Chicken Recipes

See Arroz con Pollo in the pasta section.

Aspic is made by starting with a half gallon of clear (first boil) chicken stock. To the cold stock add about a pound of ground or minced raw chicken meat, 3 egg whites beaten to a froth, minced onion, celery, tomato, parsley stems, thyme and bay leaf; all chopped fine. This is brought to a low simmer, never boiling it. The egg will coagulate with the meat and other ingredients in it, but keep on stirring until the raft forms. This will prevent the egg from burning on the bottom of the pot.

Keep it at a low simmer, making a few holes in the crust that forms on top (the raft) to allow the liquid to flow through and deposit any sediment on top of the raft. Simmer for at least an hour, uncovered, and it will serve to reduce the amount of stock but increase its strength.

Remove some of the raft, add an envelope of softened gelatine and simmer it until melted. Ladle out the stock and put it through a fine sieve or washed cheesecloth into a colander. It should be sparkling clean. Add salt. Use it to make aspic jelly with diced chicken and vegetables and herbs, or with shrimp. Chill until firm, unmold, and serve with mayonnaise fines herbes and a salad.

With tomato juice, Tabasco, lemon juice, Worcestershire and gelatine added, it is jelled and served with salad greens and mayonnaise for a summer lunch. Good stuff.

You may just heat it and have it as a clear soup. The French and Italians have an enormous number of garnishes for this soup. A simple chopped chive or scallion garnish gives it a nice clean taste. It is often served as a pasta course, with a generous amount of small pasta - such as orzo.

I assume that the Spanish Adobo and the French Daube have the same origin. The words are obviously similar and the cooking methods essentially the same, although with very different sauce ingredients.

(In New Orleans, daube means something like a rump roast of beef, veal or venison slowly braised in a Sauce Creole and usually served with pasta or rice. It is essentially a pot roast.)

This is the recipe that CC wrote and I have no idea where she got it.

• 6 dried Ancho peppers
• 10 passilla peppers (both peppers stemmed and seeded)
• 1” piece of dried cinnamon
• 5 cloves – crushed
• 6 peppercorns
• ½ teaspoon each of the following:
• dried thyme
• bayleaf powder
• cumin and Marjoram
• 3 cups of chicken broth
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons of vinegar
• ¼ cup of bacon fat or lard
• a whole or cut up chicken, about 4 to 5 lbs.

Toast the peppers in an iron skillet, pour 1 cup of boiling water over them and let them soak. Remove as much skin as possible, then puree in a blender.

In a casserole, brown the chicken in bacon fat. Remove the chicken and cook the onion and garlic in the remaining fat. Put in all of the additional ingredients, except the chicken but including the pureéd peppers. Cook for 15 minutes. Add salt and put all the sauce ingredients into a blender or processor and puree to make the sauce.

Return the chicken and the sauce to the casserole, cover and cook on a low fire for an hour or until the breast registers 155° and the thigh 165°. Seal with a sheet of foil under the cover to make a tight fit. An alternative is to cook it in a 250° oven for about 1 hour, or until temperatures are reached.

The leftovers from the Chicken Adobo make tasty Enchiladas and Tacos.

This was always a great favorite. My mother made the version with veal scallops, and it was the only kind I knew until real veal disappeared. Veal Milanese was a favorite in Paris in 1951; it was cheap, filling, and tasted good. Every little neighborhood restaurant had it on the menu (along with yogurt for dessert).

It is now chicken breast filets, fried in a panée, and spaghetti with a simple tomato sauce, redolent of garlic, thyme and oregano. The spaghetti is boiled until almost done, then finished in the sauce. This allowes the sauce to permeate the pasta.

If the breasts are whole, bone them if need be and remove the filet from each side (it will probably fall out when you cut the breast in two) and with a very sharp, thin knife slice the breast in half lengthwise. Put them on a board and hold them down with one hand and carefully cut with the other. You should have two filets from each breast half, plus the two natural filets that just happened. Flatten the pieces lightly with a flat meat pounder (not the kind with points on it - that is a tenderizer) until the surfaces are flat - for even cooking.

At least ½ hour before frying the chicken, prepare it. In a flat bowl, beat an egg with a pinch of salt, some pepper and a teaspoon of water. Lay out a good sized sheet of waxed paper and on it place a mound of flour mixed with salt and pepper and next to it a mound of breadcrumbs mixed with a teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese, and a good pinch each of dried or chopped fresh basil, thyme and marjoram. Dip the chicken pieces in flour and shake off the excess (lightly coating), then in the egg and finally in the crumbs. Place the breaded chicken on a rack to dry for 20 minutes or so.

You know how to put oil in a pan and quickly fry the filets on a medium fire until the coating is a golden color, not dark brown. When they are done put them on a paper towel placed over a section of newspaper to drain off the grease. Keep warm in a very low oven. Have the sauced pasta ready.

Just don’t overcook the chicken. Poke it with a fork to see if any pink juices flow and if they do, cook it a little more. It takes only a minute or two per side.

Sprinkle everything with minced parsley, some shaved Parmesan cheese is also appropriate on this.

This recipe can be used for chicken pieces on the bone, vegetables, pork chops and other meats. It is simply a panée. In Austria it is the famous Wiener Schnitzel, which has nothing to do with sausages.

Until WWII veal was a cheap and plentiful meat because the dairy farms were in what is now suburbia. When a cow was running dry, she would be introduced to a bull and the resulting calf would be nursed for some weeks. The calf would be sold to an abatoire to butcher it and soon made into lovely dishes, and the cow back to being milked. It is all done now by artificial insemination. The cows no longer have any fun and we are deprived of a wonderful meat.

This is the version that we made and it is based upon a recipe in Cuccina Italiana by Luigi Carnacina. The combination of bacon, mushrooms, basil and chicken is unique (and delicious). The leftovers make great lasagna. Rabbit is good cooked this way.

Fry 6 or so slices of bacon in a Dutch oven. When almost crisp, remove and pour off most of the fat (save it in the fridge to cook with). Cut the bacon into small strips and reserve.

Using the same pot, sear a whole fryer chicken or pieces until a light brown. Remove the chicken, lower the fire, and add a chopped red onion, which will take longer to cook than the other kinds. When it is well along, add a few cloves of garlic, minced.

Push everything to one side of the pot and move that side of the pot off the fire. To the hot side, add a scant tablespoon of flour. Tip the pot to get more fat and make a roux. Add bacon fat if needed. Watch the onion, don’t burn it. Add salt and pepper.

When the roux is a nice medium brown, add 3 peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (or canned), saute until soft, add about 1/4 cup white wine and 1/2 cup chicken stock. Return the chicken and bacon to the pot. Add some sliced or quartered mushrooms, thyme, bay leaf and chopped basil. Cover the pot and put it into a 250°F oven. Test at 45 minutes, the breast should be done (155°F), and the dark meat is done when it reads at 165°F. Add some shredded basil and chopped parsley and serve.

Like Shrimp Creole, Grillades, Redfish Courtbouillion, etc. the sauce is basically tomato, onion, green pepper and garlic, thyme, bayleaf and parsley. That pretty well gives away the recipe.

Lightly flour, season and sear the chicken pieces in a little oil, remove. Cook the onion, a little celery and the green pepper. Add the garlic, then the tomato (peeled, seeded and chopped), some tomato sauce or puree, and cook to reduce it and bring out the flavor. Add the herbs, salt and pepper and the chicken. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is done. (test at 20 minutes) Serve with rice. For a thicker sauce, add some flour to the onion mix when it is almost cooked. Add some chicken stock if not wet enough.

See Poulet en Cocotte for another method of cooking this.

Pick over about a pound of gizzards and remove any fat or alien bits attached to them, and rinse with clear water. Cut the two lobes apart. Cook at least one minced onion and celery stalk in oil, add 2 cloves of minced garlic, thyme, bay leaf and chopped parsley. Put the gizzards in and saute them lightly, add a little flour and cook it. When it all colors, add a cup of chicken stock. Salt and pepper, bring to a boil and quickly turn it down to a slow simmer.

The gizzards are very tough, but with long, slow cooking they become soft and gelatinous. It can be done on the stove or in a very low oven, 250°. Allow at least 2 hours, checking it and stirring every 1/2 hour or so. Add more stock as needed, but keep it rather thick. Serve with rice or grits.

This recipe comes from Bill Neal’s Southern Cooking, and I first had it cooked by Diane. She discovered it and served it in Deerfield, using one of their hand-raised chickens.

My mother cooked something very much like it and she always used a hen. I remember going with her to the St. Bernard Market at Claiborne and St. Bernard Avenues. After much prodding of the breasts of the live chickens, one would be chosen. It was quickly dispatched, dipped in an oil drum of boiling water and held to a revolving drum fitted with rubber fingers to remove the feathers. It was then eviscerated, and the giblets saved. This included the egg string, which was cut apart and poached in the stew, then carefully meted out at table.

Chicken farmers take note.

A poulet or young chicken has a soft breastbone, but an older poule or hen has a firmly bony one. Pinch it at the breast and move it from side to side to test it. The sauce made with a mature hen is yellow, rich and savory.

Poaching the Chicken:

Into a boiler or large casserole place a half gallon of water and chicken stock, mixed. Set it to boil on a high fire. Add the cleaned and rinsed hen. Turn the fire down to a very low simmer and cook about 1 hour. Skim off the froth and add the following (which you have cleverly prepared beforehand):

• 1carrot, sliced
• 1 onion and 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme or one teaspoon of dried
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 2 teaspoons salt

Continue to simmer until done – about 1/2 hour. As long as the water is moving it is cooking - it is best at the “smiling” stage, when you can see movement, but there are almost no bubbles. Cut the bird to separate the breast from the dark meat, then you are able to take the breast out sooner to see if it is done. It should be just beyond pink – sort of an ivory color. (Internal temperatures should be 155° for breast and 170° for the thigh.) Continue cooking the dark meat until done. Obviously, this can be done a day or so beforehand.

Unless the chicken is to be served whole, bone it, reserve the meat and return the bones, skin, etc. to the pot and simmer it for another hour to enrich the stock. Add water to make about 2 quarts. Strain this stock and use it to poach the dumplings before making the stew. Taste it and adjust seasoning.

The Dumplings

• 1 ½ cups of flour
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1 egg, beaten, with milk added to make 7/8 cup
• 1 teaspoon each of salt and sugar
• 2 tablespoons each of basil and parsley, chopped
• 4 tablespoons of minced whole scallions
• Pepper to taste

Put the dry ingredients into a bowl, stir in the herbs and add the milk and egg. Mix well. Let it rest for an hour or more in the fridge.

Have ready a pot (2 qts.) of barely simmering chicken broth - to be used later in making the stew. Do not let it boil, or the dumplings will break up. Form the dumplings with two oiled tablespoons and drop them carefully into the simmering stock. Cover the pot and simmer them for 12 minutes, or until tender and light. Cut one in half and taste it to see if they are cooked through. Simmer longer if the inside is dry. Set aside.

Fresh sage or tarragon may be substituted for the basil.

The Stew

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 stick of butter
• 2 garlic cloves, pureed
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon of Tabasco
• 1½ quarts of chicken stock (Use the stock that the dumplings were poached in)
• ½ cup of heavy cream
• A five-quart casserole or saucepan
• The cooked chicken
• Optional vegetables are cooked sliced carrots, celery and small onions
• Salt and pepper

Prepare and assemble the above ingredients while the stock is simmering. Cook the onion in half of the butter until it is translucent. Add the garlic and cook lightly; add the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes. Lower the fire.

Push all the vegetables to one side of the pan and move that side of the pan off the burner, so that only the empty half is over the fire. Put the remaining butter in, and when melted add the flour. Stir constantly. As you mix it, the flour will absorb the butter and begin to froth. Cook it long enough to lose the floury taste, but be sure that it does not brown or scorch. This is the roux that will thicken the stew.

Strain the stock well through a fine sieve or cheesecloth in a colander. Slowly add the stock to the roux, constantly stirring, until it is a thickish sauce. When smooth, add the cream and the salt and pepper and add more stock if needed. Keep on stirring often. Simmer on a very low fire for about 20 minutes, add the cooked chicken and the dumplings and simmer 5 minutes longer. Taste for seasoning.

The chicken may be boned and cut up, or left whole, or cut into the usual eight pieces. You may want to add cooked carrots and celery (string the celery), cut into 1” chunks, and tiny spring onions, cooked. CC always put the mushrooms into a stew about 5 or so minutes before it was finished cooking, so that they remained firm.

Unless it is to be served whole, separate the breast from the legs and back. This allows you to test the breast meat for doneness. It is best when it is just at the “done” point (155° F), so that the meat is tender and juicy. We are so accustomed to the stringy and overcooked breast meat that we have come to believe that God made it that way. ( Just as He created California to raise melons that never ripen.) The leg and thigh should read about 165° F.

It is better to do the poaching in chicken stock, rather than just water. Cook the bird at a low simmer, skimming until it stays clear. Add the vegetables and herbs - your choice, and salt. Begin testing the temperature at about 45 minutes.

A bread, onion and giblet stuffing may be put into the bird. Sew or pin it shut, and cook as above. It will firm up in the poaching.

Stock is easily made using the cheap pieces like backs and necks . Use about 5 lbs. of chicken parts to 1 ½ gallons of water. Roast the chicken pieces in a 375° oven for 1 hour, until browned and rendered of fat. Remove the chicken to a boiling pot. Pour off the fat and deglaze the pan with hot water and add to the pot containing the 6 quarts of boiling water. Reduce to a low simmer.

Simmer the stock for about 1 hour, skimming any froth on the surface, then add a cut-up onion, celery, 2 carrots- sliced, thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, parsley stems, garlic (opional), peppercorns and one or two cloves. You may use a small piece of star anise, one “ray” or so – it can overpower. Simmer the stock for about 2 hours, total. Never let it boil – you want it to move but not bubble.

If you want a clear “white” stock, do not brown the chicken first. Skim the froth before adding the herbs. Do not salt because you may want to reduce the stock to concentrate the flavor and that would become briny.

When the stock is done, strain it through a very fine-meshed sieve, or through cheesecloth in a colander. Ladle the stock out rather than pouring it.

It will leave you with the bones, etc. which can be recooked with some fresh herbs and vegetables in just enough water to cover. This results in a cloudy stock, but it is useful in opaque sauces, soups, etc. It can also be reduced to a hard jelly, like the meat glazes, and used to add a rich flavor to sauces for chicken.

Stock keeps well in the freezer. It is best frozen in small quantities, so that it can be easily added as an ingredient. For making an aspic, it is better boiled down to concentrate the flavor. This stock is also useful as a soup base for Vichysoisse, Gumbo, etc. The method can be used to make any poultry stock: turkey, duck, etc.

One can also make stock from leftover roasted chicken bones and skin. Use just enough water to cover and cook as above.

A chicken filled with a savory stuffing – onion, celery, parsley, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, bread, minced cooked chicken giblets and a raw egg, salt and pepper - then poach in a stock. Cook the stuffing before adding the raw egg. The stuffing firms up in the simmering and becomes better than the baked version. This is usually done in a bollito misto, or pot au feu. Call it a New England boiled dinner if your guests tend to xenophobia.

When CC made something like a boiled dinner, she would put the vegetables that were to be served into separate plastic mesh bags that onions are sold in. She would then thread some string into the mesh at the top of the bag and tie it closed, leaving enough string to hang over the lip of the pot for easy retrieval.

This makes it easy to cook each veggie its appropriate length of time.

Although this recipe is for chicken breasts, it is properly made with veal scallops cut from the round. If you know of a real butcher who sells real veal you are indeed fortunate. It is essential that you have fresh sage leaves and genuine prosciutto for this dish. Don’t try it with dried herbs or fake prosciutto – it don’t do.

Use boneless breasts. Remove the filet and slice the breast lengthwise into two pieces about ½” thick. Mix pepper (no salt) into flour and spread it on waxed paper. Dry the meat well and flour it evenly and not heavily, shake off any loose flour. Sprinkle one side with chopped sage leaves and lay a thin slice of prosciutto on top of that. The prosciutto should be only one layer, not overlapping. Heat butter in a frying pan until the foam subsides. Put the chicken in, prosciutto side down, and cook on a high fire for 2 minutes or so. The prosciutto should fuse on to the meat. Turn it over and cook the other side on a lower fire.

Remove the chicken and deglaze the pan with white wine, add a pinch of salt. Cook the wine down and, off the fire, add small pieces of cold butter one at a time, stirring all the while. The sauce should take on a smooth, creamy consistency. Garnish with chopped parsley.

This may be made with boned thighs. Cook to 170° - longer than the breast pieces (155°).

When I was courting CC we went to the sports car races in Hammond, and my mother had made boiled artichokes and the poulet for us to have cold as a picnic lunch. CC was very much taken with the chicken and it became a standard after our marriage. She also did some variations – noted below.

It was on this same outing that we discovered that fresh peaches kept with dry ice in an ice chest become frozen and carbonated and something marvelous. Try them peeled and sliced in a glass of champagne.

A 3 ½ lb. chicken,or smaller. Remove the giblets and fat. Rinse off, tuck the wings behind the neck area. Cut the following into bite size pieces:

• 1 onion (Or several peeled French shallots)
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 peeled carrot
• 6 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt, pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 bayleaf
• 1/2 tsp. each thyme, rosemary or tarragon – or any seasoning preferred.
• Mushrooms (optional)

Pat the chicken dry and season with the salt, pepper and herbs. Put salt and pepper, herbs of choice and a garlic clove in the cavity and pin or sew shut. Add a little salt, pepper, powdered thyme and bay to a few teaspoons of unsalted butter and spread the mixture under the skin of the breast and thighs.

Clean the vegetables and cut them into chunks. The peeled onion is cut into eighths, and the carrot and celery into 2“ pieces. Mushrooms are good in this, also. The garlic cloves are peeled and kept whole.

Do not add any liquids to the pot, the moisture in the chicken and the vegetables is enough to form a gravy. Do not overcook, as the objective here is to have tender and juicy chicken.

Heat the oil in a casserole until it is just smoking. Be certain that the chicken skin is well dried. Place it breast-down in the hot pot and add the vegetables to the pot. Cook about 3 minutes to lightly brown the breast – turning as needed. Brown on all sides and turn it onto its back for the rest of the cooking. Stir the vegetables so that they brown evenly.

Cover the casserole with foil and place the cover over the foil. Push the center of the foil to allow condensation to drip back on to the chicken. Put it on the lowest shelf of the oven, preheated to 250°. Cook for about 45 minutes, then check for temperature. The chicken is done when the breast temperature is F 155° at the thickest part, and the thigh reads 165°. It usually takes about an hour or so to cook. Try to not let the breast cook beyond 155°, or it will not be moist and meltingly tender.

If the breast is cooked before the dark meat, take the chicken out and cut the breast from the leg section and remove to a platter, loosely covered. Continue cooking the leg section as necessary. With luck, the breast and thigh will be done at the same time due to the chicken being on its back and the thighs close to the bottom of the pot. Put the chicken on a platter, turning it up to drain juices from the cavity. Let it rest, tented with foil.

Pour the pan juices through a fine meshed sieve and reserve the cooked vegetables. Deglaze the pot with white wine or water if there is a fond. Defat and reheat the juices while the chicken is resting for 20 minutes. Stir a little lemon juice into the sauce (optional), and finish it with small pieces of cold butter added one at a time and stirred in. Serve with the cooked vegetables.

A variation on the Poulet en Cocotte is just apples and onions, thyme and bay cooked with the chicken. Remove the chicken when cooked and cover it loosely with foil. Deglaze the pan with hard cider and apple jack, then add cream , boiling it down to evaporate the alcohol and slightly thicken the cream. Strain the sauce, pushing the apple through to puree it. Use 2 teaspoons of cold butter to finish the sauce. Saute some apple slices for garnish.(optional)

See also Pork Chops Normande.

A Chicken Creole version of the Poulet en Cocotte is made with minced onion, garlic, peeled and seeded tomato and peeled green sweet pepper and parsley, thyme and bayleaf. Brown the veggies along with the chicken. (Except the tomato - add it before covering).

When it has finished baking, pick out the bayleaf, puree the veggies and drippings to make a sauce, unless the sauce in the pot looks good to you. Serve with rice.

This is cooked in the same way as the Poulet en Cocotte, except omit the vegetables. Instead, add a quartered orange and 6 or 8 fresh bay leaves along with a quartered onion, salt and pepper. Put some in the chicken cavity and most in the pot. Cook as above, then remove the chicken and add white wine to deglaze the pot.

Strain the gravy, defat it and add 2 tablespoons of orange juice and a tablespoon of Cointreau, return it to the pan and heat. Off the fire, finish with butter. It only works with fresh bay leaves, and be sure that they are not the California native variety.

When cooking chicken by the above method the flavor of the bird is intensified. You must use one of good quality. Free range chickens are good, but not always available. A small bird of 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds is best here.

It is really one of the simplest methods of cooking a chicken. Be certain that it is very tightly covered, that is the reason for the foil. Shape the foil on the cold pot beforehand and it will be easy to put on the hot pot. We sometimes used luting paste to seal a pot. This is a flour and water paste applied to the rim and cover join. It cooks on and forms an air-tight seal and the cover has to be pried off with a dull knife. It works.

The chicken en cocotte can be served cold and is particularly good for picnics. Be sure to drain the juices out if it is to be used cold. This is a bonus, as the pan drippings can be chilled and the fat lifted off. You will have the fat for cooking and the rest as a basis for glorious gravies. (Try frying potatoes in chicken fat and vegetable oil)

We were introduced to this by Larry Hill, a physician who practiced in Arabi in St. Bernard parish. He was known as Lawrence of Arabi. The recipe has a French origin.

This is a great company dish, as it can be made well ahead. ( It isn’t very good hot, we tried it.)

• a 2 to 4 pound chicken, or pieces
• 1 large onion
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 sweet pepper
• 1 large tomato
• 1 cup carrot pieces, precooked
• 4 cleaned garlic cloves
• parsley, thyme and a bay leaf
• 1/4 cup chicken stock and 1/4 cup white wine
• 2 tablespoons gelatine powder (2 envelopes)
• worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper

Cut up a frying chicken into serving pieces. Use the neck but not the liver or gizzard. Remove as much fat as you can. Place the chicken in a casserole with the vegetables, cleaned, seeded and cut into chunky, bite sized pieces. (peel and seed the tomato), parsley, thyme and bayleaf (a bouquet garni, tied up). Add the chicken stock and wine; a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and salt and pepper (be a little generous with seasoning and herbs, this is served cold). Soak 2 tablespoons of gelatine in 2 tablespoons of cold water, melt with a little hot water and stir into the heated stock. Be sure it is melted or it will fall to the bottom and burn.

Heat on the stove, but do not boil, and place in a 250° oven to cook for about 1 hour. After 45 minutes check to see if the breast is done and remove it if so. (Breast is cooked at 155°, dark meat 165°) When all is cooked but still hot, remove the neck and bouquet and skin the chicken pieces.

Let it cool, stir in some chopped parsley then arrange the chicken pieces in a serving bowl with the vegetables and strain the defatted liquid over it. Refrigerate until jelled and scrape off any fat before serving. It looks better if it is unmolded onto a cold platter. Serve on chilled plates.

If it is to be a company dish, remove the bones and cut the meat into neat pieces. Strain and de-fat the sauce and retrieve the vegetables to add to the bowl, or cook some new veggies. Also add some freshly chopped parsley and some pimento for color. Put it all back together and let it chill. It can be unmolded on a tray lined with lettuce leaves and garnished with watercress and grape tomatoes, etc., for a de luxe presentation. Must be cooked only one day ahead, as it tends to soften if kept too long.

An elegant accompaniment is a hollowed tomato filled with Cucumber Ice.

Arroz con Pollo; see under Pasta and Rice

Fried Chicken?

We always bought it at Popeye’s or MacKenzie’s bakery. It is just too messy to make at home.

This was one of my favorites at Antoine’s (Now totally a tourist trap). A poulette is a squab chicken, about 2 lbs. or less. The name “Crapaudine” comes from the French for toad-like, and referred to the look of the bird after it was prepared. The game of Craps is derived from “crapaud” (toad) and refers to the squatting players. Mr. Crapper had nothing to do with these things, except that he may have had a Norman ancestor who was very squat and ugly.

Prepare the small bird by cutting out the backbone and any neck. Use shears and cut along each side of the backbone, all the way from the neck to the Pope's nose. Take out the wishbone. Spread the chicken open, flip it to skin side up, and mash down on the breast until the bones crack and the bird stays flat. Place butter, salt, pepper and herbs under the skin, then roast it in a hot oven, 425° to 450°.

It can be grilled on a wood fire reduced to coals. Place the chicken on the cooler side so that it does not scorch. In either method be sure to baste often. Put a cookie sheet on top of the chicken and weight it down with two bricks. This will keep it from curling. An iron frying pan is also a good press. Just don't overcook the chicken.

Crisply fried parsley sprigs make a great garnish. Be sure they are dry, lightly flour and quickly fry in oil deep enough to cover. It takes only a few seconds to become crisp. This also works with basil, fresh sage leaves or cilantro sprigs.