Of the Roasts for Second Course.
In London the poultry and game are sent in so nicely prepared for cooking that any remark upon the method of killing, plucking, and drawing them would appear almost unnecessary, but remembering the manner that I have seen poultry and game mutilated in some parts of the country, I have been induced to give the following simple directions.
The best way of killing poultry is to take the bird by the neck, placing the thumb of the right hand just at the back of the head, closing the head in your hand, your left hand holding the bird, then press your thumb down hard and pull the head and neck contrariwise, the neck will break instantaneously, and the bird will be quite dead in a few seconds, when hang it a short time by the legs for the blood to flow into the head, which renders the flesh much whiter. In France we usually kill them by cutting the throat close to the head; both methods are good with regard to the whiteness of the flesh, but I prefer the English method, not being so barbarous.
To pluck either game or poultry have the bird upon a board with its head towards you, and pull the feathers away from you, which is the direction they lay in; many persons pull out the feathers in a contrary direction, by which means they are likely to tear the skin to pieces, which would very much disfigure the bird for the table.
To draw poultry after it is well plucked, cut a long incision at the back of the neck, cut the neck bone off close to the body of the bird, but leave the skin a good length over, then take out the thin skin from under the outer with the crop, cut an incision under the tail just large enough for the gizzard to pass through, no larger, then put your finger into the bird at the breast and detach all the intestines, squeeze the body of the bird and force out the whole from the incision at the tail; it is then ready for trussing, the method of doing which will be given in the various receipts throughout this series. The above method of drawing poultry is equally applicable to game.
To make a gravy for roasts well butter the bottom of a convenient-sized stewpan, upon which lay three onions in thick slices, over which lay a few slices of lean bacon and three pounds of lean beef; place it over a good fire and add two cloves and six peppercorns, with a few sprigs of parsley; when the onions begin to brown stir the meat round with a wooden spoon, keeping the onions still at the bottom, stir occasionally until the onions are well browned but not burnt, then fill up with two quarts of water and half an ounce of salt; when boiling place it at the corner of the fire, skim and let it simmer an hour, skim again, pass it through a cloth into a basin and use when required.
The simplicity of roasting is so generally known by all classes of cooks that but very little attention is often paid to it; the simplicity of the arrangement for roasting being such as with many to leave it to attend to itself; but I shall here in a very few words show my readers the facility of roasting well and with little trouble, which I consider of the greatest importance, especially in a dinner-party where, after the entrées have been well degusted, nothing refreshes the palate or disposes it better for the second course than a fillet or cut from the fillet of a well-roasted capon, chicken, or some description of game, but if badly roasted it would lose its effect.
In roasting much depends upon the fire which requires to be solid and to throw out a great heat, as it is always easy to keep anything a good distance from it, but a bad fire would be the destruction of anything placed before it, for if you had a couple of good fowls or a brace of birds, and were to put one down before a slow fire and the other before a brisk, you would be so astonished at the difference in flavour that did you not know different you would declare that one was of an inferior quality; I am also very much against the improper manner of basting, which would give any birds or poultry the appearance of having been first roasted and afterwards stewed; I have never during the last six years suffered any bird to be basted in my kitchen with the exception of rubbing a piece of butter over the breast of poultry or game as soon as the skin becomes set; any kind of game or poultry is done when you perceive a great smoke arising from it, and if not taken up immediately you lose the flavour and the bird its appearance, for instead of going to table nice and plump it will present a mean and shrivelled object, loudly bespeaking the cook’s inattention, unless it has been kept in a screen or hot closet, by the party having kept the dinner waiting.
By following the above simple method great benefit will be derived in this simple branch of the art, but the most universally useful, for I think we may say without hesitation that near two thirds of our animal and volatile food is daily roasted, which has made me so desirous of impressing the necessity of attention, which is all that is required to roast well.