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Chicken Jelly
Very nourishing for the sick. Half a raw chicken pounded with a mallet, bones and meat together; three pints of cold water. Heat slowly in a covered vessel and let simmer until meat is in rags and liquid reduced one-half. Strain and press first through a colander, then through a coarse cloth. Salt to taste, and white pepper if desired, return to fire and let simmer five minutes longer. Skim when cold. Give to patient cold, with wafers. Keep on ice. It can be made into sandwiches.
An invalid's broth built to set firm on its own bone gelatin, with no added gelatine and no aromatics. It works, but the modern kitchen needs a few notes on quantity, time and keeping.
- Half a raw chickenOn a period bird this is likely rather less than half a modern supermarket chicken, which may run to 4 lb or more; take half a bird with the backbone included. The wings and back matter more than the breast because the gel comes from the joints and skin.
- Pounding, and whyCracking the bones with a mallet exposes marrow and breaks the collagen-rich joints so they release gelatin into a short 3-pint bath. A heavy cleaver or the flat of a chef's knife does the job. Skip it and the jelly may not set.
- TimeThree pints reduced by half over a bare simmer takes roughly two and a half to three hours. "Meat in rags" is the real test, not the clock. Keep it at a lazy quiver; a rolling boil emulsifies the fat and clouds the finished jelly.
- Covered vesselAny heavy lidded saucepan or small Dutch oven. The recipe says covered; if the liquid is not reducing, set the lid slightly ajar.
- StrainingColander first to catch the bone, then a coarse cloth. Modern equivalent is a fine sieve followed by a double layer of cheesecloth. Pressing the solids is deliberate here and gives a fuller, slightly cloudier jelly than a clear consomme.
- SkimmingChill fully, then lift the fat cap off in one piece. Doing it while warm leaves grease that will not set and tastes of it when cold.
- Setting and yieldAbout a pint and a half of liquid, enough for four or five invalid portions. It should set to a soft, spoonable jelly in the refrigerator in four to six hours. If it stays liquid the bird was too lean or the reduction too shy; more time on the heat, or more joints, will fix it.
- Keeping"Keep on ice" means constant refrigeration. Cool it quickly in a shallow dish rather than leaving a deep pot on the counter, and use it within three days. For sandwiches, spread the cold set jelly on thin bread and eat the same day.
Meat jellies of this kind belong to a whole genre of nineteenth-century "invalid cookery," the branch of household writing devoted to feeding the sick, in an age when doctors had few remedies and nursing meant coaxing nourishment into someone who could not chew. Chicken jelly, beef tea and calf's-foot jelly are common in American and British domestic manuals of the period, and were valued because they were concentrated, could be taken cold, and slipped down a sore throat easily. The setting is pure bone gelatin, which is why the recipe insists on pounding the bones rather than merely stewing the flesh. Its placement here under sandwiches may reflect the last line, and chilled meat jellies were a standard filling for the thin, crustless sandwiches served at teas and on invalid trays alike.