The Young Housekeeper's Friend / Revised and Enlarged

by Mrs. Cornelius

Young fowls have a tender skin, smooth legs, and the breast bone readily yields to the pressure of the finger. The best are those that have yellow legs. The feet and legs of old fowls look as if they had seen hard service in the world.

Young ducks feel tender under the wing, and the web of the foot is transparent. The best are thick and hard on the breast.

Young geese have yellow bills, and the feet are yellow and supple; the skin may be easily broken by the head of a pin; the breast is plump, and the fat white. An old goose is unfit for the human stomach.

To keep fowls in warm weather, take out the heart and liver and parboil them, set them aside in a cool place, to be used in the gravy. Wash the fowls as clean as possible from the blood, and plunge one at a time into a kettle of boiling water for five minutes, moving it about, that the water may penetrate every part. Drain and wipe them dry and pepper the inside and the necks. This process will enable you to keep them two days in warm weather. In cold weather all sorts of poultry should be kept at least a week; but care should be taken that they do not freeze, as they are not quite so good for being frozen.

Pick out the pin feathers very carefully. A pair of tweezers is sometimes necessary to take out those which a knife will not remove. Cut out the oil bag above the tail. Singe off all the hair by turning it quickly over a blazing paper. Cut off the legs at the joint above the feet; trim the neck, and if too long cut off some of it; draw out the crop and be sure to take out every thing from the inside. The best way of removing the crop is to make an incision along the backbone, just below the neck. It can be removed in this way as easily as by the common method, and the appearance of the bird, when laid on the dish, is much better. Be careful, in removing the gall bag, not to break it, as it will make every spot it touches bitter, and the most careful washing will not remove it. If there is much fat, trim off some of it. Throw the liver, heart, and gizzard into water and wash them. Wash the fowl in several waters. It is then ready to be stuffed and skewered, as directed under the head, To roast a Turkey. Some persons think fowls much better not to be washed; but they cannot be clean without.

The sharpness of the breast bone, which is a defect in the appearance of a fowl on the table, may be remedied in the following way: When preparing it to be cooked, take a small sharp knife, and passing it up the body, cut off the little slender bones which join the hug-me-close[13] to the side. Then push down the breast bone by pressing heavily upon it. A little practice will make it easy to do this.

To Roast a Turkey.

Observe the directions under the head, To prepare Poultry for being cooked. Make a stuffing, and fill both the breast and body. Sew it up with a needle and coarse thread; tie the skin over the end of the neck with a thread or piece of twine. Push a short skewer through above the tail, and a long one through the body under the thighs; then tie the ends of the legs down with a twine, close upon the short skewer. Push another long skewer through the body, so as to confine the wings, and tie them round with a twine. Put the spit through the length of the body, and fasten it with two skewers; flour it, and put it to the fire with a little water in the roaster. It should be roasted rather slowly. A turkey weighing twelve pounds should roast three hours; one weighing six or seven, an hour and a half. When half done, flour it again thickly; when this is browned, baste it often. If much fat roasts out, dip off most of it when the turkey is about half done, and put a small piece of butter into the gravy, and baste the turkey with it. Having washed the heart, liver, &c., boil them an hour and a half, in a sauce-pan in a pint of water; skim them when the water first boils up; if it boils away, add more.

To make the gravy, take out the heart and gizzard, mash the liver, and put it back into the water in which it was boiled, and pour the gravy also out of the roaster into it; set it on the coals, add browned flour, wet smooth, and a little butter and pepper, and boil it a minute or two, and then serve it. The liver should never be put under the wing, or laid upon the dish, but always be used in the gravy, as it is greatly improved by it.

More directions respecting gravies may be found under the head, Directions for making various kinds of Gravies.