To Cook an Old Fowl.—Dress and stuff as for roasting; then boil three hours in a covered pot, with one quart of water, to which add two table-spoonfuls of vinegar; then take it from the water, rub over with a little butter, sprinkle over some flour, and put the fowl into a bake-pan and bake in a hot oven one hour. Use the liquor in the pot for gravy and to baste with. The vinegar makes it very tender, but does not taste at all.
Roast Duck.—Select those that are fat and tender. Remove every pinfeather, and singe off all the hairs; stuff with bread chopped fine, seasoned with a little sage, summer savory, salt, and pepper; or, if agreeable, add two onions chopped fine, but unless sure that all who are to eat can use onions without injury, it is better not to risk them. Remove the two oil-sacks from the back, or the oil will impart a strong, disagreeable flavor. Roast carefully till of a nice brown, basting thoroughly. One hour is quite long enough, as, if too much cooked, a duck becomes very dry and tasteless. Remove all the fat from the gravy, and put in the giblets, which should have been cooked and chopped fine before the ducks were done. When chopping them, dust in flour, so as to make a paste; then stir it into the gravy; stir till all lumps have been broken and smoothed; let it cook a few minutes, then pour in part of the water in which the giblets were boiled; cook till it is thick and entirely free from lumps, then serve.
We have been told that a very excellent French cook opens and draws his poultry, but does not pluck them till they have hung a few days,—long enough for the substance in the end of the quill to absorb,—and thus they can be plucked clean leaving no pinfeathers. He then picks and stuffs them, and lets them hang a day or two longer, until the whole fowl is flavored with the dressing. We are assured poultry so prepared is very delicate and finely flavored. We will not vouch for this; but in part it sounds reasonable, and is well worth trying, only we think the feathers must impart a strong, oily flavor if left in so long.
To Roast a Goose.—Select a goose with clean, white skin, plump breast, and yellow feet. If the feet are red, the bird is old. Let it hang for a few days, if the weather will permit, as by so doing the flavor is greatly improved. In dressing, take great care in plucking, singeing, and drawing the goose, for if the oil-sack is broken over it, or the gall bladder broken inside, it will be more noticeable and less easy to remove in a goose than any other poultry. Cut off the neck close to the back, leaving the skin long enough to tie over. This can be done by drawing back the skin, while you sever the neck from the body. Cut off the feet at the first joint, and separate the pinions at the first joint also; beat the breastbone flat with potato-masher or rolling-pin. Put a skewer through the under part of each wing; draw up the legs closely and run a skewer into the middle of each, passing it quite through the body. Put another skewer into the small part of the leg, bring it close down to the side-bone, run it through, and proceed the same way with the other side. Cut off the vent, make a hole in the skin large enough to draw the rump through, so as to keep in the seasoning. Make a dressing of mealy potatoes, finely mashed, two boiled onions chopped very fine, one and a half teaspoonfuls of powdered sage, one of salt, and one of black pepper. Fill the body of the goose, and secure it firmly by tying the skin over the neck, and drawing the rump through the hole cut in the skin. Roast for two hours, if large, or bake the same length of time; but roasting is much nicer. Baste often, dredging a little flour over. Do not baste in the drippings from the goose; they are too strong; but prepare some basting by putting a little browned butter, salt, and pepper into part of a cup of boiling water. When half done, drain the fat from the roaster; the last drippings will not be so strong, and, with the basting water, will suffice for the gravy. Make a good gravy, in which the giblets finely chopped, and a little flour for thickening, have been boiled. Put the gravy into a tureen, and serve the goose with a dish of nice apple or gooseberry sauce.
Wild Goose.—A wild goose should be cooked rare. One hour’s roasting is quite sufficient. A cup of currant jelly and a glass of red wine should be added to the gravy, which is made the same as for a common goose. Serve hot.
To Roast a Green Goose.—Geese are called green till four months old. Dress and truss the same as a full-grown goose, but do not stuff the bird. Put into the body pepper and salt, and a little butter to moisten it. Roast for an hour; serve with gravy made like the first, and tomato or sorrel sauce.
To Boil a Goose.—Clean thoroughly, and soak for twelve hours in warm milk and water. Then dry, and stuff with sage and onions, as for roasting. Put it into cold water over the fire, and bring to a boil, then let it simmer gently for an hour and a quarter. Serve with onion sauce poured over it, and stewed cabbage around it.
A teaspoonful of made mustard, a salt-spoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne, mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured into the goose, through a slit made in the apron when about half done, and by many persons considered a great delicacy.
Onions may be omitted, if injurious to any who are to partake of it. They make many persons quite ill, and it is a kindness to avoid using any seasoning that will disturb your guests. Whatever way a goose is to be cooked, it is well to soak it over night in milk poured over it boiling hot. In the morning wash off the milk and put the goose into a kettle of cold water, set it over the fire, and let it remain till almost boiling hot, not quite. This removes the strong taste of the oil, and you can then take it out, dry with a towel, and when cool stuff and cook as you wish,—either boiled, baked, or roasted.
To Stew a Goose.—Truss the goose as for boiling; cover with thin slices of bacon and tie it up. Cover the bottom of the saucepan also with bacon, sprinkle in a very little of sweet herbs powdered, a carrot cut in dice, and two bay leaves, if you can get them. Lay in the goose and giblets, cover with bacon, moisten with rich stock enough to cover the goose; set over the fire and let it boil up; then cover with buttered paper and a close-fitting cover; set it on a hot hearth with fire over it. Let it cook an hour and a half. Serve with onion or apple sauce.