Book of Household Management — 045 - Recipes. Chapter 21. Part 2.

938. INGREDIENTS.

--A pair of fowls; water.

_Choosing and Trussing_.

--In choosing fowls for boiling, it should be borne in mind that those that are not black-legged are generally much whiter when dressed.

Pick, draw, singe, wash, and truss them in the following manner, without the livers in the wings; and, in drawing, be careful not to break the gall-bladder:--Cut off the neck, leaving sufficient skin to skewer back.

Cut the feet off to the first joint, tuck the stumps into a slit made on each side of the belly, twist the wings over the back of the fowl, and secure the top of the leg and the bottom of the wing together by running a skewer through them and the body.

The other side must be done in the same manner.

Should the fowl be very large and old, draw the sinews of the legs before tucking them in.

Make a slit in the apron of the fowl, large enough to admit the parson's nose, and tie a string on the tops of the legs to keep them in their proper place.

_Mode_.

--When, they are firmly trussed, put them into a stewpan with plenty of hot water; bring it to boil, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises.

_Simmer very gently_ until the fowl is tender, and bear in mind that the slower it boils, the plumper and whiter will the fowl be.

Many cooks wrap them in a floured cloth to preserve the colour, and to prevent the scum from clinging to them; in this case, a few slices of lemon should be placed on the breasts; over these a sheet of buttered paper, and then the cloth; cooking them in this manner renders the flesh very white.

Boiled ham, bacon, boiled tongue, or pickled pork, are the usual accompaniments to boiled fowls, and they may be served with Béchamel, white sauce, parsley and butter, oyster, lemon, liver, celery, or mushroom sauce.

A little should be poured over the fowls, after the skewers are removed, and the remainder sent in a tureen to table.

_Time_.

--Large fowl, 1 hour; moderate-sized one, 3/4 hour; chicken, from 20 minutes to 1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, in full season, 5s.

the pair.

_Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons.

_Seasonable_ all the year, but scarce in early spring.

[Illustration: GAME-FOWLS.

] THE GAME FOWL.

--Respecting the period at which this well-known member of the _Gallus_ family became domesticated, history is silent.

There is little doubt, however, that, like the dog, it has been attached to mankind ever since mankind were attached to civilization.

Although the social position of this bird is, at the present time, highly respectable, it is nothing to what it was when Rome was mistress of the world.

Writing at that period, Pliny says, respecting the domestic cock, "The gait of the cock is proud and commanding; he walks with head erect and elevated crest; alone, of all birds, he habitually looks up to the sky, raising, at the same time, his curved and scythe-formed tail, and inspiring terror in the lion himself, that most intrepid of animals.

----They regulate the conduct of our magistrates, and open or close to them their own houses.

They prescribe rest or movement to the Roman fasces: they command or prohibit battles.

In a word, they lord it over the masters of the world."

As well among the ancient Greeks as the Romans, was the cock regarded with respect, and even awe.

The former people practised divinations by means of this bird.

Supposing there to be a doubt in the camp as to the fittest day to fight a battle, the letter of every day in the week would be placed face downwards, and a grain of corn placed on each; then the sacred cock would be let loose, and, according to the letters he pecked his corn from, so would the battle-time be regulated.

On one momentous occasion, however, a person inimical to priestly interest officiously examined the grain, and found that those lying on the letters not wanted were made of wax, and the birds, preferring the true grain, left these untouched.

It is needless to add that, after this, divination through the medium of cocks and grain fell out of fashion.

Whether or no the learned fowl above alluded to were of the "game" breed, is unknown; but that the birds were bred for the inhuman sport of fighting many hundred years before the Christian era, there can be no doubt.

Themistocles, the Athenian king, who flourished more than two thousand years ago, took advantage of the sight of a pitched battle between two cocks to harangue his soldiers on courage.

"Observe," said he, "with what intrepid valour they fight, inspired by no other motive than lore of victory; whereas you have to contend for your religion and your liberty, for your wives and children, and for the tombs of your ancestors."

And to this day his courage has not degenerated.

He still preserves his bold and elegant gait, his sparkling eye, while his wedge-shaped beak and cruel spurs are ever ready to support his defiant crow.

It is no wonder that the breed is not plentiful--first, on account of the few eggs laid by the hen; and, secondly, from the incurable pugnacity of the chicks.

Half fledged broods may be found blind as bats from fighting, and only waiting for the least glimmer of sight to be at it again.

Without doubt, the flesh of game fowls is every way superior to that of every chicken of the family.

BROILED FOWL AND MUSHROOM SAUCE.

939. INGREDIENTS.

--A large fowl, seasoning, to taste, of pepper and salt, 2 handfuls of button mushrooms, 1 slice of lean ham, 3/4 pint of thickened gravy, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, 1/2 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 1/2 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, 2s.

6d.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_.

--In full season from May to January.

[Illustration: BLACK BANTAMS.

] 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.

[Illustration: DORKINGS.

] 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.

[Illustration: SPANGLED POLANDS.

] 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.

[Illustration: COCHIN-CHINAS.

] 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.