POULET AUX CRESSONS.
964. INGREDIENTS.—A fowl, a large bunch of water-cresses, 3 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 1/4 pint of gravy.
Mode.—Truss and roast a fowl by recipe No. 952, taking care that it is nicely frothed and brown. Wash and dry the water-cresses, pick them nicely, and arrange them in a flat layer on a dish. Sprinkle over a little salt and the above proportion of vinegar; place over these the fowl, and pour over it the gravy. A little gravy should be served in a tureen. When not liked, the vinegar may be omitted.
Time.—From 1/2 to 1 hour, according to size.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Seasonable at any time.
ROAST FOWL, Stuffed.
965. INGREDIENTS.—A large fowl, forcemeat No. 417, a little flour.
Mode.—Select a large plump fowl, fill the breast with forcemeat, made by recipe No. 417, truss it firmly, the same as for a plain roast fowl, dredge it with flour, and put it down to a bright fire. Roast it for nearly or quite an hour, should it be very large; remove the skewers, and serve with a good brown gravy and a tureen of bread sauce.
Time.—Large fowl, nearly or quite 1 hour.
Average cost, in full season, 2s. 6d. each.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable all the year, but scarce in early spring.
Note.—Sausage-meat stuffing may be substituted for the above: this is now a very general mode of serving fowl.
[Illustration: PENCILLED HAMBURG.]
PENCILLED HAMBURG.—This variety of the Hamburg fowl is of two colours, golden and silver, and is very minutely marked. The hens of both should have the body clearly pencilled across with several bars of black, and the hackle in both, sexes should be perfectly free from dark marks. The cocks do not exhibit the pencillings, but are white or brown in the golden or silver birds respectively. Their form is compact, and their attitudes graceful and sprightly. The hens do not sit, but lay extremely well; hence one of their common names, that of Dutch every-day layers. They are also known in different parts of the country, as Chitteprats, Creoles, or Corals, Bolton bays and grays, and, in some parts of Yorkshire, by the wrong name of Corsican fowls. They are imported in large numbers from Holland, but those bred in this country are greatly superior in size.