot dish as soon as taken from the fire.
373. Goose roasted (another way).—Having the goose ready the day previous to using, take three cloves of garlic, which cut into four pieces each and place inside the goose, and stuff it as follows; take four apples, four onions, four leaves of sage not broken, four leaves of lemon-thyme not broken, and boil in a stewpan with sufficient water to cover them; when done, pulp them through a sieve, removing the sage and thyme, then add sufficient pulp of mealy potatoes to cause it to be sufficiently dry without sticking to the hand, add pepper and salt, and stuff the bird, having previously removed the garlic, tie the neck and rump, and spit it, paper the breast, which remove after it has been at the fire for twenty minutes; when done, serve it plain with a thickened gravy.