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Chicken, Boiled
Wash a chicken carefully in lukewarm water, and truss it firmly; put it into hot water, remove the scum as it rises, let it boil, then draw it to the side and let it simmer gently until ready, and remember that the more slowly it boils the tenderer and whiter it will be. Before putting it in the pan, place a few slices of lemon on the breast, and wrap the chicken first in buttered paper, then in a floured cloth. Before serving it a little sauce may be poured over it, and the rest sent to table in a tureen. Bacon, pickled pork, ham, or tongue, are generally served with boiled chicken; and parsley and butter, bchamel, English white sauce, celery, oyster, or mushroom sauce may accompany it. Time to boil, twenty to twenty-five minutes. Probable cost of chicken, 2s. 6d. Sufficient, one small chicken for two persons.
A Victorian poached chicken, dressed in paper and cloth to keep the flesh pale. Most of the method still works; the timing is the part written for a different bird.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe hinge: bring it up, then drop it back -- The original does bring the pot to a boil and skim before drawing it aside. Once skimmed, hold the water at a bare shiver — around 180F/82C, with only occasional bubbles breaking. A hard boil tightens and shreds the breast, and the original's point is that the more slowly it goes the tenderer and whiter it will be.
- The timing is for a very small birdTwenty to twenty-five minutes only makes sense for the small young chicken the recipe assumes — it feeds two. A modern 3.5-4 lb bird needs closer to an hour at a simmer. Judge by an instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh, away from bone: 165F/74C.
- Buttered paper and floured clothBaking parchment does the job of the buttered paper; a clean cotton tea towel or double layer of muslin, dusted with flour and tied at both ends, replaces the pudding cloth. The wrapping keeps the skin from picking up scum and the lemon slices from sliding off. It is optional — the bird poaches perfectly well naked — but it does keep the breast noticeably whiter.
- TrussingTie the legs together and the wings against the body with butcher's twine. In a pot of moving water an untrussed bird splays and the breast overcooks before the thighs are done.
- Lemon on the breastThe acid discourages any discolouring and helps keep the flesh pale, which was much of the appeal of a boiled fowl on a Victorian table. Two or three thin slices are enough.