A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery

cover the bottom of the sauce pan. That is enough to prevent sticking. For a chicken of three pounds take about three or four tablespoonfuls of salad oil; just enough to cover the bottom of the sauce pan. First put the sauce pan containing the salad oil over the fire and let it get hot; then put in the chicken and brown it. Now, can you notice the slightly aromatic odor? That is the oil, and directly you notice that odor, and the oil begins to smoke, it is hot enough. As soon as the chicken is brown,--and you can brown it just as fast as you want to,--then put a heaping tablespoonful of flour over it--some of the ladies will have seen the same process in making the brown stew of meat the other day--and stir the chicken until the flour is brown. When the flour is brown on the chicken,--and that will be by the time you get it well stirred up,--then add boiling water enough to cover it. When the flour is brown among the chicken, put in boiling water enough to cover it, season it with pepper and salt, palatably, and let it cook until it is tender. That will take from half an hour to two hours, according to the toughness of the chicken. Remember the more slowly you cook it after it once begins to cook, the nicer it will be. Cover up the sauce pan after the fricassee is seasoned, and cook it until it is tender. In the cooking of chicken the gravy that you make by putting boiling water on seems to boil away, and you may want to add a little more; just keep enough gravy over it to cover it, and when it is tender it is ready to serve. The odor you notice now is the aromatic odor of that salad oil, and is all that you will get in cooking with olive oil. FRIED CHICKENS. Next the fried chicken, Maryland style, will be prepared. We will fry the chicken, and then I will tell you about hominy.