Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/767

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RECIPES FOR COOKING POULTRY
681

Method.—Chop the chicken finely, boil the bones and trimmings for at least 1½ hours, and use the stock for the sauce. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the stock and boil gently for 20 minutes. Season to taste, add the minced chicken, draw the stewpan aside, then let it remain until the contents are thoroughly hot, and serve garnished with neatly poached and trimmed eggs.

Time.—Allow ¾ of an hour, after the stock is made. Average Cost, 1s. 3d., exclusive of the chicken. Allow 1 lb. of chicken and 6 eggs for 4 or 5 persons.

1178.—CHICKEN PANADA. (Fr.Panade de Volaille.)

Ingredients.—4 to 5 ozs. of raw chicken, ½ a gill of cream, pepper and salt.

Method.—Pass the chicken freed from skin and bone 2 or 3 times through a mincing machine, then place it in a buttered jar, cover closely, stand the jar in a saucepan containing a little boiling water, and simmer constantly for nearly 1 hour. Pound the chicken in a mortar, adding the liquid in the jar, season to taste, and pass the mixture through a wire sieve. Whip the cream slightly, stir in the chicken preparation, and serve on toast or in ramakin cases. If preferred, the panada may be heated in a saucepan, and served on hot buttered toast.

Time.—To cook the chicken, about 1 hour. Average Cost, about 1s. 8d. Sufficient for 2 persons. Seasonable at any time.

Eggs for Hatching.—Eggs intended for the hatching should be removed as soon as laid, and placed in a dry cool place. Choose those that are nearly of the same size, for as a rule, eggs equally thick at both ends contain a double yolk, and are worthless. Eggs intended for hatching should not be stored longer than a month; it is preferable to keep them a less time. In winter nine to eleven eggs are sufficient to place under a hen; in warmer weather this number may be increased to thirteen, and if it be very hot to fifteen. The egg should be carefully tested by candle light when they have been sat upon for a few days; the seventh or eighth evening will be sufficiently early. All clear eggs should be removed; they will serve excellently for puddings, etc. The fertile eggs should be opaque or clouded, and must be carefully replaced under the hen without shaking. If during incubation an egg should be broken, it must be removed, and the remainder taken out and cleansed in tepid water, otherwise the contents of the broken egg will cause the others to cling to the hen's fathers, and they too may become fractured. Many eggs are now hatched by artificial incubators, at a steady temperature of 101° to 104°. It is important that eggs hatched in this manner should be fresh.

1179.—CHICKEN PATTIES. (Fr.Bouchées à la Reine.)

Ingredients.—4 to 6 ozs. of cold boiled chicken, 2 ozs. of cooked ham, 6 button mushrooms, 1 truffle, 1 teaspoonful of lemon-juice, salt and pepper, ¼ of a pint of Béchamel sauce (see Sauces, No. 178), puff paste.

Method.—Chop the chicken and ham not too finely, cut the mushrooms and truffle into small dice, and mix all together. Stamp out 9 or 10 patty cases from the puff paste and mark the centres with a smaller cutter to form the lids (see Oyster Patties.) Bake in a quick oven, then scoop out the soft inside, take care of the lids, and keep the cases hot until