1155.—CHICKEN CREAM. (Fr.—Crème de Volaille.)
Ingredients.—½ a lb. of raw chicken, free from bone and skin, ⅛ of a pint of thick Béchamel sauce (see Sauces No. 178), ⅛ of a pint of double cream, 1 egg, salt and pepper, truffles.
Method.—Chop the chicken meat finely, pound it in a mortar until smooth, adding the egg and white sauce gradually, and pass the ingredients through a wire sieve. Whip the cream stiffly, stir it lightly in, and season to taste. Turn the mixture into 1 large or 6 or 7 very small buttered moulds and steam gently until firm. Dish up and sauce over. Server garnished with truffles, and send a boat of Béchamel or other suitable sauce to table separately.
Time.—To steam in 1 mould, about 30 minutes; in small moulds, about 25 minutes. Average Cost, 3s. to 3s. 6d. Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons. Seasonable at any time.
Pencilled Hamburg.—This variety of the Hamburg fowl is of two colours, golden and silver and is very minutely marked. The hens of both these varieties have the body pencilled across with several bars of black—hence the name—and the hackle in both sexes of good breed is perfectly free from dark marks. The cocks do not exhibit the pencillings, but are white and brown respectively in the golden or silver birds. The Pencilled Hamburgs are compact in form, and sprightly and graceful in their attitudes. The hens lay abundantly, but are not sitters. They are imported in large numbers from Holland, and are also bred in England, the latter being much superior in size. These birds are known in various parts of the country as "Chitteprats," "Creoles" or "Corals," "Bolton bays and greys," and in some parts of Yorkshire are called "Corsican fowls."
1156.—CHICKEN, CREPINETTES OF. (Fr.—Crepinettes de Volaille.)
Ingredients.—4 ozs. of cooked chicken, 2 oz. cooked ham, 4 button mushrooms, 1 truffle, 1 yolk of egg, 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of thick white sauce, salt and pepper, pig's caul, ¼ a pint of brown sauce (see Sauces).
Method.—Cut the chicken, ham, mushrooms, and truffle into shreds about 1 inch in length, add the yolk of egg to the hot sauce, season to taste, put in the shredded ingredients, stir by the side of the fire for a few minutes, then put aside until cold (this is called the Salpicon). Wash the caul in salt and water, dry it, and cut it into 4-inch squares. Enfold a desertspoonful of the mixture in each piece of caul, form into a round shape, and either bake them in the oven for 6 minutes, and brush them over warm glaze, or coat them with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot fat. Serve on a bed of spinach or purée of green peas, and pour the sauce round.
Time.—About 1 hour. Average Cost, 1s. 9d. to 2s. Sufficient for about 4 or 5 persons.
The Bantam.—This small variety of the game fowl is noted for its elegant appearance, animation, plumage and spirited courage, which, despite its diminutive size, it displays to a remarkable degree, especially when defending its progeny. Like the game bird, its original habitat is the East, and it is supposed to have derived its name from Bantam, in Java. The black and nankeen varieties are considered to be the best.
