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Pressed Chicken
Clean as usual; divide the breast and the back into 2 pieces and break apart all of the joints. Put the pieces in a kettle with just enough water to cook without scorching. Cover tightly and cook until the meat falls from the bones and the broth has nearly boiled away. Season with salt, and pepper; remove from the fire, take out the chicken, and return the kettle, with the broth, to the fire; chop the chicken into small pieces; season well, pour in the broth, mix thoroughly together, then turn into a mould or bread-tin. This will jelly when cold and can be sliced for the table.
A jellied chicken loaf that relies entirely on the gelatin cooked out of the bones and skin, with no added gelatine at all. The hinge is the broth: it must be reduced far enough to set on its own.
- Reduce hard, then test"Nearly boiled away" is not hyperbole — you want perhaps a cup of very sticky broth from a whole bird. Chill a spoonful on a saucer; if it does not firm up, keep reducing before you combine it with the meat.
- Use a whole bird with bones and skinThe set comes from collagen in the joints and skin. Boneless breast will not gel. A 4-5 lb whole chicken, or an equal weight of wings, thighs and backs, works.
- Cooking timeExpect two and a half hours or more at a bare simmer, tightly covered, to bring the meat off the bones, and longer still to reduce the broth as far as the recipe asks. A hard boil clouds the broth and toughens the breast before the connective tissue gives way.
- "Kettle" and "the fire"A kettle here is a heavy lidded pot on the stovetop, not a tea kettle. "Return to the fire" means put it back over the heat to reduce further while you chop.
- Chop, do not shredSmall knife-cut pieces pack densely and slice cleanly. Long shreds tear apart under the knife once set.
- Mould and pressingA standard 9x5 loaf pan is right for one bird. Press the mixture down firmly, cover with plastic and set a weight on top; chill at least 8 hours or overnight.
- Season above your instinctThe recipe says to season twice for good reason — cold jellied meat tastes noticeably flatter than the hot mixture. Taste the warm mix and salt it slightly more than seems right.
- Yield and keepingAbout 8 slices as a cold lunch or sandwich filling. Keep refrigerated and eat within three days; the loaf is not preserved by anything but cold.