This section is from the book "The Epicurean", by Charles Ranhofer. Also available from Amazon: The Epicurean, a Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical Studies on the Culinary Art.
Cook a four-pound chicken in some stock (No. 194a); the time allowed for this varies considerably, according to the age of the chicken, but the usual length of time is about two hours. When the chicken is done put it into a vessel, pour its own broth over, and let it cool therein; remove it. and begin by lifting off all the skin and white parts from the breasts; cut the meat into dice from five to six-eighths of an inch, and lay them in a bowl, seasoning with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar. Chicken salad may be prepared either with lettuce or celery, the latter being generally preferred. Choose fine white celery, wash it well, drain and cut it across in one-eighth of an inch thick pieces or else in Julienne; dry them in a cloth to absorb all the water remaining in them. Put at the bottom of a salad bowl intended for the table some salt, pepper, oil and vinegar; mustard can be added if desired; mix the seasoning in with the celery. For lettuce prepare an ordinary lettuce salad. Lay the pieces of chicken on top, and cover the whole with a layer of mayonnaise sauce (No. 606); decorate the surface with quartered hard-boiled eggs, anchovy fillets, olives, capers and beets; place some lettuce leaves around, and a fine lettuce heart in the center.
Cut into five pieces a roasted chicken weighing two pounds and a half, remove the skin and pare nicely. Season the chicken the same as for No. 2625; two hours later toss it in the vessel with jellied mayonnaise (No. 613) and dress it pyramidically without any green salad; cover with jelly mayonnaise, and garnish around with halved eggs, olives, capers, anchovies, beetroots and chopped jelly.
Cut up a large roast chicken into eight pieces, four from the breasts and four from the legs, suppressing the pinions and carcass; remove the breast bone and the second joint bones, then cut the meats and the fillets each in two or three pieces, taking off the skin: put them in a vessel to season with salt, oil and vinegar. Prepare a macedoine salad (No. 2650), cut in small dice: for instance, carrots and turnips blanched and cooked in stock (No. 194a), also green peas and string beans boiled in salted water. After all these vegetables have been cooked and drained lay them in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar; mix in some cut-up gherkins and beets, and let macerate for one hour. Drain off the seasonings and finish with mayonnaise, slightly thickened with jelly (No. 606). Dress the chicken and the vegetables in a dome-shape on a cold dish; cover this with a layer of the same mayonnaise, and decorate near the top with a row of sliced truffles; divide the dome between the truffles and the bottom into panels by means of round slices of gherkins. Surround the base of the dome with slices of beets and potatoes, overlapping.
Garnish the top with string beans.

Fig. 538.
 
Continue to: