The Book of Household Management - Mrs. Isabella Beeton
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POULET A LA MARENGO.
949. INGREDIENTS.--1 large fowl, 4 tablespoonfuls of salad oil, 1
tablespoonful of flour, 1 pint of stock No. 105, or water, about 20
mushroom-buttons, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoonful of powdered
sugar, a very small piece of garlic.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into 8 or 10 pieces; put them with the oil into a
stewpan, and brown them over a moderate fire; dredge in the above
proportion of flour; when that is browned, pour in the stock or water;
let it simmer very slowly for rather more than 1/2 hour, and skim off
the fat as it rises to the top; add the mushrooms; season with salt,
pepper, garlic, and sugar; take out the fowl, which arrange
pyramidically on the dish, with the inferior joints at the bottom.
Reduce the sauce by boiling it quickly over the fire, keeping it stirred
until sufficiently thick to adhere to the back of a spoon; pour over the
fowl, and serve.
_Time_.--Altogether 50 minutes. _Average cost_, 3s. 6d.
_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
A FOWL A LA MARENGO.--The following is the origin of the
well-known dish Poulet a la Marengo:--On the evening of the
battle the first consul was very hungry after the agitation of
the day, and a fowl was ordered with all expedition. The fowl
was procured, but there was no butter at hand, and unluckily
none could be found in the neighbourhood. There was oil in
abundance, however; and the cook having poured a certain
quantity into his skillet, put in the fowl, with a clove of
garlic and other seasoning, with a little white wine, the best
the country afforded; he then garnished it with mushrooms, and
served it up hot. This dish proved the second conquest of the
day, as the first consul found it most agreeable to his palate,
and expressed his satisfaction. Ever since, a fowl a la Marengo
is a favourite dish with all lovers of good cheer.
MINCED FOWL A LA BECHAMEL.
950. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 6 tablespoonfuls of
Bechamel sauce No. 367, 6 tablespoonfuls of white stock No. 107, the
white of 1 egg, bread crumbs, clarified butter.
_Mode_.--Take the remains of roast fowls, mince the white meat very
small, and put it into a stewpan with the Bechamel and stock; stir it
well over the fire, and just let it boil up. Pour the mince into a dish,
beat up the white of egg, spread it over, and strew on it a few grated
bread crumbs; pour a very little clarified butter on the whole, and
brown either before the fire or with a salamander. This should be served
in a silver dish, if at hand.
_Time_.--2 or 3 minutes to simmer in the sauce.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE BEST WAY TO FATTEN FOWLS.--The barn-door fowl is in itself a
complete refutation of the cramming and dungeon policy of
feeding practised by some. This fowl, which has the common run
of the farm-yard, living on dairy-scraps and offal from the
stable, begins to grow fat at threshing-time. He has his fill of
the finest corn; he has his fill of fresh air and natural
exercise, and at last he comes smoking to the table,--a dish
for the gods. In the matter of unnaturally stuffing and
confining fowls, Mowbray is exactly of our opinion. He says:
"The London chicken-butchers, as they are termed, are said to
be, of all others, the most expeditious and dexterous feeders,
putting up a coop of fowls, and making them thoroughly fat
within the space of a fortnight, using much grease, and that
perhaps not of the most delicate kind, in the food. In this way
I have no boasts to make, having always found it necessary to
allow a considerable number of weeks for the purpose of making
fowls fat in coops. In the common way this business is often
badly managed, fowls being huddled together in a small coop,
tearing each other to pieces, instead of enjoying that repose
which alone can insure, the wished-for object--irregularly fed
and cleaned, until they become so stenched and poisoned in their
own excrement, that their flesh actually smells and tastes when
smoking upon the table." Sussex produces the fattest and largest
poultry of any county in England, and the fatting process there
most common is to give them a gruel made of pot-liquor and
bruised oats, with which are mixed hog's grease, sugar, and
milk. The fowls are kept very warm, and crammed morning and
night. They are put into the coop, and kept there two or three
days before the cramming begins, and then it is continued for a
fortnight, and the birds are sent to market.
RAGOUT OF FOWL.
951. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 3 shalots, 2 blades
of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 or three slices of lean ham, 1
pint of stock or water, pepper and salt to taste, 1 onion, 1
dessertspoonful of flour, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2
teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 oz. of butter.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowls up into neat pieces, the same as for a fricassee;
put the trimmings into a stewpan with the shalots, mace, herbs, ham,
onion, and stock (water may be substituted for this). Boil it slowly for
1 hour, strain the liquor, and put a small piece of butter into a
stewpan; when melted, dredge in sufficient flour to dry up the butter,
and stir it over the fire. Put in the strained liquor, boil for a few
minutes, and strain it again over the pieces of fowl. Squeeze in the
lemon-juice, add the sugar and a seasoning of pepper and salt, make it
hot, but do not allow it to boil; lay the fowl neatly on the dish, and
garnish with croutons.
_Time_.--Altogether 1-1/2 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold
fowl, 9d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE BEST FOWLS TO FATTEN, &c.--The chicks most likely to fatten
well are those first hatched in the brood, and those with the
shortest legs. Long-legged fowls, as a rule, are by far the most
difficult to fatten. The most delicate sort are those which are
put up to fatten as soon as the hen forsakes them; for, as says
an old writer, "then they will be in fine condition, and full of
flesh, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of
foraging for food, and in the increase of stature; and it may be
a work of some weeks to recover it,--especially with young
cocks." But whether you take them in hand as chicks, or not till
they are older, the three prime rules to be observed are, sound
and various food, warmth, and cleanliness. There is nothing that
a fatting fowl grows so fastidious about as his water. If water
any way foul be offered him, he will not drink it, but sulk with
his food, and pine, and you all the while wondering the reason
why. Keep them separate, allowing to each bird as much space as
you can spare. Spread the ground with sharp sandy gravel; take
care that they are not disturbed. In addition to their regular
diet of good corn, make them a cake of ground oats or beans,
brown sugar, milk, and mutton suet. Let the cake lie till it is
stale, then crumble it, and give each bird a gill-measureful
morning and evening. No entire grain should be given to fowls
during the time they are fattening; indeed, the secret of
success lies in supplying them with the most nutritious food
without stint, and in such a form that their digestive mills
shall find no difficulty in grinding it.
[Illustration: ROAST FOWL.]
ROAST FOWLS.
952. INGREDIENTS.--A pair of fowls; a little flour.
_Mode_.--Fowls to be tender should be killed a couple of days before
they are dressed; when the feathers come out easily, then let them be
picked and cooked. In drawing them, be careful not to break the
gall-bag, as, wherever it touches, it would impart a very bitter taste;
the liver and gizzard should also be preserved. Truss them in the
following manner:--After having carefully picked them, cut off the head,
and skewer the skin of the neck down over the back. Cut off the claws;
dip the legs in boiling water, and scrape them; turn the pinions under,
run a skewer through them and the middle of the legs, which should be
passed through the body to the pinion and leg on the other side, one
skewer securing the limbs on both sides. The liver and gizzard should be
placed in the wings, the liver on one side and the gizzard on the other.
Tie the legs together by passing a trussing-needle, threaded with twine,
through the backbone, and secure it on the other side. If trussed like a
capon, the legs are placed more apart. When firmly trussed, singe them
all over; put them down to a bright clear fire, paper the breasts with a
sheet of buttered paper, and keep the fowls well basted. Roast them for
3/4 hour, more or less, according to the size, and 10 minutes before
serving, remove the paper, dredge the fowls with a little fine flour,
put a piece of butter into the basting-ladle, and as it melts, baste the
fowls with it; when nicely frothed and of a rich colour, serve with good
brown gravy, a little of which should be poured over the fowls, and a
tureen of well-made bread sauce, No. 371. Mushroom, oyster, or egg sauce
are very suitable accompaniments to roast fowl.--Chicken is roasted in
the same manner.
_Time_.--A very large fowl, quite 1 hour, medium-sized one 3/4 hour,
chicken 1/2 hour, or rather longer.
_Average cost_, in full season, 5s. a pair; when scarce, 7s. 6d. the
pair.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.
THE DISEASES OF FOWLS, AND HOW TO CURE THEM.--The diseases to
which _Gallus domesticus_ is chiefly liable, are roup, pip,
scouring, and chip. The first-mentioned is the most common of
all, and results from cold. The ordinary symptoms,--swollen
eyes, running at the nostrils, and the purple colour of the
wattles. Part birds so affected from the healthy ones, as, when
the disease is at its height it is as contagious as glanders
among horses. Wash out the nostrils with warm water, give daily
a peppercorn inclosed in dough; bathe the eyes and nostrils with
warm milk and water. If the head is much swollen, bathe with
warm brandy and water. When the bird is getting well, put half a
spoonful of sulphur in his drinking-water. Some fanciers
prescribe for this disease half a spoonful of table salt,
dissolved in half a gill of water, in which rue has been
steeped; others, pills composed of ground rice and fresh butter:
but the remedy first mentioned will be found far the best. As
there is a doubt respecting the wholesomeness of the eggs laid
by roupy hens, it will be as well to throw them away. The pip is
a white horny skin growing on the tip of the bird's tongue. It
should be removed with the point of a penknife, and the place
rubbed with salt.
FOWL AND RICE CROQUETTES (an Entree).
953. INGREDIENTS.--1/4 lb. of rice, 1 quart of stock or broth, 3 oz. of
butter, minced fowl, egg, and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Put the rice into the above proportion of cold stock or broth,
and let it boil very gently for 1/2 hour; then add the butter, and
simmer it till quite dry and soft When cold, make it into balls, hollow
out the inside, and fill with minced fowl made by recipe No. 956. The
mince should be rather thick. Cover over with rice, dip the balls into
egg, sprinkle them with bread crumbs, and fry a nice brown. Dish them,
and garnish with fried parsley. Oysters, white sauce, or a little cream,
may be stirred into the rice before it cools.
_Time_.--1/2 hour to boil the rice, 10 minutes to fry the croquettes.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
CHIP.--If the birds are allowed to puddle about on wet soil, or
to be much out in the rain, they will get "chip." Young chicks
are especially liable to this complaint. They will sit shivering
in out-of-the-way corners, perpetually uttering a dolorous
"chip, chip;" seemingly frozen with cold, though, on handling
them, they are found to be in high fever. A wholesale breeder
would take no pains to attempt the cure of fowls so afflicted;
but they who keep chickens for the pleasure, and not for the
profit they yield, will be inclined to recover them if possible.
Give them none but warm food, half a peppercorn rolled in a
morsel of dough every night, and a little nitre in their water.
Above all, keep them warm; a corner in the kitchen fender, for a
day or two, will do more to effect a cure than the run of a
druggist's warehouse.
CROQUETTES OF FOWL (an Entree).
954. INGREDIENTS.--3 or 4 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of
flour, white sauce; pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste; 1/2
teaspoonful of pounded sugar, the remains of cold roast fowls, the yolks
of 2 eggs, egg, and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Mince the fowl, carefully removing all skin and bone, and fry
the shalots in the butter; add the minced fowl, dredge in the flour, put
in the pepper, salt, mace, pounded sugar, and sufficient white sauce to
moisten it; stir to it the yolks of 2 well-beaten eggs, and set it by to
cool. Then make the mixture up into balls, egg and bread-crumb them, and
fry a nice brown. They may be served on a border of mashed potatoes,
with gravy or sauce in the centre.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the balls.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE TURN.--What is termed "turrling" with song-birds, is known,
as regard fowls, as the "turn." Its origin is the same in both
cases,--over-feeing and want of exercise. Without a moment's
warning, a fowl so afflicted will totter and fall from its
perch, and unless assistance be at hand, speedily give up the
ghost. The veins of the palate should be opened, and a few drops
of mixture composed of six parts of sweet nitre and one of
ammonia, poured down its throat. I have seen ignorant keepers
plunge a bird, stricken with the "turn," into cold water; but I
never saw it taken out again alive; and for a good reason: the
sudden chill has the effect of driving the blood to the
head,--of aggravating the disease indeed, instead of relieving
it.
HASHED FOWL--an Entree (Cold Meat Cookery).
955. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 pint of water, 1
onion, 2 or three small carrots, 1 blade of pounded mace, pepper and
salt to taste, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and
flour, 1-1/2 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.
_Mode_.--Cut off the best joints from the fowl, and the remainder make
into gravy, by adding to the bones and trimmings a pint of water, an
onion sliced and fried of a nice brown, the carrots, mace, seasoning,
and herbs. Let these stew gently for 1-1/2 hour, strain the liquor, and
thicken with a little flour and butter. Lay in the fowl, thoroughly warm
it through, add the ketchup, and garnish with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--Altogether 1-3/4 hour.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 4d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
SKIN-DISEASE IN FOWLS.--Skin-disease is, nine times out of ten,
caused by the feathers being swarmed by parasites. Poor feeding
will induce this, even if cleanliness be observed;
uncleanliness, however liberal the bill of fare, will be taken
as an invitation by the little biting pests, and heartily
responded to. Mix half a teaspoonful of hydro-oxalic acid with
twelve teaspoonfuls of water,--apply to the itching parts with
an old shaving-brush.
OBSTRUCTION OF THE CROP.--Obstruction of the crop is occasioned
by weakness or greediness. You may know when a bird is so
afflicted by his crop being distended almost to bursting.
Mowbray tells of a hen of his in this predicament; when the crop
was opened, a quantity of new beans were discovered in a state
of vegetation. The crop should be slit from the _bottom_ to the
_top_ with a sharp pair of scissors, the contents taken out, and
the slit sewed up again with line white thread.
MINCED FOWL--an Entree (Cold Meat Cookery).
956. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 hard-boiled eggs,
salt, cayenne, and pounded mace, 1 onion, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, 6
tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 oz. of butter, two teaspoonfuls of flour, 1/2
teaspoonful of finely-minced lemon-peel, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.
_Mode_.--Cut out from the fowl all the white meat, and mince it finely
without any skin or bone; put the bones, skin, and trimmings into a
stewpan with an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, and
nearly a pint of water; let this stew for an hour, then strain the
liquor. Chop the eggs small; mix them with the fowl; add salt, cayenne,
and pounded mace, put in the gravy and remaining ingredients; let the
whole just boil, and serve with sippets of toasted bread.
_Time_.--Rather more than 1 hour.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
_Note_.--Another way to make this is to mince the fowl, and warm it in
white sauce or Bechamel. When dressed like this, 3 or 4 poached eggs may
be placed on the top: oysters, or chopped mushrooms, or balls of oyster
forcemeat, may be laid round the dish.
THE MOULTING SEASON.--During the moulting season beginning
properly at the end of September, the fowls will require a
little extra attention. Keep them dry and warm, and feed them
liberally on warm and satisfying food. If in any fowl the moult
should seem protracted, examine it for broken feather-stumps
still beaded in the skin: if you find any, extract them
carefully with a pair of tweezers. If a fowl is hearty and
strong, six weeks will see him out of his trouble; if he is
weakly, or should take cold during the time, he will not
thoroughly recover in less than three months. It is seldom or
ever that hens will lay during the moult; while the cock, during
the same period, will give so little of his consideration to the
frivolities of love, that you may as well, nay, much better,
keep him by himself till he perfectly recovers. A moulting
chicken makes but a sorry dish.
HASHED FOWL, Indian Fashion (an Entree).
957.--INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced
onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, pounded mace, pepper and salt to
taste, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1
tablespoonful of flour, 1 teaspoonful of pounded sugar, 1 pint of gravy.
_Mode_.--Cut the onions into slices, mince the apple, and fry these in
the butter; add pounded mace, pepper, salt, curry-powder, vinegar,
flour, and sugar in the above proportions; when the onion is brown, put
it the gravy, which should be previously made from the bones and
trimmings of the fowls, and stew for 3/4 hour; add the fowl cut into
nice-sized joints, let it warm through, and when quite tender, serve.
The dish should be garnished with au edging of boiled rice.
_Time_.--1 hour. Average cost, exclusive of the fowl, 8d.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
THE SCOUR OR DYSENTERY.--The scour, or dysentery, or diarrhoea,
is induced variously. A sudden alteration in diet will cause it,
as will a superabundance of green food. The best remedy is a
piece of toasted biscuit sopped in ale. If the disease has too
tight a hold on the bird to be quelled by this, give six drops
of syrup of white poppies and six drops of castor-oil, mixed
with a little oatmeal or ground rice. Restrict the bird's diet,
for a few days, to dry food,--crushed beans or oats, stale
bread-crumbs, &c.
FOWL SCOLLOPS (Cold Meat Cookery).
958. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast or boiled fowl, 1/2
pint of Bechamel, No. 367, or white sauce, No. 537 or 539.
_Mode_.--Strip off the skin from the fowl; cut the meat into
thin slices, and warm them in about 1/2 pint, or rather more, of
Bechamel, or white sauce. When quite hot, serve, and garnish the
dish with rolled ham or bacon toasted.
_Time_.--1 minute to simmer the slices of fowl.
_Seasonable_ at any time.
[Illustration: THE FEATHER LEGGED BANTAM.]
THE FEATHER LEGGED BANTAM.--Since the introduction of the Bantam
into Europe, it has ramified into many varieties, none of which
are destitute of elegance, and some, indeed, remarkable for
their beauty. All are, or ought to be, of small size, but lively
and vigorous, exhibiting in their movements both grace and
stateliness. The variety shown in the engraving is remarkable
for the _tarsi_, or beams of the legs, being plumed to the toes,
with stiff, long feathers, which brush the ground. Owing,
possibly, to the little care taken to preserve this variety from
admixture, it is now not frequently seen. Another variety is
often red, with a black breast and single dentated comb. The
_tarsi_ are smooth, and of a dusky blue. When this sort of
Bantam is pure, it yields in courage and spirit to none, and is,
in fact, a game-fowl in miniature, being as beautiful and
graceful as it is spirited. A pure white Bantam, possessing all
the qualifications just named, is also bred in the royal aviary
at Windsor.
AN INDIAN DISH OF FOWL (an Entree).
959. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 3 or 4 sliced onions,
1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, salt to taste.
_Mode_.--Divide the fowl into joints; slice and fry the onions in a
little butter, taking care not to burn them; sprinkle over the fowl a
little curry-powder and salt; fry these nicely, pile them high in the
centre of the dish, cover with the onion, and serve with a cut lemon on
a plate. Care must be taken that the onions are not greasy: they should
be quite dry, but not burnt.
_Time_.--5 minutes to fry the onions, 10 minutes to fry the fowl.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 4d.
_Seasonable_ during the winter month.
[Illustration: SPECKLED HAMBURGS.]
THE SPECKLED HAMBURG.--Of the speckled, or spangled Hamburg
which is a favourite breed with many persons, there are two
varieties,--the golden-speckled and the silver-speckled. The
general colour of the former is golden, or orange-yellow, each
feather having a glossy dark brown or black tip, particularly
remarkable on the hackles of the cock and the wing-coverts, and
also on the darker feathers of the breast. The female is yellow,
or orange-brown, the feathers in like manner being margined with
black. The silver-speckled variety is distinguished by the
ground-colour of the plumage being of a silver-white, with
perhaps a tinge of straw-yellow, every leather being margined
with a semi-lunar mark of glossy black. Both of these varieties
are extremely beautiful, the hens laying freely. First-rate
birds command a high price.
FOWL SAUTE WITH PEAS (an Entree).
960. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 2 oz. of butter,
pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2
pint of weak stock, 1 pint of green peas, 1 teaspoonful of pounded
sugar.
_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into nice pieces; put the butter into a stew-pan;
sautez or fry the fowl a nice brown colour, previously sprinkling it
with pepper, salt, and pounded mace. Dredge in the flour, shake the
ingredients well round, then add the stock and peas, and stew till the
latter are tender, which will be in about 20 minutes; put in the pounded
sugar, and serve, placing the chicken round, and the peas in the middle
of the dish. When liked, mushrooms may be substituted for the peas.
_Time_.--Altogether 40 minutes.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 7d.
_Seasonable_ from June to August.
BOUDIN A LA REINE (an Entree).
(M. Ude's Recipe.)
961. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 1 pint of Bechamel
No. 367, salt and cayenne to taste, egg and bread crumbs.
_Mode_.--Take the breasts and nice white meat from the fowls; cut it
into small dice of an equal size, and throw them into some good
Bechamel, made by recipe No. 367; season with salt and cayenne, and put
the mixture into a dish to cool. When this preparation is quite cold,
cut it into 2 equal parts, which should be made into _boudins_ of a long
shape, the size of the dish they are intended to be served on; roll them
in flour, egg and bread-crumb them, and be careful that the ends are
well covered with the crumbs, otherwise they would break in the
frying-pan; fry them a nice colour, put them before the fire to drain
the greasy moisture from them, and serve with the remainder of the
Bechamel poured round: this should be thinned with a little stock.
_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the boudins.
_Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 1s. 3d.
_Sufficient_ for 1 entree.
[Illustration: SEBRIGHT BANTAMS.]
SIR JOHN SEBRIGHT'S BANTAMS.--Above all Bantams is placed, the
celebrated and beautiful breed called Sir John Sebright's Silver
Bantams. This breed, which Sir John brought to perfection after
years of careful trials, is very small, with un-feathered legs,
and a rose comb and short hackles. The plumage is gold or
silver, spangled, every feather being of a golden orange, or of
a silver white, with a glossy jet-black margin; the cocks have
the tail folded like that of a hen, with the sickle feathers
shortened straight, or nearly so, and broader than usual. The
term _hen-cocks_ is, in consequence, often applied to them; but
although the sickle feathers are thus modified, no bird
possesses higher courage, or a more gallant carriage. The
attitude of the cock is, indeed, singularly proud; and he is
often seen to bear himself so haughtily, that his head, thrown
back as if in disdain, nearly touches the two upper
feathers--sickles they can scarcely be called--of his tail.
Half-bred birds of this kind are not uncommon, but birds of the
pure breed are not to be obtained without trouble and expense;
indeed, some time ago, it was almost impossible to procure
either a fowl or an egg. "The finest," says the writer whom we
have consulted as to this breed, "we have ever seen, were in Sir
John's poultry-yard, adjacent to Turnham-Green Common, in the
byroad leading to Acton."
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