Bastion a l'Americaine

Bone thoroughly six chickens weighing two pounds each; suppress the sinews and trim the meats evenly. To six pounds of chopped forcemeat for chicken galantines (No. 65) add one pound of lean cooked ham, well chopped, and half a pound of chopped truffle peelings; mix the whole well together with two gills of Madeira wine and one gill of brandy. Spread out the boned chickens on the table, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg, and fill each one first with an eight-ounce layer of the forcemeat, then here and there lay two ounces of peeled, sliced truffle, a few pistachio nuts and some red beef tongue cut into quarter-inch squares, and over these spread another eight-ounce layer of forcemeat; repeat with the same quantity of truffles, tongue and pistachios and finish filling the chickens with the remainder of the forcemeat, dividing it equally between the chickens; they should all be of equal weight, about two pounds each. Enclose the stuffing well and roll them up into long, well-rounded shapes; wrap each galantine tightly in a cloth, tie it on both ends, also in the center, and place them in a saucepan with the bones, parings and a dozen calves' feet split lengthwise in two; moisten with stock (No. 194a) and boil, skim and cook slowly for two hours, then drain. Fifteen minutes later unwrap and re-enclose them again in a clean cloth, tie as before and make a loop on one end to hang them up by, and let get cold, suspended from a hook, and to the other end attach a weight to pull the cloth down and thereby pressing the galantine. After they have been left hanging for six hours, unwrap and lay them aside in a cool place. Have a bastion mold the same as shown in Fig. 454; it is made in two pieces, one large one and a smaller one on top; incrust it in chopped ice and decorate according to the illustration with tongue, truffles and egg-whites; imitate the door with chopped pistachios mixed with jelly and coat the decoration with a thick layer of jelly; lay it flat on a very straight table, also the tower, then unwrap the galantines, pare off the ends and put one at each end or turret, two in the center and one cut lengthwise in two and placed in the mold so that the flat side faces the door, thus making five galantines for the large mold; now place one in the tower mold and with the pieces left over fill the four cupolas surmounting the four towers; allow the molds to get thoroughly cold for six to eight hours, then unmold on a long socle and trim around with square croutons to imitate the battlements; stick a small pointed ornament in each cupola. The piece is now ready to serve.