Stewed Chicken - Dumplings

Mashed Potatoes Creamed Turnips

Cranberry Telly Fruit Pudding - Hard Sauce

Stewed Chicken

Singe the chicken by passing it quickly several times over a direct flame. Remove the pin feathers and tendons, and oil sac from the tail, then separate the fowl into pieces at the joints. Beginning with the legs, cut through the loose skin between the legs and the body, bend the leg and cut off at the joint; by moving the legs a little the joint between the "second joint" and the drumstick may be ascertained; cut through the flesh at this point, then sever the ligaments. Cut through the skin and flesh on the under side where the wing joins the body, and disjoint the wing. Make an incision between the end of the breast-bone and the tail, then remove the internal organs. Cut through the ribs and the articulation at the top of the collar bone, thus separating the breast and back; divide the back by cutting through the middle crosswise and breaking at the joint. Often the wish-bone and the flesh attached to it are cut off and the rest of the breast chopped in two parts at the bone; these, however, while convenient for serving, are not natural divisions. Be very careful to remove the lungs and the kidneys, which are the dark brown substance lying in the hollows under the backbone. Wash thoroughly in soda water, rubbing the skin Well with a cloth.

Place the pieces of chicken in a saucepan, cover with I quart of boiling water, add an onion with a clove pressed into it, a bit of bayleaf, and 1/2 t salt. Boil 10 m, skim off the coagulated juices which rise to the top, lest they settle upon the chicken and cause it to look unsightly, then lower the flame and let cook below the boiling point until the chicken is tender. Add the dumplings, made according to directions given in Lesson 33. When done, remove at once to a hot platter, add 1/4 c flour mixed with 1/4 c water to the broth, and cook until thick, stirring all the time. Place chicken in the center of the platter with the dumplings forming a border. Pour the gravy over all.

Creamed Turnips

Wash and pare the turnips and put on to cook, after being cut in small pieces, in boiling salted water. Cook about 20 m, or until tender. Drain, and cover with 1 c medium White Sauce. (See "Helpful Suggestions," Part I.)

For Mashed Potatoes see Lesson 3.

For Fruit Pudding see Lesson 58.

Preparing The Meal

The chicken may be prepared for cooking on Saturday, then placed in a covered dish in a cool place until ready to cook on Sunday. If one possesses a "fireless cooker," after boiling the chicken for 10 m it may be placed in a "cooker" and left for 3 h or more, depending upon the age and toughness of the fowl.

If a "fireless cooker" is not available, then put the chicken on to cook about 2 h before dinner time, or if very tough more time should be allowed.

About 40 m before serving, wash and pare the potatoes and turnips and put on to cook. Twenty minutes or so later make the dumplings and drop into the broth. The pudding, which has been cooked the day before, may be reheated by steaming over the chicken while it is cooking. Make the cream sauce for the turnips, mash the potatoes, cream the turnips, thicken the broth, and serve the dinner.