CHICKEN OR FOWL PIE

The Book of Household Management · Beeton, Mrs. (Isabella Mary) · 1861
Source
The Book of Household Management
Yield
6.0 – 7.0 persons
Status
success · extracted 13 days ago
Not a recipe
No
Ingredients (14)
Instructions (20)
  1. Skin and cut up the fowls into joints.
  2. Put the neck, leg, and backbones in a stewpan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a blade of mace.
  3. Let these stew for about an hour.
  4. Strain off the liquor for gravy.
  5. Put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish.
  6. Then a layer of ham.
  7. Then one of forcemeat and hard-boiled eggs cut in rings.
  8. Between the layers put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt.
  9. Proceed in this manner until the dish is full.
  10. Pour in about 1/2 pint of water.
  11. Border the edge of the dish with puff crust.
  12. Put on the cover.
  13. Ornament the top.
  14. Glaze it by brushing over it the yolk of an egg.
  15. Bake from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour, should the pie be very large.
  16. When done, pour in, at the top, the gravy made from the bones.
  17. If to be eaten cold, and wished particularly nice, the joints of the fowls should be boned, and placed in the dish with alternate layers of forcemeat.
  18. Sausage-meat may also be substituted for the forcemeat, and is now very much used.
  19. When the chickens are boned, and mixed with sausage-meat, the pie will take about 2 hours to bake.
  20. Cover with a piece of paper when about half-done, to prevent the paste from being dried up or scorched.
Original Text
CHICKEN OR FOWL PIE. 929. INGREDIENTS.—2 small fowls or 1 large one, white pepper and salt to taste, 1/2 teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful of pounded mace, forcemeat No. 417, a few slices of ham, 3 hard-boiled eggs, 1/2 pint of water, puff crust. Mode.—Skin and cut up the fowls into joints, and put the neck, leg, and backbones in a stewpan, with a little water, an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a blade of mace; let these stew for about an hour, and, when done, strain off the liquor: this is for gravy. Put a layer of fowl at the bottom of a pie-dish, then a layer of ham, then one of forcemeat and hard-boiled eggs cut in rings; between the layers put a seasoning of pounded mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt. Proceed in this manner until the dish is full, and pour in about 1/2 pint of water; border the edge of the dish with puff crust, put on the cover, ornament the top, and glaze it by brushing over it the yolk of an egg. Bake from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour, should the pie be very large, and, when done, pour in, at the top, the gravy made from the bones. If to be eaten cold, and wished particularly nice, the joints of the fowls should be boned, and placed in the dish with alternate layers of forcemeat; sausage-meat may also be substituted for the forcemeat, and is now very much used. When the chickens are boned, and mixed with sausage-meat, the pie will take about 2 hours to bake. It should be covered with a piece of paper when about half-done, to prevent the paste from being dried up or scorched. Time.—For a pie with unboned meat, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour; with boned meat and sausage or forcemeat, 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Average cost, with 2 fowls, 6s. 6d. Sufficient for 6 or 7 persons. Seasonable at any time. THE YOUNG CHICKS.—The chicks that are hatched first should be taken from underneath the hen, lest she might think her task at an end, and leave the remaining eggs to spoil. As soon as the young birds are taken from the mother, they must be placed in a basket lined with soft wool, flannel, or hay, and stood in the sunlight if it be summer time, or by the fire if the weather be cold. It is a common practice to cram young chicks with food as soon as they are born. This is quite unnecessary. They will, so long as they are kept warm, come to no harm if they take no food for twenty-four hours following their birth. Should the whole of the brood not be hatched by that time, those that are born may be fed with bread soaked in milk, and the yolk of a hard-boiled egg.
Notes
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