CUTLETS, FILLETS, etc.
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the wing joint, and then slice this neatly, according to the thickness and the size you wish your fillets to be. The best way to manage this is to slit the skin of the bird right along the breastbone down to the neck, turning this skin well back as you do so; slip the blade of the knife (which should be a pointed one) close down the breastbone on each side, free the meat from the merrythought, then lift the flesh from the breast to the base of the wing, of course keeping the knife close to the bone so that you can lift the meat off on each side in a solid piece thicker at one end than the other. Place each piece flat on a board, skinned side uppermost, then divide it lengthways into slices as nearly even in size and thickness as you can manage; a good large fowl should yield about six of these slices from each side of the breast. These fillets should be batted out precisely like cutlets (being careful not to bat them too heavily, or you will mash and consequently spoil them), and then pressed and trimmed with a wetted knife, rounding the broad and pointing the narrow ends to give them a cutlet shape. To cook these fillets they are generally laid on a well buttered baking dish lightly sprinkled with strained lemon juice and a very little white stock, then covered with a buttered paper and cooked from eight to ten minutes according to thickness, in a fairly hot oven. Fillets thus prepared can be used for all sorts of dishes, especially for the well-known (but seldom seen) Suprême de Volaille. This latter dish, though a very recherché one, is not so expensive as it sounds, as the legs can be grilled and devilled or