POULTRY :for all chicken lovers
How to Choose poultry
Only young birds are suitable for roasting; older birds may be be boiled, steamed, braised or stewed. A roasting chicken should be about nine months to a year old; geese and other birds for roasting should not also be older than one year.
Signs of a young bird
a) The feathers, especially the quills on the wings, should be easy to pullout.
b) There should be down all over the body, but especially under the wings.
c) No long hair on the body.
d) The skin should be white or clear and smooth.
e) The feet should be supple, with smooth, even, over-lapping scales.
Signs which show that a birds is fresh
a) Feathers-light and fluffy.
b) Eyes-prominent and clear.
c) No marked or unpleasant smell.
d)Feet-moist and not stiff and dry.
e) Skin-clear with no dark or greenish tinge.
Preparation
Storing poultry
Fowls and ducks are best used fresh and should not be stored longer than 1 or 2 days before cooking. Protect them from flies and hang by the feet in a dry airy place.
Plucking
If poultry is plucked while still warm the feathers are easier to remove.
a) When plucking, do not sit in a draught or the feathers will blow about.
b) Put the bird on a large sheet of strong paper.
c) Take care not to tear the skin, especially when plucking game birds.
d) Pluck out small handfuls at a time, starting from under one wing then continue plucking until one side is completely clear.
Singeing
A bird can be sing in either of the two following ways. Care should be taken not to scorch or blacken the skin.
a) Hold the bird by its head and feet, and quickly and carefully singe off the hairs over a small gas jet.
b) Hold the bird in the left hand and singe with a lighted taper or paper spill.
The giblets
These can be used for making stock for gravy to serve with the roast bird, for enriching the stock when the bird is boiled, or for making giblet pie or giblet stew. The liver and kidneys are not boiled with the fowl, as they tend to darken the meat. The may be half-cooked, chooped and used as part of the stuffing or cooked in other ways.
Instruction for cleaning giblets
Liver
Carefully cut away the gall bladder; taking great care not to break it.
Stomach
Remove any fat and reserve it. Scarp the gizzard lining well.
Heart
Cut free of tubes, cut open, and scarp away all congealed blood.
Kidney
With a large bird, such as a turkey or goose< these are large enough to be used. Cut them open and cut out the core.
Neck
Scarp away all congealed blood.
Wash the liver, gizzard, heart, kidney and neck in salt water and rinse well
Drawing the tendons
If a bird is not young and tender, it is advisable to draw the tendons from the legs before roasting.
a) Carefully cut through the skin of the leg at the knee joint, taking care not to cut the tendons at the same time.
b) Break the joint and swing the leg free to expose the tendons.
c) Pull out the tendon one at a time with a strong metal skewer.
Stuffing
Birds can be roasted, stuffed or unstuffed, but they are usually stuffed. Stuffing can be put inside the bird only, or both inside and at the crop, covered by the skin of the neck.
Veal forcemeat may be used for the inside and sausage meat for the crop or vice versa. Pack the veal forcemeat, or any similar stuffing, fairly loosely to allow for swelling.
Trussing
a) Fold the skin of the neck over the stuffing and secure firmly with a small skewer.
b) Turn the bird breast upwards and put the tail through the vent.
c) Pass a large skewer through the wing pinions to hold them securely.
d) Tuck the legs well into the sides of the bird to plump out the breast, then tie the legs firmly together with a string; pass the string underneath the bird, cross it, then bring it up again and twist round the wing. Skewer and tie firmly.
Trussing a fowl boiling
a) Cut the skin of the legs all round at the knee joint, crack the joints and pull the shanks off with as many of the sinews as possible.
b) Thread the trussing needles and secure the wings in the same way as for the roasting bird, or fix them securely with a skewer.
c) Carefully loosen the skin round the legs, and slip them into the body of the bird. Secure in position with the trusting needle and string or with a skewer.
No comments:
Post a Comment