Recipes.
Birds Baked in Sweet Potatoes.—Small birds, of which the breast is the only suitable portion for eating, may be baked in the following manner: Cut a sweet potato lengthwise; make a cavity in each half. Place the breast of the bird therein; fit, and tie together carefully; bake until the potato is soft. Serve in the potato.
Boiled Fowl.—After cleaning and dividing the fowl, put into boiling water, and proceed as directed on page 395.
Broiled Birds.—Pluck and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Split down the middle of the back, and carefully draw the bird. Proceed as directed below.
Broiled Fowl.—A young bird well dressed and singed is best for this purpose. Split down the middle of the back, wipe clean with a damp cloth, twist the top of the wings from the second joint; spread out flat, and with a rolling pin break the projecting breastbone so that the bird will lie flat upon the broiler. When ready to cook, place it skin uppermost and sear the under side by pressing it on a hot pan; then broil the same as beefsteak over glowing coals.
Corn and Chicken.—Clean and divide a chicken in joints. Stew in milk or part milk and water until nearly tender; then add the grains and juice from a dozen ears of corn. Cook slowly until the corn is done; season lightly with salt, and serve with dry toast.
Pigeons, Quails, and Partridges may be half baked, then cooked as directed for Smothered Chicken until tender.
Roast Chicken.—Dress carefully, singe, wash, and wipe dry. Put into a pan of the proper size, add a cup of boiling water, and cook very slowly for the first half hour, then increase the heat, baste frequently, turn occasionally so that no portion will brown too fast. Cook from one to two hours according to size and age of the bird. It is usually considered essential to stuff a fowl for roasting, but a dressing compounded of melted fat and crumbs seasoned with herbs and strong condiments is not to be recommended.
If a dressing is considered necessary, it may be made of a quart of crumbs of rather stale whole-wheat bread, moistened with cream, to which add a small handful of powdered and sifted sage leaves which have been dried in the oven until crisp. Add salt as desired, a well-beaten egg, and a little chopped celery.
Roast Turkey.—Pluck, singe, and dress the turkey; wash thoroughly and wipe with a dry cloth. If dressing is to be used, stuff the body full, sew up, and truss. Place in a dripping-pan, add a pint of boiling water, and put in an oven so moderate that the turkey will not brown for the first hour; afterward the heat may be somewhat increased, but at no time should the oven be very hot. After the bird becomes brown, baste it occasionally with the water in the pan, dredging lightly with flour. Cook until the legs will separate from the body; three or four hours will be necessary for a small turkey. One half hour to the pound is the usual rule. When tender, remove the stuffing and serve it hot, placing the turkey on a large hot platter to be carved. It may be garnished with parsley or celery leaves and served with cranberry sauce.
Ducks and geese may be prepared and roasted in the same manner, but less time will suffice for cooking, about one and one third hours for ducks of ordinary size, and about three hours for a young goose.
A stuffing of mashed potato seasoned with onion, sage, and salt is considered preferable for a goose. Equal parts of bread crumbs and chopped apples moistened in a little cream are also used for this purpose.
Smothered Chicken.—Cut two chickens into joints and put in a closely covered kettle with a pint of boiling water. Heat very slowly to boiling, skim, keep covered, and simmer until tender and the water evaporated; add salt, turn the pieces, and brown them in their own juices.
Steamed Chicken.—Prepare the chicken as for roasting, steam until nearly tender, dredge with flour and a little salt; put into a dripping-pan and brown in the oven. Other birds and fowls may be prepared in the same way.
Stewed Chicken.—Divide a chicken into pieces suitable for serving, and stew as directed for beef on page 400. Old fowls left whole and stewed in this manner for a long time and afterward roasted, are much better than when prepared in any other way. If a gravy is desired, prepare as for stewed beef. Other poultry may be stewed likewise.