POULTRY FOR CHRISTMAS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 546, 9 December 1949, Page 22

POULTRY FOR CHRISTMAS

OWADAYS we seldom hear of people having a goose for Ohristmas as they did in Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Yet roast goose is very appetising. Stuff it with plenty of sage and onion stuffing, after wiping it out inside with a damp cloth and dredging with flour seasoned with salt. If 'the goose is very fat, it may be pricked with a fork through the fat layers over the back, around -the tail, and around: the wings and legs. This helps to draw out the fat as it cooks. Use a moderate oven only. Allow about 2 hours for a moderate sized bird. Add about a tablespoon of water to the dripping in*the pan. Bake quickly at first until browned, sprinkle with salt and baste well, then lower the heat, or put the dish in a cooler part of the oven. Cover the breast with a sheet of greased paper and cook gently till done. Serve with rich brown gravy and plenty of : apple sauce. ‘Apple Sauce Make plenty! People like it with goose or duck. Stew slowly a good panfull of sliced apples to pulp with just sufficient water to: moisten them, and perhaps a dash of sugar if desired. When soft, add a knob of butter, and beat to a smooth sauce with a fork. Sage and Onion Stuffing One pound stale bread rubbed into very fine soft breadcrumbs, 1% 1b. onions; par-boiled and chopped finely, about 12 sage leaves or 1 teaspodn dried sage, 2 or 3 oz. butter or good dripping, pepper and salt to taste, pinch of ground ‘ginger and 1 beaten egg. Mix all these ingredients, rubbing butter or dripping lightly in. Some prefer to melt butter till soft before adding it. Have all well mixed, then bind together with a beaten egg, or 2 if 1 is not enough. A sprig of thyme as well as the sage may be chopped and added if liked. A grating of nutmeg is an improvement. A pinch of ground ginger in stuffing is always an excellent idea, for it is said to help to prevent indigestion. Stuffing for Turkey or Fowl One pound breadcrumbs, % Ib. dripping or butter, 4 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, .grated rind of % lemon, ¥% teaspoon nutmeg; 12 teaspoon ground ginger, pepper and salt, 1 cupful chopped ham. or lean bacon, and pinch mace, Mix, rubbing softened butter lightly into the crumbs, and bind with 2 beaten eggs, or 1 egg and sufficient milk. Stuff the crop of the turkey. Some people like to stuff the body wi sausage meat. : Almond Stuffing for Turkey Mix 4 cups stale breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 or 3 beaten eges, % tb. blanched and chopped almonds, 1 dessertspoon sugar, and grated rind of 1 lemon. When well mixed add another cup of breadcrumbs with a little water to make required consistency -. but this stuffing should be fairly dry. ny Banana Stuffing for Turkey Peel, slice and chop 4 ripe bananas, add these to 2 cups breadcrumbs, 2

tablespoons chopped walnuts, 1 teaspoon mixed savoury’ herbs, 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, pepper and salt to taste. Mix with a well-beaten egg and a little milk. Bread Sauce Make plenty! Not only do people like it, but it helps if extra visitors come in at the last moment. Simmer a large onion in a pint of milk for 1 hour. Add seasoning of salt and pinch of cayenne, or a few peppercorns. The onion may be slashed with a knife, to allow the flavour to penerate the milk more easily, Have

ready about 1% Ib. soft white breadcrumbs in clean saucepan, strain hot milk over them, cover and leave them to absorb it .for an hour or so, then add a good knob of butter, beat up well with a fork, and serve very hot. There should be enough breedcryaibs to absorb the milk. Roast Duck and Orange Sauce One duck (about 6 Ilb.), 1 glass sherry or port, 4 oranges, maraschino cherries. Put cleaned duck in pan over hot fire, watching to see that it does not burn, until most of fat has been extracted. Throw fat away and repeat process. When all possible fat has been discarded, put 3 tablespoons butter in pan and place it in very hot oven. Baste constantly and turn frequently for 1 hour. Remove duck from pan and add to butter and juice remaining the glass of wine, very thin slices of orange and a very thin piece of the outer rind of an orange cut in fine strips. Reduce this mixture over a hot fire almost to consist; ency of marmalade. Place duck on large platter and surround it with long spirals of orange peel. Down the centre of the breast place round pieces of orange, like buttons, and a maraschino cherry on top of each of these. Arrange Vy slices of orange with the peel in scallops around edge of platter, then garnish duck with the sauce,