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Classic
Cook Books
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page 239
Boil the giblets until tender in a separate dish, and add them, well chopped,
together with water in which they were cooked, to the gravy.
TO CUT UP A CHICKEN.
Pick, singe, and draw; lay the chicken on a board kept for the purpose, cut off
the feet at first joint; cut a slit in the neck, take out the windpipe and crop,
cut off the wings and legs at the joint which unites them to the body, separate
the first joint of the leg from the second, cut off the oil bag, make a slit
horizontally under the tail, cut the end of the entrails loose, extend the slit
on each side to the joint where the legs were cut off; then, with the left hand,
hold the breast of the chicken, and, with the right, bend back the rump until
the joint in back separates, cut it clear and place in water. Take out the
entrails, using a sharp knife to separate the eggs (if any), and all other
particles to be removed, from the back, being careful in removing the heart and
liver not to break the gall-bag (a small sack of a blue-green color about an
inch long attached to the liver); separate the back and breast; commence at the
high point of the breast and cut downwards toward the head, taking off part of
the breast with the wish-bone; cut the neck from that part of the back to which
the ribs are attached, turn the skin off the neck, and take out all lumps and
stringy substances; very carefully remove the gall-bag from the liver, and clean
the gizzard by making an incision through the thick part and first lining,
peeling off the fleshy part, leaving the inside whole and ball-shaped; if the
lining breaks, open the gizzard, pour out contents, peel off inner lining, and
wash thoroughly. After washing in second water, the chicken is ready to be
cooked. When young chickens are to be baked, with a sharp knife cut open the
back at the side of the back-bone, press apart, and clean as above directed, and
place in dripping pan, skin side up.
Chickens are stuffed and roasted in the same way as turkeys, and are much better
for being first steamed, especially if over a year old. Roast for twenty or
thirty minutes, or till nicely browned. Some prefer to broil or fry old chickens
after first steaming until tender, but stewing or boiling is better.
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Classic
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