Fricassée.—The fowl is usually divided into 12 or 14 pieces. What are called the legs make 2 and sometimes 4, but this is seldom done; the wings make 4, and the breast and back are cut up, according to the size of the fowl, into 2 or 3 pieces respectively. The mode of proceeding is this: Having plucked and singed the bird, lay it on its side on a table, grasp the thigh and leg together with the left hand, and with a sharp knife cut down to the socket of the thigh bone; pull the limb back with the left hand, disengage the thigh bone from the socket, cut the skin neatly round the thigh, and put the limb on one side. Do the same with the other leg and thigh. Cut off the head and neck close to the body. To remove the wings, lay the fowl on its back, and make an incision along the breast bone 1 in. from the ridge of it, cutting down to the joint of the wing bone, which you disjoint from the carcase; Then cut right down, and remove the wing. Take off the other wing in the same way.
You now grasp the fowl with the left hand, and inserting the knife, cut right through towards the vent, then pull the breast back, and cut it off altogether. Having removed the inside of the fowl, you chop off the ribs on either side of the back, and trim this piece neatly as well as the breast piece. The breast and the back are each cut across into 3 or 2 pieces, according to circumstances. Taking now each leg in turn, you make an incision round the heel, and pull the flesh back, chop off the bone above the heel, and pull back the flesh; then chop off the head of the thigh bone. The 2 wings are divided at the second joint, the head of the bones being cut off, as well as the spur at the end of the second joint.
Care must be had in chopping off the bones to do so at one blow, and to have a sufficiently heavy knife to make a clean cut. The blow should be given with the part of the knife next the handle; a meat chopper would be too heavy. Another point which requires attention is to let each piece, especially the wings and legs, have its proper allowance of skin. The cuts should be given freely, and at one stroke, as it were, so as to avoid any little bits of flesh or skin hanging from any of the pieces.
Fillets.—Take 3 small fowls—the backs and legs cannot be used for this dish, but they will come in usefully in making white soup, and in many other ways. The fowls should be fat and white. Clean and pick them well, scalding the legs in boiling water. Having singed the chickens, cut the fillets from the breasts; flatten and trim the 6 large fillets; of the 6 small ones make 3, by sticking 2 together. Then lay them in a sauté or frying-pan (a delicately clean one), covering them with melted butter, and sprinkling fine salt over them, and let them remain until just before dinner time; then put the sautépan on the fire, and fry the fillets lightly on both sides until they are firm, which will show that they are done. Having drained off the butter gravy will be found at the bottom of the pan; add to this 3-4 spoonfuls of rich white sauce well seasoned, moving the pan over the fire, and not letting the sauce boil at all; were it to boil, the fillets of chicken would be spoiled. Cut some slices of stale bread, rather thicker than a penny piece, stamp it out either into rounds, or into pear-shaped pieces, one on the other; fry these pieces of bread in butter until of a light brown colour. Dress the 9 fillets in a circle, with a piece of the fried bread between each. Put the sauce into the middle of the dish, and put a little of it over each fillet with a spoon, taking care not to let it touch the fried bread, which should be nice and crisp. Serve them up at once very hot.
(b) Having prepared the fillets as (a), flatten them and garnish the larger ones with truffles as follows: Cut thin small rounds of truffles, and having made 3 or 4 round slits in each of the fillets, place a round of the truffle in each of these slits, taking care not to carry it through the fillets, which would break them. After garnishing, dip each fillet into melted butter, as also the smaller fillets, and fry them lightly, so as to leave them slightly underdone. Take them off the fire, drain off the butter, reduce the sauce as before, and add to it a few spoonfuls of well-flavoured white sauce; put the fillets into this, and let them simmer gently, moving them during the time until they become firm, which will show that they are done enough. Dish them up alternately, a large garnished fillet and then a small plain one. Stir a good spoonful of thick cream into the sauce, pour it into the centre of the dish, and with a spoon put some of the sauce over each of the small fillets, but not over those which are garnished. Serve very hot.
Galantine.—(a) Bone a large fowl, sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper, take 1½ lb. lean veal, ½ lb. fat bacon; pound together, and pass them through a wire sieve, add a little chopped parsley and thyme, a little grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper; when this is well mixed place it on the fowl with a few truffles, pieces of tongue, previously dressed, cut the same size as the truffles, place these at equal distances and fold over the fowl carefully, so that the forcemeat is well enclosed in it, tie it up tightly in a strong cloth, tying the ends in the same way as a roley poley pudding, place a large pin in the centre to keep it quite tight while boiling: put into a large stewpan any veal trimmings, lean bacon, and fowl trimming with the bones of the fowl, and 1 large carrot, 3 large onions, some parsley, thyme, 2 bay leaves, some peppercorns, and salt, fill with cold water; when boiling put in the galantine, leave it to boil gently for 1½-1¾ hour, according to the size, but not longer; then take off the cloth while hot, and roll the galantine tightly again in it, taking care which side is the breast; place the galantine between 2 common dishes or boards breasts uppermost, place a weight on it (for a galantine of this size a 7 lb. weight is sufficient); leave it until cold, when it should be garnished with some pale aspic jelly. If the galantine appears dry on the outside glaze it lightly and garnish with parsley. Galantines can be made of turkey, pheasant, partridge, or grouse in the same way as the above, only the livers should be lightly fried and added to the forcemeat. (Jane Burtenshaw.)
(b) To bone a fowl, proceed as follows: Give a blow to the legs just above the heel with a heavy kitchen knife, so as to break the bone; cut the skin round; then, holding the foot, give it a twist, and pull it off, thereby removing the strong sinews of the leg. Chop off the wings just above the second joint, then slit the skin of the neck lengthways; pull this out, cut it off close, and cut the skin square. Lay the fowl breast undermost and make an incision all along the back, from end to end; then with a pointed knife—what is called a vegetable knife will do very well—proceed to detach the flesh from the carcase, beginning at the neck end; when you come to the wing bone disjoint it from the carcase, and then make a slit inwardly along the wing joint, and remove the bone; work along down to the leg, and when you come to the thigh bone disjoint it from the carcase. Also do the other side in the same way. Now work along each side, detaching the breast; and this requires great care not to injure the skin, especially over the breast bone. When you have worked round both sides, remove the carcase—which can be drawn at leisure, and should be boiled along with the galantine when this is put to cook and you have the fowl all boned except the thigh and leg bones on each side. The mode of getting rid of these is this: Make an incision along the thigh, dissect the bone from the flesh, scrape the flesh along the leg bone, and finally pull this out, and it will carry the remaining sinews with it. All that now remains to be done is to cut out the “wishing-bone,” which will probably have remained in the flesh of the breast, as well as the two large white sinews of the breast. (The G. C.)
Grilled Legs.—Take the legs of cold fowl, score them well, and rub in plentifully some made mustard, salt, and cayenne; broil over a clear fire and serve with: grill sauce. Take 1 gill good gravy, add to it 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup, 1 teaspoonful French mustard, a few chopped capers, and a little grated lemon peel; add a little butter rolled in flour, a few drops of chili vinegar, simmer until quite hot, pour over the legs, and serve.
Old Hen.—(a) To make this tender, it should be divided into joints, after picking and drawing; place these pieces into a deep baking dish with a pinch or two of salt, filling the dish with cold water so as to more than cover the meat. Set it in the oven and let it remain there for 3-4 hours, or until it is sufficiently done to draw the bones out easily, which must be ascertained by occasionally taking it out to try; it will also require watching to see that the water does not dry up, or if it does, to keep adding from time to time a little hot water to keep the meat covered till it is sufficiently done. When this is the case, draw out the bones, remove all the skin, and take the sinews from the drumsticks. The meat will now be perfectly tender, and may be used for curries, rissoles, fricassées, or in any other way in which ordinary chickens are used.
(b) Pluck, draw, and singe the hen and put it into a saucepan with just enough water to cover; stew very gently for 1 hour, keeping the lid of the saucepan on all the time. Take up the bird, cut it into medium-sized pieces, and roll round each piece a thin slice of bacon; place in a pie dish, cut 2 hard-boiled eggs into slices, lay these among the pieces of fowl, sprinkle over a tablespoonful of minced parsley, season with pepper and salt, and pour over all the gravy in which the fowl was stewed, or as much of it as the dish will hold; cover with a light crust and bake one hour. Any gravy left over should be saved, as it makes excellent light stock for many purposes. (Bessie Tremaine.)