The chickens in bladders are done. HUZZAH!
They’re taken off the fire. First one:
Then the other:
Don’t they look lovely?! Like two rubber balls. And yes, they DO bounce!
(How do I know? Well…one fell to the floor and…yep.)
Here’s our instructor Clarissa posing with the bladders:
The chickens will be “sent to table,” still in their bladders, on a bed
of sweetbreads and the remaining stuffing. First, the sweetbreads
are blanched, cut into roughly inch-long pieces, and then arranged
around the perimeter of a platter:
After cooking it, the stuffing is placed in the center:
The chickens, again, still encased in their bladders, are placed on top:
After the second one is set, the entire dish is garnished with lemon slices:
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Here’s the receipt (recipe) we used. It’s from Charles Carter’s The Complete
Practical Cook (London, 1730):
PULLETS, CAPONS, or CHICKENS in Bladders.
Take Ox-Bladders that are ready dry’d,
and put them into warm Water to supple
them: Cut off the Necks of the Bladders,
to make Room for your Fowl to go in,
but be sure to leave Room enough
to tie them up close; then let your
Fowl be drawn, singed, and truss’d
to boil, the Legs* cut off, and truss’d
close: Take Oysters, if three Fowls,
to each a Quart, to a Chicken a Pint,
set them, and beard them; take Lumps
of Marrow, Chestnuts blanch’d, or
Pistachoe-Nut Kernels; season with
Pepper, Salt, and Nutmeg, Thyme
and Parsly minc’d, and a little Onion;
work this up together with grated
Bread, a little Cream, and the Yolks
of Eggs, and fill the Bellies full of it,
and force under the Skin of the Breast
with a little light forc’d meat: Put them
in your Bladders, and tie them up fast,
leaving Room that the Bladders may
not break; boil them well, for they
will require as much more boiling
as without Bladders; then make
a Coolio with a Sweetbread or two,
a few Cocks-combs, a few Morelles
and Trouffles; do not make it too
thick; pout it in the Bottom of your
Dish; lay your Fowl on it: You may
cut off the Bladders, when they are
cut up, the inside Forceing will mix
with the Coolio: Garnish with Forc’d-
meat and sliced Orange or Lemon,
and serve it away hot.
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Up next: dinner is served
Historic Cookery 