1184.—CHICKEN, PURÉE OF, WITH RICE. (Fr.—Purée de Poulet au Riz.)
Ingredients.—4 ozs. of finely-chopped cooked chicken, 2 ozs. of finely-chopped cooked ham, 4 ozs. of rice, white stock, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, salt and pepper, chopped truffle.
Method.—Blanch the rice, drain well, cover with white stock, and cook gently until tender and dry. Pound the chicken and ham until smooth, moistening gradually with a little stock, and pass these ingredients through a wire sieve. Stir in the cream, season to taste, make thoroughly hot, stirring meanwhile, and add stock, a little at a time, until the preparation is reduced to the consistency of thick cream. Turn into 5 or 6 well-buttered scallop shells, arrange the rice to form a narrow border, sprinkle the surface with truffle, and serve.
Time.—Altogether, about 1½ hours. Average Cost, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 6d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
Feeding and Cooping the Chicks.—When all the chicks are hatched they should be placed with the mother hen under a coop, in a warm dry place. If two hens happen to have broods at the same time, care must be taken to keep their broods separate, for should they become mixed and go under the same coop, the hens will probably maim and destroy the chicks which do not belong to them. After being kept snug beneath the coop for a week—the coop being placed under cover at nightfall—the chicks may be allowed to run about for an hour or so during the warmest part of the day. They should be gradually weaned from the soaked bread and chopped egg, and grits or boiled barley substituted. In eight or ten days their stomachs will be sufficiently strong to receive bruised barley, and, if healthy, at the end of three weeks, the chicks will be able to take care of themselves. It is well, however, to watch over them for a week or so longer, to prevent older chickens driving them away from their food. Great care should be taken that the very young chicks do not run about the wet ground or on damp grass, which causes the chief and most fatal disease to which the young birds are liable. While under the coop with the hen a shallow pan of water should be supplied to the chicks, as they are apt to drench themselves and take cold, or get drowned in a deep vessel.
Detached nesting-boxes containing finely-sifted moist sand or cinder ashes, good straw, and a little hay on top, should be placed against the walls of the house, which is preferable to fixed rows of nests, since they can readily be moved, limewashed and cleansed. In front of the house a wired-in run should be provided, not less than six feet in height, and as long in extent as possible. The floor of the run should be covered with sifted ashes or good gravel, the latter being very helpful to the birds in assisting the process of digestion.
1185.—CHICKEN, QUENELLES OF. (Fr.—Quenelles de Volaille.)
Ingredients.—8 ozs. of raw chicken, 2 ozs. of flour, ½ an oz. of butter, ¼ of a pint of stock or water, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls of cream, salt and pepper.
Method.—Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the stock, let boil whilst stirring. This will produce the panada; which put aside to cool. Shred or mince the chicken meat finely, or pass it through a mincing machine, pound well in the mortar, adding the panada by degrees and each egg separately, season well, and rub through a fine wire or hair sieve. Whip the cream slightly, and stir it lightly into the chicken purée. Poach a little of the preparation and, if too stiff, add a little more stock or cream. See "Quenelles of Veal" for directions for shaping, cooking and serving.
