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Jellied Chicken with Mayonnaise
One five or six-pound chicken, one can of French mushrooms, one small onion, six cloves, four hard-boiled eggs, twelve olives, three tablespoons of capers, one package of gelatine. Put the chicken, cloves and onion in three pints of cold water; season with salt and pepper, and boil slowly. When tender, take off and let the chicken and broth get cold. Then cut the chicken in dice-shaped pieces and season; skim the cold broth, removing all the fat. Put the gelatine in a little more than a cup of the broth; place the rest of the broth on the fire with about three-fourths of a cup of the mushroom juice, let come to a good scald, then pour the hot broth on the dissolved gelatine.
Curl the olives and cut the eggs and a few of the mushrooms in thin slices and decorate the bottom of the mold, then lay the minced chicken in carefully (lightly), adding a few of the mushrooms from time to time. Strain the broth and pour on just enough to cover well. Set away to harden. Serve with mayonnaise dressing.-Mrs F. B. Kellogg.
A cold sliced aspic loaf, and the sort of dish that lives or dies on how well the jelly is seasoned and how firmly it sets. A few of the quantities are written for a pantry that no longer exists.
- The gelatine packageOld "packages" of granulated gelatine were larger than today's envelopes, though sizes varied by brand. A modern envelope holds 1/4 ounce and sets about two cups softly; for a loaf firm enough to slice, reckon closer to one envelope per cup and a half of liquid. Note that the recipe begins with three pints of water plus three-quarters of a cup of mushroom juice, so measure the broth you actually use rather than assuming a quart.
- Season the jelly hardCold food tastes flatter than hot. Taste the broth after the gelatine is dissolved and push the salt and pepper further than seems right while it is warm, or the finished loaf will read as bland however good the chicken is.
- Simmer, do not boil"Boil slowly" means a bare simmer around 180-190F. A hard boil shreds the breast and clouds the broth, and cloudy broth makes a dull, opaque jelly rather than a clear one.
- Canned French mushroomsThese were small whole button mushrooms packed in brine, and the "mushroom juice" is that canning liquid. A standard 8-ounce can of button mushrooms substitutes directly; if the drained liquid falls short of three-quarters of a cup, make up the difference with broth rather than water.
- Degrease properlyChilling the broth overnight lets the fat set into a cap you can lift off in one piece. Any fat left behind will surface as white specks in the set jelly and taste waxy when cold.
- Curled olivesAn old garnish trick: pitted olives are pared in a spiral so the strip curls. Halved or sliced olives do the same job in a decorated mold base.
- Mold and setting timeUse a generous mold; the diced meat of a five- to six-pound bird plus enough broth to cover it will need well over 1 1/2 quarts, so choose a large loaf pan or ring mold accordingly. "Set away to harden" means at least six hours refrigerated, and overnight is better for clean slices. Dip the mold briefly in warm water and invert onto a chilled platter.
- YieldA five- to six-pound bird gives eight to ten servings as a luncheon or buffet dish. Cut half-inch slices with a thin knife wiped between cuts.
- The mayonnaiseThe original assumes a homemade dressing. If you make it with raw yolks, use pasteurized eggs, since nothing in this dish is cooked after the jelly is chilled.
Jellied and molded meats were a centerpiece of American cold-table cookery in the decades on either side of 1900, and their popularity tracks the arrival of reliable commercial gelatine: once granulated gelatine came in measured packages, cooks no longer had to boil calves' feet for stock stiff enough to set. Contributor recipes like this one, signed by a subscriber, were a mainstay of the subscriber-and-club cookbook collections of the period, and the ingredient list reads like a catalogue of what a well-stocked turn-of-the-century pantry could show off: French canned mushrooms, olives, capers. The decorated mold bottom, with sliced egg and curled olives laid down first so they appear on top when unmolded, is the standard aspic technique of the period, and the same logic still governs a molded salad today.