1581—SUPRÊMES
1582—CÔTELETTES
1583—AILERONS OF CHICKEN
The terms “Fillet” and “Suprême” are synonymous, and either one or the other may be used for variety to express the same thing on a menu. They are names given to the breast of the fowl, divided into two along the sternum, and cleared of all skin. Each fillet or suprême comprises the large and the minion fillets.
When suprêmes are taken from a small chicken, the minion fillets are not removed; if the chicken be an ordinary one or a pullet, the minion fillets are removed, cleared of all tendons, and twisted into rings or crescents, after having been contised with slices of truffle that are half-inserted into the little incisions, made at regular intervals in the meat with the point of a knife.
Prepared in this way, these fillets are generally included in the garnish of the suprêmes. Chicken ailerons and cutlets (the latter must not be mistaken for those prepared from cooked meat and which are only a kind of croquette) are suprêmes to which the humerus-bone of the wing is left adhering.
Cutlets are always cut from such fowls as chickens à la Reine, or very fleshy, spring chickens. The same rule applies to suprêmes: though, sometimes, the latter are cut from pullets. But, in that case, as they would be too large, they are cut into three or four very regular pieces, which are slightly flattened, and trimmed to the shape of hearts or ovals; except when they have to be stuffed.
[508]
In the latter case, they are opened in the thickness, by means
of the point of a small knife, to form sacks; and, in the
resulting interstice the selected stuffing is inserted, with the
help of a piping-bag fitted with a little, even pipe, and in a
sufficient quantity to fill out the suprêmes well.
Suprêmes and cutlets are always cooked without liquor, or almost so; for should any moistening liquid even approach the boil, it would immediately harden them. If they be desired poached, it would be best to cook the whole fowl, and cut them from the latter when it is cooked.
This is how they are prepared, according as to whether they be required colourless or sautéd; though the brown method of preparing them is applied more particularly to cutlets.
Cutlets or suprêmes sautéd: Season them with salt; roll them in flour; set them in a vegetable pan containing some very hot clarified butter, and quickly gild them on both sides. These pieces of fowl are so tender that they are cooked and gilded at the same moment of time.
Cutlets or suprêmes prepared without colouration: Season them, and set them in a vegetable-pan, containing some fresh, melted, unclarified butter. Roll the suprêmes in this butter; add a few drops of lemon juice; thoroughly seal the vegetable-pan, and put it in a very hot oven.
A few minutes suffice for the poaching of the suprêmes, which are known to be ready when they seem resilient to the touch, and are perfectly white.
Important Remarks: Chicken Suprêmes or cutlets should never be allowed to wait, lest they harden. They should be cooked quickly, at the last moment; dished and served immediately. The shortest wait is enough to spoil them, and to make an insipid and dry preparation of what should be an exquisite dish.
N.B.—The recipes given hereafter for suprêmes may of course be applied to fillets, cutlets, ailerons, blanc de poulet, &c.
1584—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AGNÈS SOREL
Line some oval buttered tartlet-moulds with mousseline forcemeat. Upon the latter, put some raw, sliced mushrooms, tossed in butter; cover with forcemeat so as to fill the mould, and poach in the bain-marie.
Turn out in a circle on a round dish; put a poached suprême on each tartlet; coat with Allemande sauce; deck with a truffle girt by a ring of very red tongue, and surround the suprême with a thread of pale, meat glaze.
[509]
1585—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ALEXANDRA
Poach the suprêmes dry. Dish them with a few slices of truffle set upon them; coat them with Mornay sauce, flavoured with chicken essence, and glaze quickly. Surround with small heaps of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter.
1586—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AMBASSADRICE
Poach the suprêmes dry. Dish them; coat them with suprême sauce, and surround them with lamb sweetbreads, studded with truffles and cooked without colouration, alternated with faggots of asparagus-heads.
1587—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ARLÉSIENNE
Season and dredge the suprêmes, and toss them in clarified butter.
Meanwhile, fry in oil some egg-plant roundels and some seasoned and dredged roundels of onion. Also prepare a garnish of tomatoes tossed in oil. Dish the egg-plant roundels in a circle on a round dish; set the suprêmes thereon, and garnish the latter with the tossed tomatoes and the fried onions, set in small heaps upon them.
Serve a delicate, tomatéd half-glaze sauce separately.
1588—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE BOISTELLE
Cut the suprêmes into heart shapes, and stuff them with mousseline forcemeat combined with half its bulk of mashed raw mushrooms.
Put the suprêmes in a buttered vegetable-pan, with two-thirds lb. of peeled, minced, raw mushrooms; season with salt, white pepper and lemon juice, and set to poach slowly in a moderate oven.
Dish in the form of a crown, in a timbale, with the mushrooms in the centre.
Add to the liquor, which should only consist of the moisture of the mushrooms, two and one-half oz. of butter and a few drops of lemon juice; pour this sauce over the suprêmes, and complete with a pinch of chopped parsley.
1589—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AUX CHAMPIGNONS, A BLANC
Poach the suprêmes in a little mushroom cooking-liquor.
Dish them in the form of a crown, with some fine very white cooked mushroom-heads. Coat them moderately with Allemande sauce, combined with the cooking-liquor of the suprêmes.
Serve what remains of the sauce separately.
[510]
1590—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AUX CHAMPIGNONS, A BRUN
Cook the suprêmes in clarified butter, as already described.
Dish them; surround them with mushrooms, minced raw and tossed in butter, and coat them with a light mushroom sauce.
1591—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE CHIMAY
Cook the suprêmes in clarified butter.
Dish them; garnish them with tossed morels and asparagus-heads, cohered with butter, and surround with a thread of good thickened gravy.
1592—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE CUSSY
Collop the suprêmes; slightly flatten each collop; trim them round, dredge them, and toss them in butter.
Set each collop of suprême upon an artichoke-bottom about equal in size to the former; put a thick slice of glazed truffle on each collop, and a very white cock’s kidney upon each slice of truffle.
Serve a thickened gravy separately.
1593—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE DORIA
Season and dredge the suprêmes, and toss them quickly in clarified butter. Dish them and surround them with pieces of cucumber, shaped like garlic cloves and cooked in butter.
When about to serve, sprinkle them with a little nut-brown butter, and a few drops of lemon juice.
1594—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE DREUX
Make some incisions, at short intervals, in the suprêmes, and half-insert into these, alternate roundels of truffle and salted tongue. Poach them dry. Dish; surround with a garnish of cocks’ combs and kidneys, and slices of truffle, and pour a moderate quantity of Allemande sauce over this garnish.
1595—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ÉCARLATE
Incise the suprêmes as above; but garnish them only with roundels of tongue. Poach them dry, and set them on oval, flat quenelles of mousseline forcemeat, sprinkled with very red chopped tongue.
Coat with clear suprême sauce, that the red of the tongue may be seen.
1596—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ÉCOSSAISE
Poach the suprêmes.
Dish them; coat them with Écossaise sauce, and surround them with small heaps of French beans, cohered with butter.
[511]
1597—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE FAVORITE
Sauté the suprêmes in clarified butter.
Dish them in a crown, on tossed slices of foie gras, with three slices of truffle on each suprême.
In their midst set a heap of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter, and serve, separately, a sauceboat of light meat-glaze, buttered.
1598—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE FINANCIÈRE
Sauté the suprêmes in clarified butter.
Dish them in the form of a crown, upon fried croûtons of the same size; in their midst arrange a garnish à la financière (No. 1474), and coat the suprêmes and their garnish with financière sauce.
1599—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AUX FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS
Sauté the suprêmes in clarified butter.
Dish them with a garnish of raw artichoke-bottoms, sliced, tossed in butter, and sprinkled with fine herbs. Sprinkle a few drops of nut-brown butter over the suprêmes, and serve a thickened gravy separately.
1600—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE GEORGETTE
Prepare as many “pommes Georgette” as there are suprêmes, and take care to choose potatoes of the same size as the suprêmes.
Poach the suprêmes. Set one on each potato, with a fine slice of truffle in the middle, and arrange in the form of a crown on a round dish.
1601—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE HENRI IV.
Collop the suprêmes; slightly flatten the collops, and trim them round. Season and dredge them; sauté them in clarified butter, and set each collop on an artichoke bottom, slightly garnished with buttered meat-glaze.
Serve a Béarnaise sauce separately.
1602—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE HONGROISE
Prepare some pilaff rice, combined with concassed tomatoes, and dish it in a shallow timbale.
Season the suprêmes with paprika; toss them in clarified butter, and set them in a timbale, upon the pilaff rice.
Swill the vegetable-pan with a few tablespoonfuls of cream; add the necessary quantity of Hongroise sauce, and coat the suprêmes with this sauce.
[512]
1603—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE A L’INDIENNE
Sauté the suprêmes in butter, and put them for a few minutes in a curry sauce à l’Indienne, but without letting the latter boil.
Dish the suprêmes in a timbale with the curry sauce.
Serve a timbale of rice à l’Indienne, separately.
1604—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE JARDINIÈRE
Sauté the suprêmes in butter. Dish and surround with small heaps of vegetables, arranged very neatly, as explained in the case of the Jardinière garnish.
Sprinkle the suprêmes with a few drops of nut-brown butter, just before serving.
1605—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE JUDIC
Cut the suprêmes into heart shapes; season them, and poach them dry.
Dish them in a crown, upon little braised lettuces; and set a slice of truffle and a cock’s kidney upon each heart of suprême. Coat slightly with thickened gravy.
1606—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE MARÉCHALE
It is the rule that all preparations termed “à la Maréchale” should be treated with chopped truffle; that is to say that the latter takes the place of the customary bread-crumbs.
For the sake of economy the à l’anglaise treatment (i.e., egg and bread-crumbs) is more commonly applied; so the reader may choose which of the two he prefers. In any case, sauté the suprêmes in butter; dish them in the form of a crown, with a fine slice of truffle on each, and set in their midst a garnish of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter.
N.B.—Formerly, these suprêmes, like all preparations “à la Maréchale,” were gently grilled upon buttered paper.
1607—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE MARYLAND
Proceed exactly as directed under “Poulet sauté à la Maryland” (No. 1565).
1608—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE MONTPENSIER
Roll the suprêmes in beaten egg and bread-crumbs, and sauté them in clarified butter. Dish them in a crown with a slice of truffle upon each, and surround with small heaps of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter.
Sprinkle the suprêmes with a few drops of nut-brown butter.
[513]
1609—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ORLY
Take some suprêmes of chicken à la Reine, and set them on a dish with parsley stalks and finely sliced onions; sprinkle with a little oil and lemon juice, and set to marinade for an hour.
When about to prepare them, dry them by means of a piece of linen; dip them into light batter, and put them in a very hot frying fat that they may cook quickly.
Drain; dish on a napkin with bunches or a border of very green fried parsley, and serve a tomato sauce separately.
1610—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE A L’ORIENTALE
Sauté the suprêmes in butter, and dish them each upon a thick slice of chow-chow, cut to the same shape, parboiled, and stewed in butter beforehand. Coat with Suprême sauce, combined with a quarter of its bulk of tomato purée, and flavoured moderately with saffron.
1611—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE EN PAPILLOTE
Cut out as many heart-shaped pieces of kitchen paper as there are suprêmes, and either butter or oil them.
Quickly stiffen the suprêmes in butter. In the centre of each paper heart, set a slice of ham cut to the shape of a triangle; cover the ham with a tablespoonful of reduced Italienne sauce; set the suprêmes on the sauce, and cover it with the same sauce and another triangle of ham. Close the pieces of paper, and pleat their edges in such wise as to entirely enclose their contents; set the papillotes, thus prepared, on a tray; and put them in a sufficiently hot oven to allow of completing the cooking of the suprêmes and blowing out the papillotes.
1612—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE AU PARMESAN
Season the suprêmes; dip them in beaten egg and roll them in grated Parmesan. Sauté them in butter, and dish them on croûtons of polenta (No. 2294), shaped somewhat like the suprêmes and browned in clarified butter. When about to serve, sprinkle the suprêmes with nut-brown butter.
1613—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE A LA POLIGNAC
Poach the suprêmes dry, and dish them.
Coat them with Suprême sauce, combined with a julienne of truffles and mushrooms.
1614—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE A LA POJARSKI
Mince the suprêmes, and, in so doing, combine with them, first, the quarter of their weight of bread-crumbs dipped in milk [514] and well squeezed, and the same weight of fresh butter; and then an equal quantity of fresh cream, which should be added little by little. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Divide up this preparation into portions equal in size to the suprêmes, and shape them exactly like the latter; in short, reconstruct the suprêmes exactly with this mince-meat.
Dredge; cook in clarified butter, and serve as soon as ready.
There is no hard and fast rule for the garnishing of these suprêmes; the garnish is therefore optional.
1615—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE RÉGENCE
Cut the suprêmes into heart shapes; flatten them slightly, and poach them. Set each suprême on a quenelle of chicken forcemeat, prepared with crayfish butter, and dish in the form of a crown. Coat with Allemande sauce, flavoured with truffle essence, and, on each suprême, set an olive-shaped truffle and a cock’s kidney—the two separated by a cock’s comb.
1616—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE RICHELIEU
Treat the suprêmes à l’anglaise, and cook them in clarified butter.
Dish them; coat them with half-melted butter à la Maître d’hôtel, and set four fine slices of truffle on each suprême.
1617—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE ROSSINI
Sauté the suprêmes in butter, and dish them on collops of foie gras, arranged in the form of a crown and also tossed in butter. Coat with a strong Madeira sauce, combined with slices of truffle.
1618—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE TALLEYRAND
Prepare:—(1) a croustade of lining paste, of a size in proportion to the garnish to be put inside it, just as the garnish should be in proportion to the number of suprêmes:—(2) a garnish of macaroni with cream, combined with three oz. of foie gras and three oz. of truffles in dice, per one-half lb. of macaroni.
Cut the suprêmes to the shape of hearts; stuff them with godiveau with cream (No. 198), mixed with half its bulk of a purée of foie gras, and poach them dry.
Put the macaroni in the croustade, shaping it like a dome in so doing; coat the suprêmes with Allemande sauce, and set them in a crown on the timbale and round the dome of macaroni.
Send a sauceboat of velouté to the table separately.
[515]
1619—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE VALENÇAY
Stuff the suprêmes with truffles, cut into small dice and cohered with very reduced Allemande sauce. Treat them à l’anglaise and cook them in butter.
Prepare some fried croûtons, shaped like cocks’ combs, in the proportion of two for each suprême; cover these with a dome of fine truffled forcemeat, and put them in a moderate oven that the forcemeat may poach.
Dish the suprêmes in the form of a crown; surround them with the croûtons; and, in their midst, pour a purée of mushrooms.
1620—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE A LA VALOIS
Treat the suprêmes à l’anglaise, and cook them in clarified butter.
Dish them with a garnish of small, stoned olives, stuffed and poached at the last moment.
Serve a Valois sauce separately.
1621—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE VERNEUIL
Marinade the suprêmes as for No. 1609; treat them à l’anglaise, and cook them in clarified butter. Dish them in the form of a crown, and coat them with Colbert sauce.
Serve separately a purée of artichokes, combined with finely-minced truffles.
1622—SUPRÊMES DE VOLAILLE VILLEROY
Poach the suprêmes without completely cooking them.
Dip them in a Villeroy sauce, in such wise that they may be well coated with it. Leave them to cool; treat them à l’anglaise; and, a few minutes before serving, put them in some very hot frying fat. Dish them in the form of a crown, and serve a Périgueux sauce separately.
1623—BLANC DE POULET ÉLISABETH
Raise the suprêmes of two small chickens; poach them in butter and lemon juice, and coat them with Suprême sauce.
Dish them around a low, very cold cushion of bread, placed on the dish at the last moment. Upon the cushion, quickly set a dozen shelled oysters, which should have been kept in ice for at least two hours before dishing.
Serve very quickly in order that the suprêmes may be very hot and the oysters very cold. Send a Suprême sauce separately.
[516]
1624—TURBAN DE FILETS DE POULET
Take the required number of fillets, which is determined by the size of the mould to be used. Flatten these fillets out somewhat thinly, and trim them neatly on both sides.
With these fillets, line a buttered savarin-mould; setting a row of thin slices of truffle between each of the fillets, and allowing the latter to hang over the edge of the mould. Over the fillets spread a layer of mousseline forcemeat, two-thirds in. thick.
Three-parts fill the remaining space with a large tongue, truffles and mushrooms salpicon, cohered by means of a reduced Allemande sauce.
Cover this salpicon with forcemeat, so as to fill the mould, and then draw the overlapping ends of the fillets across the forcemeat.
Set to poach in the bain-marie for about forty minutes; and, upon withdrawing the mould, let it stand for five minutes, that its contents may settle. Turn out upon a round dish; pour a Toulousaine garnish (see Poularde No. 1524) in the middle, and surround the turban with a thread of Allemande sauce.
1625—MIGNONNETTES DE POULET
Take the required number of small, minion fillets of pullet: trim them; make six incisions in each, and half-insert into each of these incisions alternate thin roundels of truffle and tongue.
Set these minion fillets on a buttered dish, and shape them like rings.
Trim and indent the edges of as many artichoke-bottoms as there are minion fillets, and heat them in butter. Garnish these artichoke-bottoms, dome-fashion, with a very white and somewhat stiff chicken purée. Sprinkle the minion fillets with a little mushroom cooking-liquor, and poach them in the oven for from five to six minutes.
Set the artichoke-bottoms in a circle on a round dish, and set a minion fillet upon each.
Serve a very delicate Suprême sauce, separately.
1626—NONNETTES DE POULET AGNÈS SOREL
Truss twelve ortolans for entrées, and stiffen them in butter for a moment.
Raise the fillets of twelve spring chickens; trim them; flatten them slightly and pair them off, putting the edges of one on the other, that a larger surface may be obtained.
[517]
In the middle of these joined suprêmes of chicken, put an
ortolan; wrap it in them, and tie them round once or twice
with string, that they may keep the shape of a paupiette.
Set these paupiettes in a shallow sautépan, and, five minutes before serving, sprinkle them with four oz. of boiling butter; salt moderately, and cook in a fierce oven.
After having removed the string, set each nonnette on a square, hollowed crouton of bread-crumb, fried in butter, and coated inside with foie-gras purée. Coat moderately with a light chicken glaze, finished with butter, and squeeze a drop of lemon juice on each nonnette.
1627—URSULINES DE NANCY
Prepare some barquette crusts.
Mould some chicken forcemeat into large, round, regular quenelles, and poach them in some white consommé, in time for them to be ready when the Ursulines are being dished.
A few moments before serving, garnish the barquette crusts with foie-gras purée, thinned with a little good half-glaze, flavoured with port or sherry wine. In the middle of each garnished barquette, set a well-drained mousseline quenelle; deck each quenelle with a thin and wide slice of truffle; set a small heap of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter, at either end of the barquettes, that is to say, on either side of the quenelle; and slightly coat the latter with chicken glaze, finished with butter.
Serve, separately, a sauceboat containing some of the same chicken glaze with butter.
1628—FILETS DE POULET A LA SAINT-GERMAIN
Season the fillets, dip them in melted butter and roll them in bread-crumbs; grill them gently, each on a sheet of oiled paper, and sprinkle with clarified butter during the operation.
Dish the grilled fillets, and serve at the same time:—(1) a Béarnaise sauce; (2) a timbale containing a purée of foie gras with cream.
1629—FILETS DE POULET MIREILLE
Prepare a garnish as for No. 1365; i.e., sliced, raw potatoes and artichoke-bottoms, set in a small earthenware dish and cooked as “Pommes Anna.”
Sauté the fillets in butter at the last moment; put them on the garnish, and sprinkle them with nut-brown butter.
[518]
SPRING CHICKENS (POULETS DE GRAINS)
Spring chickens are usually either grilled or prepared “en casserole” in accordance with one or another of the many recipes applicable to them.
1630—POULET DE GRAINS A LA BELLE-MEUNIÈRE
Stuff the chicken with four sliced chickens’ livers and three oz. of raw, quartered mushrooms, slightly tossed in butter. Slip five or six fine slices of truffle under the skin of the breast; truss the chicken as for an entrée, and brown it in butter.
This done, put it into an oval cocotte, with two oz. of butter, four rectangles of blanched breast of pork, and three oz. of raw quartered mushrooms, quickly tossed in butter beforehand.
Cook in the oven, under cover, and add two tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, just before serving.
1631—POULET DE GRAINS A LA BERGÈRE
Fry in butter four oz. of blanched breast of pork, cut into dice, and one-half lb. of small, whole mushrooms. Drain, and set to brown in the same butter, the chicken stuffed with a half-onion and three oz. of mushrooms, chopped and fried in butter, and mixed with three oz. of butter and a coffeespoonful of chopped parsley.
When the chicken is well coloured or gilded, put the bacon and the mushrooms round it; swill with one-sixth pint of white wine; reduce by two-thirds; add four tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, and complete the cooking of the chicken in the oven.
Set it on a round dish; thicken the cooking-liquor with a piece of manied butter, the size of a hazel-nut, or a little arrow-root; pour the sauce and the garnish round the chicken, and surround it with a border of freshly-fried straw potatoes.
1632—POULET DE GRAINS BONNE FEMME
Fry in butter four oz. of breast of fresh or salted pork, cut into slices and blanched. Drain; colour the chicken in the same fat, and put it in an oval cocotte with the slices of bacon.
With the same fat, fry in a frying-pan two-thirds lb. of potatoes cut to the shape of corks and divided into roundels; put these round the chicken, and set to cook in the oven, under cover.
When about to serve, sprinkle the fowl with a few tablespoonfuls of veal gravy.
Serve the preparation in the cocotte.
[519]
1633—POULET DE GRAINS EN CASSEROLE
Poële the chicken with butter in an earthenware saucepan, and baste it often the while. When about to serve, clear of all grease, and add a tablespoonful of veal gravy.
This chicken is served plain, without any garnish.
1634—POULET DE GRAINS EN COCOTTE
Brown the chicken in butter, in a cocotte, and under cover.
When it is half-done, surround it with two oz. of frizzled pieces of fresh or salted pork cut in dice, twelve small onions partly cooked in butter, and twenty small potatoes, the size and shape of olives.
Complete the cooking of the whole together, and, when about to serve, sprinkle with a little veal gravy.
1635—POULET DE GRAINS CLAMART
Brown the chicken in butter; half-cook it, and put it in a cocotte with one-half pint of half-cooked peas à la Française (No. 2193), the cooking-liquor of which should be very short. Complete the cooking of the whole, together, and serve the preparation as it stands, without cohering the peas.
1636—POULET DE GRAINS GRILLÉ DIABLE
Truss the chicken as for an entrée; split it open lengthwise along the middle of the back; flatten it with a butcher’s beater, and remove as many bones as possible. Season it; sprinkle it with melted butter, and half-cook it in the oven.
This done, coat it thoroughly with mustard strengthened by means of cayenne; sprinkle copiously with bread-crumbs; press upon the latter with the flat of a knife, that they may adhere to the mustard; sprinkle a little melted butter over the bird, and complete the latter’s cooking gently on the grill.
Set on a round dish, bordered with thin slices of lemon, and serve a Devilled Sauce Escoffier separately.
1637—POULET DE GRAINS, GRILLÉ A L’ANGLAISE (Spatchcock)
Split the chicken open, laterally, proceeding from the extremity of the belly to the wing-joints. Open it without separating the two halves, flatten it so as to break the joints and the bones, and remove the fragments of the latter with great care.
Fix the wings by means of a skewer; sprinkle the chicken with melted butter, season it, and half-cook it in the oven.
This done, sprinkle it with bread-crumbs and melted butter, and complete its cooking on the grill. Set it on a round dish, bordered with gherkins, and serve it as it stands.
[520]
1638—POULET DE GRAINS AUX FONDS D’ARTICHAUTS
Brown the chicken in butter, and put it in a cocotte with five fair-sized artichoke-bottoms, sliced while raw, and tossed in butter.
Complete its cooking gently in the oven, and, when about to serve, add a tablespoonful of veal gravy and a few drops of lemon juice.
1639—POULET DE GRAINS A L’HOTELIERE
Bone the chicken’s breast; stuff it with one-half lb. of good sausage-meat, and truss it as for an entrée. Brown it with butter in an earthenware saucepan, and put it in the oven.
When it is two-thirds done, add to it four oz. of quartered mushrooms, sautéd in butter, complete its cooking, and, when about to serve, finish it with three tablespoonfuls of veal gravy.
1640—POULET DE GRAINS A LA KATOFF
Split the chicken open along the back, and half-cook it in the oven as in No. 1636. This done, complete its cooking on the grill.
Meanwhile, mould on a round, buttered dish a sort of galette of Duchesse potatoes (No. 2212), one inch thick. Gild, and colour in the oven.
Dish the grilled chicken on this galette, and surround the latter with a thread of strong veal gravy.
1641—POULET DE GRAINS A LA LIMOUSINE
Stuff the chicken with one-half lb. of good sausage-meat, combined with two oz. of chopped mushrooms fried in butter. Put the chicken in a cocotte with one oz. of butter and six rectangles of blanched breast of bacon, and cook gently in the oven.
When about to serve, add two or three tablespoonfuls of veal gravy.
Send, separately, six fine chestnuts cooked in consommé.
1642—POULET DE GRAINS MASCOTTE
Brown the chicken in butter, and cook it “en casserole” with four oz. of potatoes the size and shape of olives and tossed in butter.
When the chicken is almost cooked, put it in a cocotte with the potatoes all round, two tablespoonfuls of veal gravy, and two oz. of sliced truffles set upon it.
Cover the cocotte; put the chicken in the front of the oven for ten minutes, and serve it as it stands.
[521]
1643—POULET DE GRAINS AUX MORILLES
Prepare this chicken like the one “en casserole,” and surround it with one-half lb. of morels, tossed in butter for a moment. Complete the cooking under cover, and, when about to serve, finish with one tablespoonful of veal gravy.
1644—POULET DE GRAINS SOUVAROFF
Proceed exactly as explained under No. 1520, but reduce the garnish by half.
1645—POULET DE GRAINS TARTARE
Proceed as for No. 1636, but serve a Tartare sauce at the same time.
CHICKS (POUSSINS)
The most perfect example of this class would be the Hamburg chick, were it not for the fact that it is too often kept in confinement and fed on fish, which gives a disagreeable flavour to the young bird.
When it is bred rationally, however, this chick is a great delicacy.
1646—POUSSINS CENDRILLON
Open the chicks along the back, and brown them in butter. This done, season them with salt and cayenne, and put them between two layers of pork forcemeat. Wrap them in very soft pig’s caul. Dip them in melted butter; roll them in bread-crumbs, and grill them gently for twenty or twenty-five minutes.
Dish, and serve a Périgueux sauce separately.
1647—POUSSINS A LA PIÉMONTAISE
Stuff each chick with one and one-half oz. of white Piedmont truffles, pounded with an equal weight of very fresh pork fat. Now truss them as for an entrée; string them and fry them in butter over a fierce fire. At the end of ten minutes put them in a cocotte; partly surround and cover them with rizotto à la Piémontaise, and complete the cooking in the oven with lid off.
A few minutes before serving, sprinkle the rizotto with grated Parmesan; glaze; and, at the last minute, sprinkle with nut-brown butter.
1648—POUSSINS A LA POLONAISE
Stuff each chick with one and one-half oz. of gratin forcemeat, two-thirds oz. of soaked and pressed bread-crumbs, one-third oz. of butter, and a pinch of chopped parsley. Truss as for entrées; string; quickly fry the chicks in butter in a very [522] hot oven; put them in a cocotte, and complete their cooking in the oven.
At the last moment sprinkle them with a few drops of lemon juice and nut-brown butter, combined with one oz. of bread-crumbs per four oz. of butter.
1649—POUSSINS A LA TARTARE
Proceed exactly as for “Poulet à la Tartare.”
1650—TOURTE DE POUSSINS A LA PAYSANNE
Prepare a round layer of short paste, ten inches in diameter. Upon this paste spread two-thirds lb. of sausage-meat, combined with five oz. of dry Duxelles, taking care to leave a margin two inches wide of bare paste all round.
Upon this coating of forcemeat set ten half-chicks, stiffened in butter; sprinkle two-thirds lb. of chopped mushrooms, sautéd in butter, over them; spread a second coating of sausage-meat and Duxelles over the whole; cover with a very thin slice of bacon, and close the whole with a layer of paste a little larger than the underlying one, the edges of which should have been moistened. Seal the two edges, and pleat regularly; gild; streak; make a slit in the top, and bake in a moderate oven for about forty minutes.
When taking the tourte out of the oven, pour into it, through the slit in its cover, a few tablespoonfuls of half-glaze sauce.
1651—POUSSINS A LA VIENNOISE
Cut the chicks each into four pieces; season them; dredge them; dip them in beaten egg, and roll them in bread-crumbs.
A few minutes before serving, put them in hot fat; drain them, and dish them in pyramid form on a folded napkin. Surround with fried parsley and sections of lemon, and serve very hot.