Part 23

_Ingredients._—2 oz. of ham or lean bacon, ¼ lb. of suet, the rind of half a lemon, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, 1 teaspoonful of minced sweet herbs; salt, cayenne, and pounded mace to taste; 6 oz. of bread-crumbs, 2 eggs. _Mode._—Shred the ham or bacon, chop the suet, lemon-peel, and herbs, taking particular care that all be very finely minced; add a seasoning to taste of salt, cayenne, and mace, and blend all thoroughly together with the bread-crumbs, before wetting. Now beat and strain the eggs; work these up with the other ingredients, and the forcemeat will be ready for use. When it is made into balls, fry of a nice brown, in boiling lard, or put them on a tin and bake for ½ hour in a moderate oven. As we have stated before, no one flavour should predominate greatly, and the forcemeat should be of sufficient body to cut with a knife, and yet not dry and heavy. For very delicate forcemeat, it is advisable to pound the ingredients together before binding with the eggs; but for ordinary cooking, mincing very finely answers the purpose. _Average cost_, 8_d._ _Sufficient_ for a turkey, a moderate-sized fillet of veal, or a hare.

_Note._—In the forcemeat for Hare, the liver of the animal is sometimes added. Boil for 5 minutes, mince it very small, and mix it with the other ingredients. If it should be in an unsound state, it must be on no account made use of.

FOWLS, Boiled, à la Béchamel.

_Ingredients._—A pair of fowls, 1 pint of Béchamel, a few bunches of boiled broccoli or cauliflower. _Mode._—Truss and boil the flowers; make a pint of Béchamel sauce; 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 broccoli, 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 ½ to 1 hour, according to size. _Average cost_, in full season, 5_s._ a pair. _Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.

FOWLS, Boiled, to Carve.

This will not be found a very difficult member of the poultry family to carve, unless, as may happen, a very old farm-yard occupant, useless for egg-laying purposes, has, by some unlucky mischance, been introduced into the kitchen as a “fine young chicken.” Skill, however, and the application of a small amount of strength, combined with a fine keeping of the temper, will even get over that difficulty. Fixing the fork firmly in the breast, let the knife be firmly passed along the line shown from 1 to 2; then cut downwards from that line to fig. 3: and the wing, it will be found, can be easily withdrawn. The shape of the wing should be like the accompanying engraving. Let the fork be placed inside the leg, which should be gently forced away from the body of the fowl; and the joint, being thus discovered, the carver can readily cut through it, and the leg can be served. When the leg is displaced, it should be of the same shape as that shown in the annexed woodcut. The legs and wings on either side having been taken off, the carver should draw his knife through the flesh in the direction of the line 4 to 5; by this means the knife can be slipped underneath the merrythought, which, being lifted up and pressed backward, will immediately come off. The collar- or neck-bones are the next to consider: these lie on each side of the merrythought, close under the upper part of the wings; and, in order to free these from the fowl, they must also be raised by the knife at their broad end, and turned from the body towards the breastbone, until the shorter piece of the bone, as shown in the cut, breaks off. There will now be left only the breast, with the ribs. The breast can be, without difficulty, disengaged from the ribs by cutting through the latter, which will offer little impediment. The side bones are now to be taken off; and to do this, the lower end of the back should be turned from the carver, who should press the point of the knife through the top of the backbone, near the centre, bringing it down towards the end of the back completely through the bone. If the knife be now turned in the opposite direction, the joint will be easily separated from the vertebræ. The backbone being now uppermost, the fork should be pressed firmly down on it, whilst at the same time the knife should be employed in raising up the lower small end of the fowl towards the fork, and thus the back will be dislocated about its middle. The wings, breast, and merrythought are esteemed the prime parts of a fowl, and are usually served to the ladies of the company, to whom legs, except as a matter of paramount necessity, should not be given. Byron gave it as one reason why he did not like dining with ladies, that they always had the wings of the fowls, which he himself preferred. We heard a gentleman who, when he might have had a wing, declare his partiality for a leg, saying that he had been obliged to eat legs for so long a time that he had at last come to like them better than the other more prized parts. If the fowl is, capon-like, very large, slices may be carved from its breast in the same manner as from a turkey’s.

FOWL, Boiled, with Oysters. (Excellent.)

_Ingredients._—1 young fowl, 3 dozen oysters, the yolks of 2 eggs, ¼ 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 1½ 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._—1½ hour. _Average cost_, 4_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons. _Seasonable_ from September to April.

FOWLS, Broiled, and Mushroom Sauce.

_Ingredients._—A large fowl; seasoning, to taste, of pepper and salt, 2 handfuls of button mushrooms, 1 slice of lean ham, ¾ pint of thickened gravy, 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice, ½ teaspoonful of pounded sugar. _Mode._—Cut the fowl into quarters, roast it until three-parts done, and keep it well basted whilst at the fire. Take the fowl up, broil it for a few minutes over a clear fire, and season it with pepper and salt. Have ready some mushroom sauce made in the following manner. Put the mushrooms into a stewpan with a small piece of butter, the ham, a seasoning of pepper and salt, and the gravy; simmer these gently for ½ hour, add the lemon-juice and sugar, dish the fowl, and pour the sauce round them. _Time._—To roast the fowl, 35 minutes; to broil it, 10 to 15 minutes. _Average cost_, in full season, 2_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable._—In full season from May to January.

FOWL, Boiled, and Rice.

_Ingredients._—1 fowl, mutton broth, 2 onions, 2 small blades of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, ¼ 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 ½ 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_, 2_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons. _Seasonable_ all the year.

FOWLS, to Bone, for Fricassees, Curries, and Pies.

First carve them entirely into joints, then remove the bones, beginning with the legs and wings, at the head of the largest bone; hold this with the fingers, and work the knife as directed in the recipe above. The remainder of the birds is too easily done to require any instructions.

FOWL, Croquettes of (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—3 or 4 shalots, 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of flour, white sauce; pepper, salt, and pounded mace to taste; ½ 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.

FOWL AND RICE, Croquettes of (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—¼ 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 ½ 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. 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._—½ hour to boil the rice, 10 minutes to fry the croquettes. _Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWL, Curried.

_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 ½ 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_, 3_s._ 3_d._ _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.

FOWL, Fricasseed.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 strip of lemon-peel, 1 blade of pounded mace, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, 1 onion, pepper and salt to taste, 1 pint of water, 1 teaspoonful of flour, ¼ 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 ½ 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, ¼ hour to warm the fowl. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold chicken, 8_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWLS, Fried.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowls, vinegar, salt and cayenne to taste, 3 or 4 minced shalots. For the batter,—½ lb. of flour, ½ 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, 8_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWLS, Fried.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _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, ½ 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, 6_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWLS, Fried, and French Beans.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowl; the yolk of 1 egg, 2 oz. of butter, 1 blade of pounded mace, ¼ saltspoonful of grated nutmeg, bread-crumbs and chopped parsley. _Mode._—Cut the fowl into neat joints, brush them over with the yolk of egg, and sprinkle them with bread-crumbs, with which the _parsley_, _nutmeg_, and _mace_ have been well mixed. Fry the fowl in the butter until of a nice brown, and dish the pieces on French beans boiled, and afterwards simmered for a minute or two in butter. The dish should be garnished with rolled bacon. _Time._—10 minutes to fry the fowl. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 6_d._ _Seasonable_ from July to September.

FOWL au Gratin.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of either cold roast or boiled fowl, ½ pint of Béchamel sauce, a dessertspoonful of grated Parmesan cheese, pepper and salt to taste, ¼ saltspoonful of grated nutmeg, ¼ pint of cream, 2 tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs, fried potatoes. _Mode._—Mince the fowl not too finely, and make it hot in the Béchamel sauce, to which the nutmeg, pepper and salt, and cream, have been added. When well mixed, serve the fowl on to a dish, cover it with the bread-crumbs and Parmesan cheese, drop over a little clarified butter, and bake in the oven until of a pale brown. Garnish the dish with fried potatoes. _Time._—10 minutes to warm the fowl, 10 minutes to bake. _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWL, Hashed. An Entrée.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowl, 1 pint of water, 1 onion, 2 or 3 small carrots, 1 blade of pounded mace, pepper and salt to taste, 1 small bunch of savoury herbs, thickening of butter and flour, 1½ 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 1½ 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 1¾ hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 4_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWL, Hashed, Indian Fashion (an Entrée).

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _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 in the gravy, which should be previously made from the bones and trimmings of the fowls, and stew for ¾ hour; add the fowl cut into nice-sized joints, let it warm through, and when quite tender, serve. The dish should be garnished with an edging of boiled rice. _Time._—1 hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the fowl, 8_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWL, an Indian Dish of (an Entrée).

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _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, 4_d._ _Seasonable_ during the winter months.

FOWL à la Mayonnaise.

_Ingredients._—A cold roast fowl, Mayonnaise sauce, 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, 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 one, with an equal proportion of the remaining ingredients. _Average cost_, with one fowl, 3_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for a moderate-sized dish. _Seasonable_ from April to September.

FOWL, Minced (an Entrée).

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _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, ½ 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, 8_d._ _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.

FOWL, Minced, à la Béchamel.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowl, 6 tablespoonfuls of Béchamel sauce, 6 tablespoonfuls of white stock, 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.

FOWL, Ragoût of.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of cold roast fowls, 3 shalots, 2 blades of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, 2 or 3 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, ½ 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 1½ hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the cold fowl, 9_d._ _Seasonable_ at any time.

FOWLS, Roast.

_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 ¾ 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. 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; a medium-sized one, ¾ hour; chicken, ½ hour, or rather longer. _Average cost_, in full season, 5_s._ a pair; when scarce, 7_s._ 6_d._ the pair. _Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons. _Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.

FOWL, Roast, to Carve.

A roast fowl is carved in the same manner as a boiled fowl, viz., by cutting along the line from 1 to 2, and then round the leg between it and the wing. The markings and detached pieces, as shown in the engravings under the heading of “Boiled Fowl,” supersede the necessity of our lengthily again describing the operation. It may be added, that the liver, being considered a delicacy, should be divided, and one half served with each wing. In the case of a fowl being stuffed, it will be proper to give each guest a portion, unless it be not agreeable to some one of the party.