As the yule season is upon us I Christiana will not be talking to much on reference to cooking on fowl from the Medieval Ages, but rather of a recipe that was past down from mother to daughter for generations by word of mouth and even through bits of paper maybe of different languages. This recipe was pasted down by my grandmother from my mother's side of the family and has had minor changes preformed to it throughout the decades if not centuries. So lets begin with the basics - We are not going to hang the chicken by its neck and let is get high like some cultures do before cooking. Not only is there a strong chance of becoming sick it is not food safe.
In finding a bird to work with: In Medieval days Guinea Fowl is mention. Yes it is still available but they tend to be small birds and can be hard to attained. The substitute would be Turkey. Now to determine how much to purchase. Some say 3 lbs others say 2 lbs. Unless you like leftovers I would say 1.4 lbs would be enough per serving, as there are other dishes that are served on the yule feast table. So we would take 1.4 lb times number of people to serve, but remember with chickens the min. weight for roasting would be about 4 lbs and with turkeys the min is usually somewhere around 8 to 10 lbs. So lets say your gathering is six people - that would be 6 x 1.4 lbs or in other wards 8.4 lbs would be what is required.
Lets prepare the bird. If the bird if frozen, one has to options, one is to thaw in cold water at less than 4 C. and the safer method is thawing in the refrigerator, taking care that the juices from the bird do not leak from the wrapping and cause cross food contamination with bacteria, onto other foods that may be stored as well in the refrigerator that can make one sick and can even lead to death. Place the bird below all other foods when thawing would be preferred, but for the domestic refrigerator it is nearly impossible to do so, therefore place the bird in a leak proof pan that is large enough to hold the bird.
Once thawed the next step involved is to do some minor cleaning, and this should take no time at all. Make sure to clean the inside of the bird out. There is possible organs left behind as the modern food processing companies use automation for a lot of this job of cleaning, but it also means that if there is a package within the bird for the heart, liver and gizzer remove the package but don't throw out. Also some birds have the neck included inside the cavity as well. I myself do not use the neck as there is not much meat on it and when cook can pose a danger of someone eating the neck bones. One may however use it in soup stock, but it is recommended to strain the stock of the neck bones. At the large opening of the clean bird we have a pokes nose - which is also where the oil comes from that the bird uses to oil its feathers. Cut this off and discard as all this does is affect the taste of the bird.
Now that the bird is prepared, it is time to decide if to dress or not. If not - melt butter and add spices in a fry pan and melt, than pour into the birds cavity, and rotate the the bird so to evenly spread the glaze throughout the interior of the bird. This helps to give favor to the meat, and on the turkey will add moisture to the white meat of the bird. As chicken tends to be fatter omit this step unless dressing the bird. Use Aluminum foil to seal the cavity, the drum stick bone that is exposed, the wingtips which will help to prevent dry out while cooking.
The dressing - Christiana's style
Pending on size of bird will determine how much bread is going to be required. But on a four pound chicken it will take between 6 to 8 slices of whole wheat bread. For every pound of bird thereafter increase by 1.5 slices. This is where a food processor comes in handing for grinding the bread. Don't grind the bread to fine. Pulse the food processor. Using the same method after removing the ground bread grind celery, green pepper, mushrooms and cooking onions. Place in separate bowl. Bread should be in a large bowl as we will be adding these ingredients later. With the organ meat of the bird (heart liver and gizzer along with sausage meat un-salted - no breakfast sausage please) chop this till finely cut. Place in fly pan coated with melted butter and cook meat till tender, than add the ground celery and other ingredient to the fly pan along with spices less bread and stirrer occasionally till tender.
With this ready add to the bread and stir into the bread, and if necessary may have to add additional spice to taste. When mixing you may wish to add a 1/4 cup raisins to the mixer. When dressing is ready, stuff the bird's cavity until full. Do not over stuff. Before stuffing as an option used the method for un-stuffed birds but add red wine to the mixture and follow the process as listed above for cooking un-stuffed birds.
Now that the stuffing is in, and the chicken or turkey is ready, melt real butter, add sage, Rosemarie, basil, salt and pepper and optional red wine to the melted butter and pour over the bird breast up. Cook till the inside temperature is above 70C if not a little hotter.
Place bird on a rack that fits within the roaster. This will make it easier to lift out the bird from the roaster when cooked. Pending size of roaster add about 1/2 inch of water in level to roaster when roaster is sitting level. Place rack and bird in roaster. Use aluminum foil to close up the cavity, protect the drum stick bone ends, and the wing tills. Use a meat temperature prove to check the temperature occasionally. If using a cast iron roaster this step is not needed next. For all others please use. With foil cover the top of the bird rim to rim of the roaster than place lid on roaster. This will help to keep more of the moisture in and prevent dry out.
Recipe.
Whole bird - your choice - chicken or turkey
1/8 lb butter if without dressing
1/4 lb butter it with dressing - You may have to increase the amount pending size of bird.
1/8 TSP of each - basil, Rosemarie, oregano thyme, black pepper
1/4 TSP salt
1/2 TSP sage - make sure the sage is fresh spice
Dressing (recipe is for a four to five pound bird - if more weight increase amounts to correspond to the weight of the bird.
Whole wheat bread - ground
1/8 cup sausage meat
hearts, livers and gizzer chopped finely. If the bird is not package with these, buy chicken hearts and use about eight to ten pending how large they are.
1/8 cup of butter melted - used in cooking the meat and vegs.
1/4 cup raisins - optional
1/8 cup mushrooms
1/4 cup cooking onion
1/8 cup green pepper
1/8 cup celery
1/4 TSP of each - oregano, thyme, basil, salt
1/8 TSP Rosemarie, pepper
1/2 TSP sage
1/8 cup red wine - optional
The coating outside of bird
1/8 cup butter melted with a pinch of thyme, oregano
1/4 TSP sage
1/8 cup red wine - optional.
Do not throw out the juice from the droppings of the bird when cooking as this will be used to make home made gravy. Strain the juice and place into a sauce pan. Take a 1/4 cup of cold water and a TSP of corn starch and mix till attaining a thin paste and add to the boiling juices. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir to thicken, than pull from heat. To add more favor to the gravy add finely chopped onions, and or mushrooms while the juices are heating and cook till tender than add cornstarch mixer to the mix.
Pour gravy over carved meat on a platter, and also add gravy as a topper for individual servings of dressing.
In storing the leftovers, cut all remaining meat from the bones of the bird, and remove all dressing from the bird's cavity. Dressing may be refrigerated up to 1 day, after that dispose of.
