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Stewed Whole Spring Chicken

Prepare a full-grown spring chicken the same as for roasting; season inside and out with salt and pepper; stuff with whole, raw oysters and place it in a tin pail with a close-fitting cover. Set the pail in another vessel of fast boiling water and cook till the chicken is done; then place the chicken on a warm dish and make a gravy as follows: Pour the liquor in the tin pail in a saucepan, add one tablespoon of butter, one-half cup of cream or rich milk, three hard boiled eggs chopped fine, some minced herbs and one tablespoon of flour. Let all boil up; pour over the chicken and serve hot.

STEAMED CHICKEN OR FOWL-A chicken is more tender than a fowl and is to be preferred for light cooking; but a fat fowl a year or two old has a richer and finer flavor, and, if steamed properly, will be perfectly tender. Select a fowl that weighs five or more pounds, singe and wash it, draw it carefully, and wipe it dry inside and out. Rub it within and without with salt and pepper, place an onion and a bay leaf inside, and tie the fowl into shape the same as for roasting. Then flour a towel and wrap it about the fowl, pinning closely. Lay the chicken, back downward, in a steamer, and allow it to cook continuously for from two to three hours, according to its age and size. If properly steamed, it will be superior in taste to a roasted chicken. Serve with celery, oyster or parsley sauce.

CHICKEN À LA MARENGO-Make a savory sauce by melting *one-quarter cup of butter and frying in it one tablespoon of chopped onion, a small carrot, diced and a slice of turnip cut in small pieces. Stir in one-quarter cup of flour and add gradually one cup of boiling water and one and one-half cup of tomato, previously stewed and strained. Season with pepper, salt and paprika.

Cut a chicken in pieces as for frying, dredge with flour and sauté in salt pork fat. Remove from the pan, place in a saucepan and cover with the savory sauce. Allow chicken to cook in this sauce until tender. At the last moment add a cup of button mushrooms and two tablespoons of chopped olives. Arrange the pieces of chicken on the center of the platter and pour the sauce around, garnishing with triangles of toast and stuffed olives.