121. Roast Chickens

Clean your chickens, wash them and wipe them dry; season them inside with pepper and salt, make a dressing of bread crumbs, some minced onion, pepper, salt, and as much butter as will hold the crumbs together. Fill your chickens with this dressing, skewer them well and season them on the outside with salt and pepper; put them on the spit, dredge a little flour over, and baste them with butter whilst they are roasting.

Boil the gizzards and livers in very little water, take out the liver, chop it up fine, and add it to the water it was boiled in, with a little salt; stir into this all the gravy which dripped from the chickens, and thicken it with some butter rolled in flour.

Partridges are roasted in the same way.

122. Chicken Pie

Cut your chickens in pieces, wash them, and put them in a stew-pan with salt and pepper, and water enough to nearly cover them. To each one, rub one ounce of butter in flour, and add it to the gravy when the chickens are done; let it boil a few minutes. Make a rich paste, line the sides of your pie dish, put in the chickens and half the gravy, cover the pie with the paste; leave an opening in the centre, and ornament the top with paste cut in flowers, or bars twisted and laid across the centre. When the crust is done take out the pie, pour in the remainder of the gravy, and send it to the table in the dish it is baked in. If all the gravy is put in at once it will be apt to boil over the top and disfigure the lid of the pie.

Partridge pies are made in the same manner.

123. Chicken Pot Pie

Cut your chickens in pieces, wash them and dry them in a clean napkin; season with salt and pepper. Line' the sides of the pot with paste, put in the pieces of chicken, and between every layer of chicken put a piece of butter rolled in flour, with squares of the paste if you choose; pour in enough cold water to cover it, and put on a lid of the paste; leave an opening in the centre of the top crust; cover the pot, place it in front of the fire with a few coals under it. Turn the pot frequently that the crust may be evenly browned all around. When it is done, if the gravy should not be thick enough, add a little more flour mixed with butter. Dish it by putting the top crust on the sides of the dish, lay the chicken in the centre, and place the brown crust on the top. Serve the gravy in a sauce boat.

124. Broiled Chickens

Split them down the back, wash them nicely and wipe them dry. Heat your gridiron, grease the bars, and put your chickens over clear coals. Broil them nicely, be careful not to burn the legs and wings. When done season them with pepper, salt, and a large piece of butter. Send them to the table hot.

Partridges, pheasants and pigeons are broiled in the same way.

125. Fried Chickens

Wash your chickens, cut them in pieces, season them with pepper and salt. Have in a pan some hot butter and lard mixed; dust some flour over each piece, and fry them slowly till of a bright brown on both sides; take them up, put a little water in the pan, add some butter rolled in flour to thicken the gravy, and more pepper and salt if required. Young spring chickens are only suitable for frying.

126. Boiled Chickens

Clean and wash your chickens, put them in a pot with boiling water enough to cover them; if the water should boil away add more, as the skin will be discolored if not covered with water. Put enough salt in the water to season the chickens sufficiently when they are done; tie some tape around them to keep them in their proper shape; when they are tender take them up and serve them with rich egg sauce.

Boiled chickens are frequently stuffed with bread crumbs, seasoned with pepper, salt, a little onion, finely chopped, and some butter; fill the chickens with this dressing, truss them and tie tape around them to preserve their shape. But it is preferable to boil chickens without the filling, as it soaks the water and becomes very insipid.

127. Stewed Chickens

One pair of large chickens, Two tea spoonsful of salt, One tea spoonful of pepper, Eight tea spoonsful of flour, One pint of water.

Cut up the chickens, separate the thighs from the lower part of the leg, cut the breast in six parts, cut the wings in two parts, and the back in four pieces, put them into a stew-pan with the pepper, salt and flour, stir all well together, and then add the water. Let them stew till perfectly tender. If the gravy should not be thick enough add a little flour mixed with water. Fat chickens require no butter, but early fall chickens would need a quarter of a pound to make a rich gravy.

128. Brown Fricassee

Cut your chicken in pieces, wash it and wipe it dry; it must be young, an old one would not be tender when cooked in this manner; season it with pepper and salt. Put in your pan some lard or beef dripping, let it get hot, dredge some flour over your chicken and fry it of a handsome brown, turn each piece so as to have both sides done alike. Take the pieces out, put them on a dish, put a little water in the pan with the gravy, and a piece of butter rolled in brown flour to thicken it. Let it boil once and pour it over the chicken.

129. White Fricasseed Chicken

Cut up a chicken in pieces, wash it, and season with pepper and salt, put it in a stew-pan with a little water, and let it stew till nearly done; then add a tea cupful of cream and some butter rolled in flour to thicken the gravy. If not sufficiently seasoned, add more pepper or salt as may be required. If the chicken is fat very little butter is necessary. Mace or nutmeg may be added if you like spice.