Roast Fowl Recipe

You can generally buy a fowl for about a shilling a pound;

it need not be tender, but it ought to be fleshy in order to furnish the

basis for two meals. Choose a fowl which will cost fifty cents or less;

pluck all the pin feathers, singe off the hairs with a piece of burning

paper, or a little alcohol poured on a plate and lighted with a match;

then wipe the fowl with a clean damp cloth, draw it carefully by

slitting the skin at the back of the neck, and taking out the crop

without tearing the skin of the breast; loosen the heart, liver, and

lungs by introducing the fore-finger at the neck, and then draw them,

with the entrails, from the vent. Unless you have broken the gall, or

the entrails, in drawing the bird, do not wash it, for this greatly

impairs the flavor, and partly destroys the nourishing qualities of the

flesh. Twist the tips of the wings back under the shoulders; bend the

legs as far up toward the breast as possible, secure the thigh bones in

that position by a trussing cord or skewer; then bring the legs down,

and fasten them close to the vent. Put the bird into a pot containing

three quarts of boiling water, with one tablespoonful of salt, an onion

stuck with half a dozen cloves, and a bouquet of sweet herbs, made as

directed on page 19; skim it as soon as it boils, and as often as any

scum rises. If you wish to stuff the fowl use a forcemeat made as

follows, (cost ten cents,) and carefully sew it up in the carcass.

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