An Excellent Way To Boil Chickens
By: Kate Opatz
Published: Friday, December 10, 2010 - 1:02am

Preparation

1 If you will boil chickens, young turkies, pea-hens, or any kind of house fowl daintily, you shall, after you have trimmed them, drawn them, trussed them, and washed them, filled their bellies as full of parsley as they can hold; then boil them with salt and water only until they be enough; then take a dish and put it into verjuice, and butter, and salt, and when the butter is melted, take the parsley out of the chickens bellies, and mince it very small, and put it to the verjuice and butter, and stir it well together: then layer in the chickens, and trim the dish with sippets, and so serve it forth. 2 "Chickens" denoted very young fowl; by all means use the tenderest and youngest poultry available to you for this recipe. Made from the pressings of unripe grapes or crab apples, "verjuice" add a fruity tartness to dishes, without the sharpness of true vinegar. Taste the sauce as it cooks, and adjust the piquancy by adding a bit more vinegar or broth, as it requires. "Sippets", slices of bread or toast, were a frequent garnish for dishes of roasted or boiled meat. Diners would take them into their plates to serve 3 To serve 2: 4 1 sm. broiler or fryer 5 1 lg. bunch parsley 6 Salt to taste 7 2 slices firm wheat or rye bread 8 2 tbsp. butter 9 2 tbsp. good quality cider vinegar or wine vinegar 10 You'll need a pot just large enough to accommodate the fowl and its broth without boiling over. Rinse the bird well, and then the parsley, removing any tough or stringy stalks. Fill the cavity of the fowl snugly with the parsley, then place in pot and cover by a ginger's breadth with salted water. 11 Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then lower the heat and cook as gently as possible until the chicken is tender, but not falling apart; from 35 to 55 minutes, depending upon the size and age of the bird. 12 Place the butter, vinegar, and a ladleful of the fowl's cooking broth together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Using tongs or a fork, carefully retrieve the parsley from the inside of the chicken. Chop the sodden parsley as finely as you can, then add it to the butter sauce; simmer and correct the salt and tartness. 13 Toast bread slices and cut in half. Pour sauce on heated platter, and lay fowl atop it, encircles with "sippets".