1149.—CHICKEN À LA MARENGO. (Fr.—Poulet sauté à la Marengo.)
Ingredients.—1 chicken, ¼ of a pint of salad-oil, 1 pint of Espagnole sauce (see Sauces, No. 244), the pulp of 2 ripe tomatoes, ½ a glass of sherry, 1 dozen preserved mushrooms, 6 stoned olives, 1 truffle, salt and pepper, fleurons for garnish.
Method.—Divide the chicken into neat pieces, and fry them in salad-oil until nicely browned, then drain well and pour away the oil. Heat up the Espagnole sauce with the tomato pulp, replace the chicken in the stewpan, add the sherry, mushrooms and olives whole, the truffle cut into large pieces, and simmer gently for three quarters of an hour, or until the chicken is tender. When done, pile in the centre of a hot dish, strain the sauce over, and garnish with the mushrooms, olives and truffle. Place a few fleurons, i.e., half-moon or crescent-shaped pieces of puff pastry, or crôutes of fried bread, round the dish.
Time.—About 1½ hours. Average Cost, 5s. 6d. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons.
Fowls.—The name sometimes applied to birds of large size, but more usually restricted to those of the genus Gallus, of which the domestic fowl is a familiar example. Such birds form a typical group of Rasores, or "scratchers." They are furnished with strong beaks and claws, and the heads of the males are distinguished by a comb, brightly coloured and frequently erectile, their legs are provided with spurs used in conflict, the cock being a very pugnacious bird, and resenting the presence of a rival. The plumage of the male bird is much more brilliant than that of the female, except in the case of the pure white breeds, the long feathers of the cock's tail, with their graceful curve, adding beauty to the appearance of the bird. The fowl is interesting from its susceptibility to variation under domestication. Its original habitat appears to have been Eastern Asia and the Malayan Archipelago. The Bankiva Jungle Fowl, a native of Java, is supposed to have been the original stock from which the domesticated varieties have been derived. Among the numerous breeds or varieties are the Common or Barndoor fowl, a bird of no special breed, but representing interbreeding between various varieties: the Cochin-China fowl, the Polish fowl, the Spanish fowl, the Hamburg, the Dorking, the Bantam and the Game fowl. The term chicken is applied to the young female bird, from the period it is hatched until it is four months old; after that age until they begin to lay they are called pullets, and subsequently hens.
1150.—CHICKEN, BOILED, TURKISH STYLE. (Fr.—Poulet Bouilli à la Turque.)
Ingredients.—1 chicken or fowl, ½ a lb. of boiled rice, ½ a pint of tomato sauce (see Sauces No. 281), 1 oz. of butter, 1 teaspoonful of cornflour, 1 finely-chopped shallot, salt and pepper.
Method.—Boil the chicken and cut it into neat joints. Melt the butter, fry the shallot slightly, add the tomato sauce, and when thoroughly hot put in the pieces of chicken, and simmer very gently for 25 minutes. A few minutes before serving add the cornflour previously blended with a little cold water. Arrange the chicken neatly in a border of boiled rice, strain the sauce over, and serve.
Time.—From 1¼ to 1½ hours. Average Cost, 3s. 6d. to 4s. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
1151.—CHICKEN, BOMBS OF. (Fr.—Petites Bombes de Volaille.)
Ingredients.—½ a lb. of raw chicken, 1 oz. of flour, ½ an oz. of butter,
