Hand-Book of Practical Cookery, for Ladies and Professional Cooks: Containing the Whole Science and Art of Preparing Human Food

and under the end of the breast-bone; run it again the other way, but under the bones of the legs, tie the two ends of the twine together, and you have a bird trussed exactly like the one represented in the cut on next page. [Illustration] Another way to truss is, to cut only half of the claws, instead of cutting the legs at the first joint; but, to truss thus, the first joint must be partly cut as represented below. If the nerve were not cut, it would contract in cooking, and instead of being straight, the legs would point upward. [Illustration] A bird stuffed is trussed exactly in the same way as above, with the exception that the skin of the neck must be sewed up with a trussing-needle before commencing to truss the legs, and the incision must also be sewed up as soon as filled and before trussing. The twine used to sew and truss the bird is removed just before dishing it. Some experiments have been made lately, in France, to find out the best way to kill chickens and make them tender. Those killed by electricity were more tender than any other, but they must be cooked immediately, as they become tainted in a very short time. _To blanch._--When cut in pieces as directed, throw it in boiling water to which a little salt has been added; boil two minutes and drain. _To cut._--To make a chicken _sauté_ or in fricassee, it is generally cut into eight pieces; the two legs, the wings, one piece of the breast-bone, and three pieces of the back-bone. The ends of the wings, the lower part of the legs after being skinned by warming them, the neck, gizzard, heart, kidneys, and head, are put in the soup-kettle. Generally the bones of the legs above the second joint are removed by breaking them with the back of a knife just above the second joint. The ends of the small bones of the three pieces of the back-bone are trimmed off also. _To dish and serve._--Dish the pieces in the