1228.—FOWL STEWED WITH RICE. (Fr.—Poulet au riz.)
Ingredients.—1 fowl, 4 ozs. of rice, 1 quart of stock, 2 or 3 onions, 2 or 3 strips of celery, a bouquet-garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf), 6 peppercorns, salt and pepper.
Method.—Truss the fowl for boiling, put it into a stewpan, or earthenware stew-casserole, with the cold stock; when it boils add the onions and celery in large pieces, and the herbs and peppercorns tied in muslin. Cover closely, and cook very slowly for 1 hour, then add the rice (previously well washed), salt to taste, and continue the gentle cooking until both fowl and rice are perfectly tender. The rice should absorb nearly all the stock. Before serving, remove the vegetables and herbs, season with salt and pepper, and place the fowl on a hot dish, surrounded by the rice.
Time.—From 1½ to 2 hours. Average Cost, 3s. 9d. to 4s. 6d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
The Best Fowls to Fatten, etc.—The chicks most likely to fatten well are those first hatched in the brood, and those with the shortest legs. Long-legged fowls, as a rule, are by far the most difficult to fatten. The most delicate sort are those which are put up to fatten as soon as the hen forsakes them; for, as says an old writer, "then they will be in fine condition and full of flesh, which flesh is afterwards expended in the exercise of foraging for food and in the increase of stature; and it may be a work of some weeks to recover it, especially with young cocks." But whether you take them in hand as chicks or not till they are older, the three prime rules to be observed are—sound and various food, warmth and cleanliness. There is nothing that a fatting fowl grows so fastidious about as water. If water any way foul be offered him he will not drink it, but sulk with his food and pine, and you all the while wondering the reason why. Keep them separate, allowing to each bird as much space as you can spare. Spread the ground with sharp sandy gravel; take care that they are not disturbed. In addition to their regular diet of bruised corn, make them a cake of ground oats or beans, brown sugar, milk and mutton suet. Let the cake lie till it is stale, then crumble it, and give each bird a gill measureful morning and evening. No entire grain should be given to fowls during the time they are fattening, indeed the secret of success lies in supplying them with the most nutritious food without stint, and in such a form that their digestive mills shall find no difficulty in grinding it.
1229.—FONDU OF CHICKEN.
See "Chicken, Ramakins of," No. 1186, and "Chicken, Small Soufflé of," No. 1193.
1230.—FOWL, FRIED, WITH PEAS. (Fr.—Poulet Sauté aux petits pois.)
Ingredients.—The remains of 1 or 2 cold roast fowls, 2 ozs. of butter, 1 oz. of flour, ¾ of a pint of stock, 1 pint of shelled peas, salt and pepper.
Method.—Divide the fowl into pieces convenient for serving, and boil the bones and trimmings down for stock. Fry the fowl in hot butter until well-browned, then remove and keep it hot, and sprinkle in the flour. Brown slightly, add the stock, stir until boiling, and season to taste. Replace the fowl, cover closely, draw the stewpan aside where the contents will keep hot without cooking, and let it remain for ½ an hour. Meanwhile boil and drain the peas, and season them with pepper. Serve the fowl arranged in a circle on a hot dish with the
