Chapter XXI: CHICKEN CUTLETS (an Entree) (2)

THE BANTAM.--No one will dispute that for beauty, animation,
plumage, and courage the Bantam is entitled to rank next to the
game fowl. As its name undoubtedly implies, the bird is of
Asiatic origin. The choicest sorts are the buff-coloured, and
those that are entirely black. A year-old Bantam cock of pure
breed will not weigh more than sixteen ounces. Despite its small
size, however, it is marvellously bold, especially in defence of
its progeny. A friend of the writer's, residing at Kensington,
possessed a pair of thorough-bred Bantams, that were allowed the
range of a yard where a fierce bull-terrier was kennelled. The
hen had chicks; and, when about three weeks old, one of them
strayed into the dog-kennel. The grim beast within took no
notice of the tiny fledgling; but, when the anxious mother
ventured in to fetch out the truant, with a growl the dog woke,
and nearly snapped her asunder in his great jaws. The cock bird
saw the tragic fate of its partner; but, nothing daunted, flew
at the dog with a fierce cry, and pecked savagely at its face.
The odds, however, were too great; and, when the terrier had
sufficiently recovered from the astonishment caused by the
sudden and unexpected attack, he seized the audacious Bantam,
and shook him to death; and, in five minutes, the devoted couple
were entombed in _Pincher's_ capacious maw.

BOILED FOWL AND RICE.

940. INGREDIENTS.--1 fowl, mutton broth, 2 onions, 2 small blades of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1/4 pint of rice, parsley and butter.

_Mode_.--Truss the fowl as for boiling, and put it into a stewpan with sufficient clear well-skimmed mutton broth to cover it; add the onion, mace, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; stew very gently for about 1 hour, should the fowl be large, and about 1/2 hour before it is ready put in the rice, which should be well washed and soaked. When the latter is tender, strain it from the liquor, and put it on a sieve reversed to dry before the fire, and, in the mean time, keep the fowl hot. Dish it, put the rice round as a border, pour a little parsley and butter over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen.

_Time_.--A large fowl, 1 hour.

_Average cost_, in full season, 2s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.

THE DORKING.--This bird takes its name from that of a town in
Surrey, where the breed is to be found in greater numbers, and
certainly in greater perfection, than elsewhere. It is generally
believed that this particular branch of poultry was found in the
town above mentioned as long ago as the Roman era. The Dorking's
chief characteristic is that he has five claws on each foot; the
extra claw, however, is never of sufficient length to encumber
the foot, or to cause it to "drag" its nest, or scratch out the
eggs. The colour of the true Dorking is pure white; long in the
body, short in the legs, and a prolific layer. Thirty years ago,
there was much controversy respecting the origin of the Dorking.
The men of Sussex declared that the bird belonged to them, and
brought birds indigenous to their weald, and possessing all the
Dorking fine points and peculiarities, in proof of the
declaration. Others inclined to the belief that the Poland bird
was the father of the Dorking, and not without at least a show
of reason, as the former bird much resembles the latter in
shape; and, despite its sombre hue, it is well known that the
Poland cock will occasionally beget thorough white stock from
white English hens. The commotion has, however, long ago
subsided, and Dorking still retains its fair reputation for
fowl.

CURRIED FOWL.

941. INGREDIENTS.--1 fowl, 2 oz. of butter, 3 onions sliced, 1 pint of white veal gravy, 1 tablespoonful of curry-powder, 1 tablespoonful of flour, 1 apple, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

_Mode_.--Put the butter into a stewpan, with the onions sliced, the fowl cut into small joints, and the apple peeled, cored, and minced. Fry of a pale brown, add the stock, and stew gently for 20 minutes; rub down the curry-powder and flour with a little of the gravy, quite smoothly, and stir this to the other ingredients; simmer for rather more than 1/2 hour, and just before serving, add the above proportion of hot cream and lemon-juice. Serve with boiled rice, which may either be heaped lightly on a dish by itself, or put round the curry as a border.

_Time_.--50 minutes.

_Average cost_, 3s. 3d.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ in the winter.

_Note_.--This curry may be made of cold chicken, but undressed meat will be found far superior.

THE POLAND.--This bird, a native of Holland, is a great
favourite with fowl-keepers, especially those who have on eye to
profit rather than to amusement. Those varieties known as the
"silver spangled" and the "gold spangled" are handsome enough to
please the most fastidious; but the common black breed, with the
bushy crown of white feathers, is but a plain bird. The chief
value of the common Poland lies in the great number of eggs they
produce; indeed, in many parts, they are as well known as
"everlasting layers" as by their proper name. However, the
experienced breeder would take good care to send the eggs of his
everlasting layers to market, and not use them for home
consumption, as, although they may be as large as those laid by
other hens, the amount of nutriment contained in them is not
nearly so great. Mr. Mowbray once kept an account of the number
of eggs produced by this prolific bird, with the following
result:--From the 25th of October to the 25th of the following
September five hens laid 503 eggs; the average weight of each
egg was one ounce five drachms, and the total weight of the
whole, exclusive of the shells, 50-1/4 pounds. Taking the weight
of the birds at the fair average of five pounds each, we thus
see them producing within a year double their weight of egg
alone; and, supposing every egg to contain a chick, and allowing
the chick to, grow, in less than eighteen months from the laying
of the first egg, _two thousand five hundred pounds_ of
chicken-meat would be the result. The Poland is easily fattened,
and its flesh is generally considered juicier and of richer
flavour than most others.

CURRIED FOWL OR CHICKEN (Cold Meat Cookery).

942. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, 2 large onions, 1 apple, 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of curry-powder, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of gravy, 1 tablespoonful of lemon-juice.

_Mode_.--Slice the onions, peel, core, and chop the apple, and cut the fowl into neat joints; fry these in the butter of a nice brown; then add the curry-powder, flour, and gravy, and stew for about 20 minutes. Put in the lemon-juice, and serve with boiled rice, either placed in a ridge round the dish or separately. Two or three shallots or a little garlic may be added, if approved.

_Time_.--Altogether 1/2 hour. _Av. cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.

_Seasonable_ in the winter.

THE COCHIN-CHINA.--About fifteen years ago, the arrival of this
distinguished Asiatic created in England as great a sensation as
might be expected from the landing of an invading host. The
first pair that ever made their appearance here were natives of
Shanghai, and were presented to the queen, who exhibited them at
the Dublin poultry-show of 1818. Then began the "Cochin"
_furor_. As soon as it was discovered, despite the most
strenuous endeavours to keep the tremendous secret, that a
certain dealer was possessed of a pair of these birds,
straightway the avenues to that dealer's shop were blocked by
broughams, and chariots, and hack cabs, until the shy poulterer
had been tempted by a sufficiently high sum to part with his
treasure. Bank-notes were exchanged for Cochin chicks, and
Cochin eggs were in as great demand as though they had been laid
by the fabled golden goose. The reign of the Cochin China was,
however, of inconsiderable duration. The bird that, in 1847,
would fetch thirty guineas, is now counted but ordinary
chicken-meat, and its price is regulated according to its weight
when ready for the spit. As for the precious buff eggs, against
which, one time of day, guineas were weighed,--send for
sixpenn'orth at the cheesemonger's, and you will get at least
five; which is just as it should be. For elegance of shape or
quality of flesh, the Cochin cannot for a moment stand
comparison with our handsome dunghill; neither can the
indescribable mixture of growling and braying, peculiar to the
former, vie with the musical trumpeting of our own morning
herald: yet our poultry-breeders have been immense gainers by
the introduction of the ungainly celestial, inasmuch as _new
blood_ has been infused into the English chicken family. Of this
incalculable advantage we may be sure; while, as to the Cochin's
defects, they are certain to be lost in the process of "cross
and cross" breeding.

BOILED FOWLS A LA BECHAMEL.

943. INGREDIENTS.--A pair of fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel, No, 367, a few bunches of boiled brocoli or cauliflower.

_Mode_.--Truss and boil the fowls by recipe No. 938; make a pint of Béchamel sauce by recipe No. 367; pour some of this over the fowls, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. Garnish the dish with bunches of boiled cauliflowers or brocoli, and serve very hot. The sauce should be made sufficiently thick to adhere to the fowls; that for the tureen should be thinned by adding a spoonful or two of stock.

_Time_.--From 1/2 to 1 hour, according to size.

_Average cost_, in full season, 5s. a pair.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.

SPACE FOR FOWLS.--We are no advocates for converting the
domestic fowl into a cage-bird. We have known amateur
fowl-keepers--worthy souls, who would butter the very barley
they gave their pets, if they thought they would the more enjoy
it--coop up a male bird and three or four hens in an ordinary
egg-chest placed on its side, and with the front closely barred
with iron hooping! This system will not do. Every animal, from
man himself to the guinea-pig, must have what is vulgarly, but
truly, known as "elbow-room;" and it must be self-evident how
emphatically this rule applies to winged animals. It may be
urged, in the case of domestic fowls, that from constant disuse,
and from clipping and plucking, and other sorts of maltreatment,
their wings can hardly be regarded as instruments of flight; we
maintain, however, that you may pluck a fowl's wing-joints as
bare as a pumpkin, but you will not erase from his memory that
he is a fowl, and that his proper sphere is the open air. If he
likewise reflects that he is an ill-used fowl--a prison-bird--he
will then come to the conclusion, that there is not the least
use, under such circumstances, for his existence; and you must
admit that the decision is only logical and natural.

BOILED FOWL, with Oysters.

(_Excellent_.)

944. INGREDIENTS.--1 young fowl, 3 dozen oysters, the yolks of 2 eggs, 1/4 pint of cream.

_Mode_.--Truss a young fowl as for boiling; fill the inside with oysters which have been bearded and washed in their own liquor; secure the ends of the fowl, put it into a jar, and plunge the jar into a saucepan of boiling water. Keep it boiling for 1-1/2 hour, or rather longer; then take the gravy that has flowed from the oysters and fowl, of which there will be a good quantity; stir in the cream and yolks of eggs, add a few oysters scalded in their liquor; let the sauce get quite _hot_, but do not allow it to _boil;_ pour some of it over the fowl, and the remainder send to table in a tureen. A blade of pounded mace added to the sauce, with the cream and eggs, will be found an improvement.

_Time_.--1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 4s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to April.

THE FOWL-HOUSE.--In building a fowl-house, take care that it be,
if possible, built against a wall or fence that faces the
_south_, and thus insure its inmates against many cold winds,
driving rains, and sleets they will otherwise suffer. Let the
floor of the house slope half an inch to the foot from back to
front, so as to insure drainage; let it also be close, hard, and
perfectly smooth; so that it may be cleanly swept out. A capital
plan is to mix a few bushels of chalk and dry earth, spread it
over the floor, and pay a paviour's labourer a trifle to hammer
it level with his rammer. The fowl-house should be seven feet
high, and furnished with perches at least two feet apart. The
perches must be level, and not one above the other, or
unpleasant consequences may ensue to the undermost row. The
perches should be ledged (not fixed--just dropped into sockets,
that they may be easily taken out and cleaned) not lower than
five feet from the ground, convenient slips of wood being driven
into the wall, to render the ascent as easy as possible. The
front of the fowl-house should be latticed, taking care that the
interstices be not wide enough even to tempt a chick to crawl
through. Nesting-boxes, containing soft hay, and fitted against
the walls, so as to be easily reached by the perch-ladder,
should be supplied. It will be as well to keep by you a few
portable doors, so that you may hang one before the entrance to
a nesting-box, when the hen goes in to sit. This will prevent
other hens from intruding, a habit to which some are much
addicted.

FRICASSEED FOWL OR CHICKEN (an Entree).

945. INGREDIENTS.--2 small fowls or 1 large one, 3 oz. of butter, a bunch of parsley and green onions, 1 clove, 2 blades of mace, 1 shalot, 1 bay-leaf, salt and white pepper to taste, 1/4 pint of cream, the yolks of 3 eggs.

_Mode_.--Choose a couple of fat plump chickens, and, after drawing, singeing, and washing them, skin, and carve them into joints; blanch these in boiling water for 2 or 3 minutes; take them out, and immerse them in cold water to render them white. Put the trimmings, with the necks and legs, into a stewpan; add the parsley, onions, clove, mace, shalot, bay-leaf, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; pour to these the water that the chickens were blanched in, and simmer gently for rather more than 1 hour. Have ready another stewpan; put in the joints of fowl, with the above proportion of butter; dredge them with flour, let them get hot, but do not brown them much; then moisten the fricassee with the gravy made from the trimmings, &c., and stew very gently for 1/2 hour. Lift the fowl into another stewpan, skim the sauce, reduce it quickly over the fire, by letting it boil fast, and strain it over them. Add the cream, and a seasoning of pounded mace and cayenne; let it boil up, and when ready to serve, stir to it the well-beaten yolks of 3 eggs: these should not be put in till the last moment, and the sauce should be made _hot_, but must _not boil_, or it will instantly curdle. A few button-mushrooms stewed with the fowl are by many persons considered an improvement.

_Time_.--1 hour to make the gravy, 1/2 hour to simmer the fowl.

_Average cost_, 5s. the pair.

_Sufficient_.--1 large fowl for one entrée.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

STOCKING THE FOWL-HOUSE.--Take care that the birds with which
you stock your house are _young_. The surest indications of old
age are fading of the comb and gills from brilliant red to a
dingy brick-colour, general paleness of plumage, brittleness of
the feathers, length and size of the claws, and the scales of
the legs and feet assuming a ragged and _corny_ appearance. Your
cock and hens should be as near two years old as possible. Hens
will lay at a year old, but the eggs are always insignificant in
size, and the layers giddy and unsteady sitters. The hen-bird is
in her prime for breeding at three years old, and will continue
so, under favourable circumstances, for two years longer; after
which she will decline. Crowing hens, and those that have large
combs, are generally looked on with mistrust; but this is mere
silliness and superstition--though it is possible that a spruce
young cock would as much object to a spouse with such peculiar
addictions, as a young fellow of our own species would to a
damsel who whistled and who wore whiskers. Fowls with yellow
legs should be avoided; they are generally of a tender
constitution, loose-fleshed, and of indifferent flavour.

FRICASSEED FOWL (Cold Meat Cookery).

946. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, popper and salt to taste, 1 pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of flour, 1/4 pint of cream, the yolks of 2 eggs.

_Mode_.--Carve the fowls into nice joints; make gravy of the trimmings and legs, by stewing them with the lemon-peel, mace, herbs, onion, seasoning, and water, until reduced to 1/2 pint; then strain, and put in the fowl. Warm it through, and thicken with a teaspoonful of flour; stir the yolks of the eggs into the cream; add these to the sauce, let it get thoroughly hot, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle.

_Time_.--1 hour to make the gravy, 1/4 hour to warm the fowl.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

CHARACTERISTICS OF HEALTH AND POWER.--The chief characteristics
of health in a fowl are brightness and dryness of eye and
nostrils, the comb and wattles firm and ruddy, the feathers
elastic and glossy. The most useful cock is generally the
greatest tyrant, who struts among his hens despotically, with
his head erect and his eyes ever watchful. There is likely to be
handsomer and stronger chicks in a house where a bold,
active--even savage--bird reigns, than where the lord of the
hen-house is a weak, meek creature, who bears the abuse and
peckings of his wives without a remonstrance. I much prefer
dark-coloured cock-birds to those of light plumage. A cock, to
be handsome, should be of middling size; his bill should be
short, comb bright-red, wattles large, breast broad, and wings
strong. His head should be rather small than otherwise, his legs
short and sturdy, and his spurs well-formed; his feathers should
be short and close, and the more frequently and heartily he
crows, the better father he is likely to become. The common
error of choosing hens _above_ the ordinary stature of their
respective varieties should be avoided, as the best
breeding-hens are those of medium size.

FRIED FOWLS (Cold Meat Cookery).

I.

947. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowls, vinegar, salt and cayenne to taste, 3 or 4 minced shalots. For the batter,--1/2 lb. of flour, 1/2 pint of hot water, 2 oz. of butter, the whites of 2 eggs.

_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into nice joints; steep them for an hour in a little vinegar, with salt, cayenne, and minced shalots. Make the batter by mixing the flour and water smoothly together; melt in it the butter, and add the whites of egg beaten to a froth; take out the pieces of fowl, dip them in the batter, and fry, in boiling lard, a nice brown. Pile them high in the dish, and garnish with fried parsley or rolled bacon. When approved, a sauce or gravy may be served with them.

_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the fowl.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 8d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

CHANTICLEER AND HIS COMPANIONS.--On bringing the male and female
birds together for the first time, it will be necessary to watch
the former closely, as it is a very common occurrence with him
to conceive a sudden and violent dislike for one or more of his
wives, and not allow the obnoxious ones to approach within some
distance of the others; indeed, I know many cases where the
capricious tyrant has set upon the innocent cause of his
resentment and killed her outright. In all such cases, the hen
objected to should be removed and replaced by another. If the
cock should, by any accident, get killed, considerable delicacy
is required in introducing a new one. The hens may mope, and
refuse to associate with their new husband, clustering in
corners, and making odious comparisons between him and the
departed; or the cock may have his own peculiar notions as to
what a wife should be, and be by no means satisfied with those
you have provided him. The plan is, to keep him by himself
nearly the whole day, supplying him plentifully with
exhilarating food, then to turn him loose among the hens, and to
continue this practice, allowing him more of the society of his
wives each day, until you suffer him to abide with them
altogether.

II.

948. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast fowl, vinegar, salt and cayenne to taste, 4 minced shalots, yolk of egg; to every teacupful of bread crumbs allow 1 blade of pounded mace, 5 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 saltspoonful of salt, a few grains of cayenne.

_Mode_.--Steep the pieces of fowl as in the preceding recipe, then dip them into the yolk of an egg or clarified butter; sprinkle over bread crumbs with which have been mixed salt, mace, cayenne, and lemon-peel in the above proportion. Fry a light brown, and serve with or without gravy, as may be preferred.

_Time_.--10 minutes to fry the fowl.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

VARIOUS MODES OF FATTENING FOWLS.--It would, I think, be a
difficult matter to find, among the entire fraternity of
fowl-keepers, a dozen whose mode of fattening "stock" is the
same. Some say that the grand f secret is to give them abundance
of saccharine food; others say nothing beats heavy corn steeped
in milk; while another breeder, celebrated in his day, and the
recipient of a gold medal from a learned society, says, "The
best method is as follows:-The chickens are to be taken from the
hen the night after they are hatched, and fed with eggs
hard-boiled, chopped, and mixed with crumbs of bread, as larks
and other small birds are fed, for the first fortnight; after
which give them oatmeal and treacle mixed so as to crumble, of
which the chickens are very fond, and thrive so fast that, at
the end of two months, they will be as large as full-grown
fowls." Others there are who insist that nothing beats
oleaginous diet, and cram their birds with ground oats and suet.
But, whatever the course of diet favoured, on one point they
seem agreed; and that is, that, while fattening, the fowls
_should be kept in the dark_. Supposing the reader to be a
dealer--a breeder of gross chicken meat for the market (against
which supposition the chances are 10,000 to 1), and beset with
as few scruples as generally trouble the huckster, the advice is
valuable. "Laugh and grow fat" is a good maxim enough; but
"Sleep and grow fat" is, as is well known to folks of porcine
attributes, a better. The poor birds, immured in their dark
dungeons, ignorant that there is life and sunshine abroad, tuck
their heads under their wings and make a long night of it; while
their digestive organs, having no harder work than to pile up
fat, have an easy time enough. But, unless we are mistaken, he
who breeds poultry for his own eating, bargains for a more
substantial reward than the questionable pleasure of burying his
carving-knife in chicken grease. Tender, delicate, and
nutritious flesh is the great aim; and these qualities, I can
affirm without fear of contradiction, were never attained by a
dungeon-fatted chicken: perpetual gloom and darkness is as
incompatible with chicken life as it is with human. If you wish
to be convinced of the absurdity of endeavouring to thwart
nature's laws, plant a tuft of grass, or a cabbage-plant, in the
darkest corner of your coal-cellar. The plant or the tuft may
increase in length and breadth, but its colour will be as wan
and pale, almost, as would be your own face under the
circumstances.

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 À LA MARENGO.--The following is the origin of the
well-known dish Poulet à 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 à 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 Béchamel 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 Béchamel 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 croûtons.

_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.

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 Béchamel. 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 Béchamel, 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
Béchamel, 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.

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.

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 Béchamel 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 Béchamel, 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 Béchamel 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 entrée.

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."

FOWL A LA MAYONNAISE.

962. INGREDIENTS.--A cold roast fowl, Mayonnaise sauce No. 468, 4 or 5 young lettuces, 4 hard-boiled eggs, a few water-cresses, endive.

_Mode_.--Cut the fowl into neat joints, lay them in a deep dish, piling them high in the centre, sauce the fowl with Mayonnaise made by recipe No. 468, and garnish the dish with young lettuces cut in halves, water-cresses, endive, and hard-boiled eggs: these may be sliced in rings, or laid on the dish whole, cutting off at the bottom a piece of the white, to make the egg stand. All kinds of cold meat and solid fish may be dressed à la Mayonnaise, and make excellent luncheon or supper dishes. The sauce should not be poured over the fowls until the moment of serving. Should a very large Mayonnaise be required, use 2 fowls instead of 1, with an equal proportion of the remaining ingredients.

_Average cost_, with one fowl, 3s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for a moderate-sized dish.

_Seasonable_ from April to September.

BLACK SPANISH.--The real Spanish fowl is recognized by its
uniformly black colour burnished with tints of green; its
peculiar white face, and the large development of its comb and
wattle. The hens are excellent layers, and their eggs are of a
very large size. They are, however, bad nurses; consequently,
their eggs should be laid in the nest of other varieties to be
hatched. "In purchasing Spanish," says an authority, "blue legs,
the entire absence of white or coloured feathers in the plumage,
and a large, white face, with a very large high comb, which
should be erect in the cock, though pendent in the hens, should
be insisted on." The flesh of this fowl is esteemed; but, from
the smallness of its body when compared with that of the
Dorking, it is not placed on an equality with it for the table.
Otherwise, however, they are profitable birds, and their
handsome carriage, and striking contrast of colour in the comb,
face, and plumage, are a high recommendation to them as kept
fowls. For a town fowl, they are perhaps better adapted than any
other variety.

FOWL PILLAU, based on M. Soyer's Recipe (an Indian Dish).

963. INGREDIENTS.--1 lb. of rice, 2 oz. of butter, a fowl, 2 quarts of stock or good broth, 40 cardamum-seeds, 1/2 oz. of coriander-seed, 1/4 oz. of cloves, 1/4 oz. of allspice, 1/4 oz. of mace, 1/4 oz. of cinnamon, 1/2 oz. of peppercorns, 4 onions, 6 thin slices of bacon, 2 hard-boiled eggs.